And hopes to be fit to race at ValenciaThe Portuguese Grand Prix ended in bitter disappointment for the Honda LCR team when Casey Stoner crashed out of the race and failed to finish.
Stoner suffered a bruised right leg in the lap two crashing at turn four, with
Ducati rider Sete Gibernau, who was behind at the time, also coming down.
Stoner had made a strong start from fifth on grid and was in the same position when he went out of the race.
After an impressive two days of fast and consistent practice laps, Stoner looked to be one of the strongest riders on race tyres. With zero points today Stoner has slipped to seventh in the world championship standings with 119 points.
The race was won by Honda rider Toni Elias before 41,000 spectators.
Casey:
“I don't know if I lost the rear in the middle of the corner, it seemed to slip a little bit, and as it came back it flicked out on me. All I remember is another bike hitting me and feeling that pretty hard. I've got no idea exactly what happened. I think Sete's bike smacked into the lower part of my right leg, it's very sore, and I hope nothing is broken.
My rear tyre wasn't gripping the best and it was easy to stay with the leaders, I was waiting to start making a move but I didn't get a chance.”
Lucio:
“Today is an empty feeling. The beginning of the race is always critical, especially when the tyres are new and perhaps the tarmac temperature was down a little today. We have to check the data to see what happened.”
LCR Honda
