The constant menace of rain finally subsided and the Estoril Grand Prix was held on a totally dry track. In spite of last night’s rain and a morning warm-up on a wet track, the three races were finally disputed in dry conditions on the portugese track. The weekend’s chief event, the MotoGP race, was held today after the 250cc race, due to time-zone differences.
The worried faces on the MotoGP starting grid, with all eyes on the sky and on the menacing clouds, finally led to the first few laps, where the possible outcome was still uncertain due to the slight rain that was falling on some areas of the circuit. Repsol Honda Team rider Dani Pedrosa was again the fastest to start off, but at the end of the straightaway and when preparing for the first curve, his rear tyre violently skidded and almost ended his hopes in this race. This small incident was well taken advantage of by Rossi, who overtook Pedrosa in the next curve, an opportunity which Lorenzo also seized, overtaking the Repsol Honda Team rider. Behind, Nicky Hayden maintained seventh position right until the last lap, moment when he caught up with the pack preceding him, integrated by Hopkins and Edwards. The American overtook his fellow countrymen over the next two curves and escaped ahead, occupying a comfortable and solitary fifth position, which became fourth place after a fall by Dovizioso, who was riding fourth in the leading pack. Hayden only lasted one lap in fourth position; an attempt at giving chase to Rossi ended in a light fall to the ground. Ahead of the American Repsol Honda Team rider, teammate Dani Pedrosa struggled in a closed pack with the two official Yamaha riders, Rossi –first- and Lorenzo -second-. In lap 13, Lorenzo overtook his teammate and picked up his pace in an attempt at an escape. Pedrosa, aware of what was happening, overtook Rossi in superb style and went after Lorenzo, who was enjoying a lead of almost one second. The Repsol Honda Team rider tried lap after lap to catch up with him, but Lorenzo stood firm in his position and did concede an inch, even increasing his advantage to almost two seconds. A final victory for Lorenzo, a well-deserved second position for Pedrosa and third for Rossi. With this result, Pedrosa and Lorenzo have the same score of points in the general classification, both having taken a victory, a second and a third place. Today’s first race, due to time-zonediferences, was for the 250cc category, in which Julián Simón finished in seventh position. The Repsol rider got off to a bad start due to a problem with his clutch, which resulted from a fall he suffered this morning during the warm-up, an incident that prevented optimal use of the clutch. At the crucial moment, when the red lights blinked off, the clutch released too fast and Simón lost positions. By the end of the first lap he had started to recover and was tenth, and little by little, behind Luthi’s wheel, he managed to shorten the distance with the group that was chasing escapees Bautista, today’s winner, Simonelli, and Kallio. Unfortunately, the Repsol rider had problems again in his right forearm, and eight laps from the end of the race had to reduce his pace due to the pain, making do with a final seventh position. Simón is currently eighth in the World classification, and prior to China’s Grand Prix he will seek further assitance from the osteopaths for the problems that he has been experiencing for such a long time. After finishing in third position today, Mika Kallio is the new leader of the World classification, while teammate Hiroshi Aoyama – both receive technical support from Repsol – finished in fifth position and occupies the same place in the general classification. A weekend to forget for Tito Rabat in the smallest of the three categories, with engine problems during the race which froced him into boxes by the seventh lap. The Repsol rider noticed a strange noise in his KTM FRR125 during the warm-up, and once the race had started this became a considerable loss in speed. Rabat frustratingly watched as his engine was uncapable of revving properly, and after a few laps where he continually lost positions, he decided to head for boxes. Estoril was the setting for teammate Marc Márquez’s debut in a World championship. The Repsol rider, who rode on the Portugese track for the first time, finished today in eighteenth position, after battling throughout the whole race and recovering positions. After a good start, Márquez overtook seven rivals during the first lap, though he was in turn overtaken again by some of them. Little by little, he settled with a pack where he struggled with Masbou and Nakagami. In the end he finished leading this group on the brink of scoring points, satisfied with his first experience in a World Championship race.Dani Pedrosa, 2nd at 1.817 sec. >> Audio After our difficult preseason it’s good to be in this position now, so we are very happy. Today was a good race, the beginning was quite fun, but also a little dangerous because it was raining a bit and there were a few passing manoeuvres. When the rain stopped, the pace got faster and faster, so we had to concentrate very hard to maintain tyre grip all the time. Eventually we finished second and we’re happy. We always expected a tough race, so this result is very important for us. When Lorenzo started pulling away I still had to pass Rossi, then when I did pass Rossi, Lorenzo already had a gap. I tried to close the gap, or at least maintain it, and the gap stayed the same more or less for the remainder of the race. Finally we got second and it’s a good result.Nicky Hayden, fell. >> Audio The first few laps were certainly not easy, some parts of the track were a little wetter than others and I had on a pretty hard tyre. I had been choosing between that tyre and another a little bit softer, but with the way the weather’s been this weekend we really hadn’t got to do a lot of endurance on the harder one. I got settled in, and the warmer I was getting the tyres the better they were working and I was able to start moving up, so things were feeling pretty good. I made a few passes, I’d just got into fourth, felt like I wanted to close the gap on the guys in front of me. You know, I got fourth place at Jerez and I certainly didn’t want to settle in there and ride around, so I had to push hard and you know when you push hard you make mistakes. It’s not a parade you can’t just cruise around. The bike was working good, the tyres were working good, I felt pretty comfortable, so I was pushing. Turn seven’s downhill, certainly a trick corner, the front let go pretty early and down I went. It’s unfortunate because the bike was working good and we were hungry for a good result, so my own mistake. We just have to step it up a bit.Julián Simón, 7th at 26.812 sec. >> Audio I got off to a bad start. I lost many positions, though luckily in the first curve I managed to recover a few places, and during the first lap I also made some progress. I tried to pull ahead on my own, but was finding it quite difficult, was lucky that Luthi was keeping up a good pace, and that gave me the chance to escape from the pack he was in. I held out as long as I could behind him, but eight laps from the end I had the same problems in my right forearm as in Jerez and Qatar. To tell the truth, I have to thank all the doctors and everyone who has been treating me this week, because the pain is less intense. Before, it started halfway through the race, and today it didn’t happen until the end, which is good. Evidently it’s not the position I would have liked, but I did my best.Esteve Rabat, pulled out. >> Audio It wasn’t a very good weekend, and today’s race confirms it. I’d heard a strange noise when I was revving up the bike on the grid, and right from the start something was going wrong with the engine. I got off to a regular start, not too good, but the bike just wouldn’t run fast. It went slower and slower, until I saw that even with the accelerator down to the full, the bike wouldn’t rev up; then I decided to head for the boxes. Let’s hope that we improve by the next race, so all we can do is think about China and do better, because this was a disastrous weekend.Marc Márquez, 18th at 51.637 sec. >> Audio My first race in the World Championship was quite a battle and gained quite a lot of experience. I think I ran a good race, though we did try our luck with the adjustments, as during the warm-up we were unable to try out a few changes we had in mind. In the end the suspension didn’t work 100 per cent and found it hard to keep up with the pace of the group I was in. But in the end I found the courage, and went for the rider in front of me, trying to overtake him, as he had the advantage when accelerating. I even had a brush with Masbou, but was able to overtake him on the straightaway, where the bike was performing very well. I think that finishing eighteenth on my debut is a good result.
