Dani Pedrosa fell on lap 5, and Dovizioso on lap 11, both on the same first corner of the Dutch track.
In the end Lady Luck turned its back on the Repsol Honda Team this Saturday. After two productive days of practice both Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso, who were working on the new modified chassis supplied by Honda HRC, had an early end to the weekend, one that could have been so different. The end was completely unexpected, the two Repsol Honda Team riders on the floor, and at the start of the race.
The first to fall was Dani Pedrosa, who after a great start that took him into the lead at the end of the home straight, stayed with the leading group until a loss of adherence on his front wheel brought an end to his participation. In spite of reaching the first corner in the lead he was overtaken by Stoner & Rossi before the end of the first lap. On lap 4 Lorenzo got past Pedrosa too. The Spaniard in the Repsol Honda Team was then in 4th position and at the back of the leading group. But on the next lap, on corner 1 a right-hander, Pedrosa could not avoid the steering locking on his Honda RC212V and he inevitably fell to the ground. Fortunately Pedrosa was uninjured in the incident.
When Pedrosa fell his teammate Andrea Dovizioso moved up into 4th position ahead of Edwards & Vermeulen who he had caught on the first few laps after finishing the first lap in 7th place. But Dovizioso was going to spend a short time there because seven laps later Andrea fell on the same corner as Pedrosa and in same way. This is how the weekend ended for the Repsol Honda Team, in the end one to forget. The race was won by the Italian Valentino Rossi.
Dani Pedrosa, fell >> Audio
“The good news is that I didn’t hurt myself in the fall and, considering my recent run of luck with injuries, this is a big relief. But of course I’m disappointed with the result today because, even though it’s unlikely I could have won the race, I was feeling strong on the bike and believe I could have made the podium. My feeling on the machine this weekend has been much better and I have been able to ride close to my maximum potential, so I was quite confident coming into this race. I made a fast start and found a good rhythm, so the crash was very unexpected – for the whole weekend I had no warning this might happen. Now we have to forget this race and remain positive and focused because we have been the best in the past and I believe we can be the best again. The whole team deserves better than this and I know we will work even harder to take the fight to our rivals, even though they are very strong. Laguna is the next race and we will go there with the same positive mood that we brought to Assen this weekend.”
Andrea Dovizioso, fell >> Audio
“At the beginning the race was going well and I was lapping with a fast pace – the same as in the practice sessions. Fourth place was looking on the cards and I believe that would have been an achievable and a reasonable result for us this weekend, so I’m very disappointed about the crash at Turn 1. I had a good start but I was trapped by a bunch of riders and it took me a few laps to get by them. Once I was past I was feeling quite comfortable, although I wasn’t sure I could catch Stoner. Then, while I was in the middle of the corner at the maximum lean and I lost the front. I wasn’t on the brakes when it happened – we have to lean a long way over in the middle of the turn and that’s when it caught me out. The next race is only a week away so we have to put this result behind us and focus on Laguna. It’s a track I like and, in spite of today’s result, I’m confident when can get a good result there.”
