With another pole to checkers win for Casey Stoner at the Dutch TT at Assen, the second half of the MotoGP season is shaping up to be a battle royale between Stoner and the sport’s other elite riders Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa.

Standings Bunch Up

Heading into the Netherlands, Rossi held an 11-point lead on
Pedrosa, but his first-lap crash relegated him to the back of
the field and ultimately an eleventh place finish. Pedrosa
jumped on the opportunity with another podium finish to leap
ahead of Rossi by four points.

Stoner’s win, his second in a row thanks to improved
engine performance on his Ducati, puts him just 29 points off of
Pedrosa and close enough to challenge for a repeat championship.

"I'm sorry Valentino crashed because this isn't necessarily the
way I wanted to recover points on him, but at the end of the day
we've had our fair share of bad luck this year too and racing is
an unpredictable game," stated the young Australian. "Now it
seems fortune is favoring us.”

On the American front, Nicky Hayden looked to have secured a
much-needed podium finish until his engine quit right before the
finish line due to electrical problems, which allowed fellow
Yankee Colin Edwards to grab third place. Hayden coasted into
fourth.

Next race is the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring on July 13.
GEPA
Gold and Goose