Stoner dominant in Aragon victory

Former world champion Casey Stoner held off local favourite Dani Pedrosa to win the Aragon MotoGP and record his first victory of the season.

Spanish Honda pilot Pedrosa recovered from a poor start and began to reel the Australian Ducati rider in during the middle stages of the race at the new Motorland circuit in Alcaniz to the north east of Madrid.
But 2007 champion Stoner, who started from pole having recovered from a minor crash during the warm-up, pulled away to win by a comfortable margin of more than five seconds.
Stoner's team mate Nicky Hayden of the United States pipped championship leader Jorge Lorenzo for third, just over nine seconds off the pace, after overtaking the Spaniard on an exciting final lap.
With five races remaining and 25 points awarded for a win, Pedrosa is the only rider who can catch Lorenzo in the overall standings. The Yamaha rider leads his compatriot by 56 points and Stoner is 129 points back in third.
"It was a difficult race today and I was very nervous for the first few laps after the crash this morning," Stoner said in an interview with Spanish television.
"I was lucky not to make too big a mistake and tried to put in some smooth, consitent laps and pull away for the win," the 24-year-old added.