[kropotkin thinks...] - 2012 Le Mans MotoGP Friday Round Up: Casey Stoner Is Still Fa

[Ninjette Newsbot]

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Retirement obviously hasn't slowed Casey Stoner. After announcing last night that he would be retiring from MotoGP at the end of the 2012 season (and no, that does not mean he will be going to World Superbikes instead), the Australian climbed aboard his Repsol Honda RC213V, banged out the fastest time, a second quicker than anyone else at the time, on just his 3rd lap out of the pits, and went on to top the timesheets in both FP1 and FP2. He had felt a little strange when he rode out of the garage in the morning, he told reporters, realizing that this was the last time he would ever ride these tracks, but thanks to the miracle of compartmentalization - a mental trick that all top sportspeople can perform, tucking away anything not related to the task at hand into a corner of their minds, and focusing their full attention on performing to the peak of their ability - he got on with the business of going very, very fast indeed.

Both factory Hondas are fast. Stoner and teammate Dani Pedrosa took a one-two in both sessions of practice, but Stoner is still a step above the rest, getting close to the lap record Pedrosa set during last year's race, despite the track being cooler than in 2011. Stoner spent his time trying to generate some chatter - more difficult in cooler temperatures and on the Le Mans circuit's less grippy asphalt - to at least try to gather some data after the Estoril test was rained off, but both he and Pedrosa clearly have a race set up, should the rain hold off on Sunday.

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