Honda LCR rider Casey Stoner finished in a confidence boosting sixth place in a fiercely contested Czech Republic Grand Prix today. After starting 12th on the fourth row of the grid, Stoner rode an inspired race and the young Australian rookie finished just 0.8s out of fourth position. Stoner engaged Kenny Roberts Jr, Marco Melandri and championship leader Nicky Hayden in a breathtaking battle in the 22 lap race.

After passing Hayden on lap 15, Stoner was fourth with seven laps to go and he then battled with Roberts and Melandri for fourth place with Hayden dropping back ninth. But as his rear tyres faded, Stoner did not have the grip to challenge Roberts and Melandri on the final lap. Stoner now has 101 points and is sixth in the championship standings.

“I am very proud of Casey and the team, they did a very professional job for the whole weekend. Sixth position in a close race is a very important result after failing to score points in the previous two races -- this is a very good start to the final part of the season. After some problems in practice with the bike, Casey again showed his very high potential in the race.”

“That was a hard race, there was a lot of overtaking going on, sometimes three times in one lap. At the end I just didn’t have enough rear grip to race for fourth position against Melandri and Roberts -- the tyres had slowly destroyed themselves when I was stuck racing in the group behind Hayden. There was some really close racing and while I would have liked a better result, sixth place will do for now. I made a great start and was fourth at turn two but then went backwards to seventh -- I just needed an extra Red Bull this morning to pep me up before the race.”