MotoGP – Pedrosa Wins at Misano
GP Aperol di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini race was won by Spaniard Dani Pedrosa, ahead of World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. Sadly the race was overshadowed by tragic events in the Moto2 race earlier in the day. Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa had passed away following an accident that involved two other riders.
Dani Pedrosa took his fourth win of the season and achieved his first back-to-back premier class victories on Sunday, with the Repsol Honda rider set a stunning pace from the start and was almost 1.5s clear of Lorenzo by only the third lap.
Pedrosa’s lead over Lorenzo topped five seconds through the middle stages before he backed off to a 1.9s victory at the chequered flag.
Behind him Lorenzo lost one place at the start and dropped to third but before the first lap was over he had got back past Casey Stoner to retake second position.
Despite pushing hard in the early stages, it was soon clear that the championship leader was not able to run the same pace as Pedrosa today and he was forced to settle for an uneventful ride to second.
Italian hero Rossi was hopeful of a return to the podium and he made a good start, keeping his fourth position and holding on to the leaders over the first few laps.
In the latter part of the race he came under pressure from fellow countryman Andrea Dovizioso but he was able to hold him off, putting in his fastest lap of the race three laps from the end and coming home just over a second behind his team-mate.
The teams will next be in action at a brand new racetrack to the MotoGP calendar, as it travels to the Aragon circuit in Spain for the next round of the season on Sunday 19th September.
Dani Pedrosa : “There are no words to say how it feels after this victory – it feels like nothing. I arrived at parc fermé very happy with the win and I immediately felt that the atmosphere among my mechanics was really strange, everybody was serious. Still with my helmet on they told me about Tomizawa and I couldn’t react. It was a big shock, a big contrast for me. I asked three times if it was true because I couldn’t believe it. It’s so sad, terrible, and these things should never happen. As a person I can only say that he was a very funny boy, always happy and making jokes, and as a rider he earned respect from everybody in a very short time, he was fast and brave. To lose two riders in a week is terrible. I believe everybody in the World Championship is feeling the same now and I want to send my condolences to the family. When you are born, life gives you the chance to choose what you want to do. Tomi chose to be a rider and in fact he was doing great. I just want to think that he’s been happy making his dream come true. Concerning the race, I want to say thank you again to my team for doing a great job. The whole weekend has been perfect: good practices, a very high pace during the race, and the second win in a row and the fourth of the season. I want to keep my feet on the ground though and just concentrate on one race at a time. The feeling on the bike is very good now and my goal is to continue in this way. But to be honest I’m not really thinking about that at this moment.”
Jorge Lorenzo : “I don’t have many words for the race on such a sad say. I made a good start but I couldn’t keep close to Pedrosa. Second is good, we weren’t fast enough but for the championship it’s another very important result and that is our target. The podium is our goal in all races, although we hope we can still improve our M1 a bit more. As for Shoya, it’s a huge pity because he was a good guy and a strong rider. I am so sad and I just want to say how sorry I am for his family and his friends. When this happens nothing else matters.”
Valentino Rossi : “This was a great result for us, more than just for the podium but for the way that the result arrived. I was very fast at the end of the race and this shows how much we’re improving because I was able to keep pushing right to the end. I think we did a good job this weekend. But when something so sad like this happens everything else goes to zero and the result doesn’t matter. I’m so sorry for Shoya because he was a strong rider but above all he was very ‘sympatico.’ He was very funny, always smiling and he always had nice things to say to everyone. He was also very young with a great career ahead of him so we are all very sad.”
Loris Capirossi :“I am very angry at what happened today because I was feeling very confident and the bike was good, so I thought we could have a competitive race. Now I have to have an operation and I hope I can be back for Aragon, but this is nothing compared to what happened in the other race. I want to send my condolences to Tomizawa’s family, this is a great tragedy and something that you never like to hear about.”
Race Results :
1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 44’22.059
2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team + 1.900
3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team + 3.183
4. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda Team + 6.454
5. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team + 18.479
6. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 + 28.385
7. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 + 34.934
8. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 38.157
9. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team + 40.943
10. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 42.377
11. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Pramac Green Team + 45.906
12. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Interwetten-Honda MotoGP + 46.394
13. Randy de Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP + 50.481
14. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 1’23.143
NOT CLASSIFIED :
Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Green Team 11 Lap
Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 25 Lap
Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 28 Lap
Photo : Rizla Suzuki / Fiat Yamaha / MotoGP
