With an impressive burst of speed Honda LCR rider Casey Stoner led the opening eight laps before making an sudden exit from today’s crash-marred Catalunya Grand Prix.

Stoner was unhurt when he lost the front-end on lap 9 of the 25 lap race which had been restarted after an six rider pile-up at turn one. With lightning-fast starts from eighth on the grid, Stoner led both editions of the race, the first for just one lap when the red flag came out.

From the restart Stoner again made a fast getaway and led into turn one, running a smooth and comfortable pace ahead of the chasing pack including Nicky Hayden, John Hopkins and Valentino Rossi. Stoner’s pace was a repeat of his fast and consistent form in practice and he looked set to challenge for a podium place.

Stoner joined the list of retirements on lap nine while running a close second to world champion Rossi, who went on to win the race. Stoner remains on 65 points in sixth place in the world championship.

“Firstly, the most important thing is that Casey is OK and also that all the other riders who crashed are not seriously injured. Casey made two wonderful starts today and did an extraordinary job to lead the race until he crashed -- this can happen in racing. The track grip was down a little today and perhaps this was a factor because Dani Pedrosa and Toni Elias also lost the front-end like Casey.”

: “I’m not happy, not just because I made a mistake but because of everything that happened today. I’m feeling for all the guys who crashed and it wasn’t a good situation during the stoppage, I saw all the incidents on replay. I made a very good start and I was doing it easy, even though the track was a bit slick today. When Valentino came past I was happy to do my own pace and wait for the race to unfold, I was feeling comfortable. ”