In a another fantastic performance, Australian rider Casey Stoner on his Marlboro Ducati grabbed his second season victory today at the Turkish Grand Prix held at the Istanbul Park circuit for the third round of the of the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix (MotoGP) that takes place this weekend on the Istanbul Park circuit.
The podium was completed by Spaniard Toni Elias with Honda Gresini and the Italian Loris Capirossi, Stoner`s teammate for the Ducati squad.
Stoner was almost gifted the lead early on, when Capirossi's pressure forced poleman Valentino Rossi to run along the grass at the end of the first lap.
Seconds later, the major talking point of the day took place, as Dani Pedrosa collided with Kawasaki rider Olivier Jacque and turned the Frenchman's Ninja ZX-RR into something of bowling ball, taking out Colin Edwards on the Fiat Yamaha.
Also caught up in the incident were Chris Vermeulen and Sylvain Guintoli; the former picking up his bike after being hit by Pedrosa, the latter having to ride all the way round the debris on the run-off section.
Elias in second place was unable to trouble the flying Stoner, but had plenty of his own pursuers nipping at his toes. The Spaniard had started fantastically from tenth, and was battling hard with Rossi in fearless fashion leading to a near-miss between the two riders. The move put Elias in second, where he stayed until the chequered flag, and Rossi right back into the thick of the chasing pack, where he further dropped down before finishing a disappointing tenth.
Capirossi completed the podium, lucky to hold off a flu-ridden Alex Barros on the line. The two veterans exchanged places on consecutive corners, and with a few extra metres on the final straight the Brazilian may have taken Pramac d'Antin's first ever podium.
World Champion Nicky Hayden was pipped on the line by John Hopkins after holding firm throughout the race in sixth, ahead of Randy de Puniet, Alex Hofmann and Rossi.
1. C.STONER
2. T.ELIAS
3. L.CAPIROSSI
By Federico Faturos - Motorsport.com