Dani Pedrosa was able to overcome his physical problems today to put in a good performance and defend his second place in the final championship standings from the attack of Valentino Rossi. With his seventh place, after riding second at one stage, the Repsol Honda Team rider secured second place in the MotoGP World Championship, with a 12-point advantage over the Italian rider. His team-mate, Andrea Dovizioso, has ended the season in fifth, the same position he achieved in Valencia today after a fierce battle with Simoncelli.
Dani Pedrosa got off to another spectacular start, climbing from eighth on the starting grid to second in just two turns. His team-mate, Andrea Dovizioso, also climbed three positions in the first few turns of the race and crossed the line in sixth place, three behind Pedrosa, who had been passed by Nicky Hayden. Just two laps later, the American fell to the floor while the Repsol rider closed the gap on Stoner.
Pedrosa was wheel to wheel with the Australian in the eighth lap, but his battered left shoulder and loss of strength affected him and little by little he started to lose pace while Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo closed in on him, until they finally passed him in the tenth lap. Pedrosa could do little to defend his position because as the laps passed his pain increased and he lost strength in his left hand. Andrea Dovizioso, who was riding in fifth in a fierce battle with fellow Italian Marco Simoncelli, caught the Spanish rider eleven laps from the end and both he and Simoncelli also passed Pedrosa. Dani kept trying, overtaking them, but he could do little to prevent being passed again.
Dovizioso and Simoncelli rapidly broke away from Pedrosa, who set himself the objective of finishing the race in the highest position possible in order to defend his second place in the championship standings. Riding in sixth, Spies came from behind at a fast pace and knocked Pedrosa down to seventh. The Spanish rider received a round of applause from his team when he returned to the garage after his brave performance. And as a personal mark, Pedrosa ended the 2010 season with the fastest lap of the race – lap 5 –, despite his physical problems.
And while Pedrosa battled to stay as far out in front a possible, his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso was immersed in a tough-fought race with his compatriot Simoncelli, with whom he switch positions on several occasions. When it seemed the duel was favouring the Repsol rider and that he would finish fourth, Spies came from behind in a flash, with his tyres in better condition than the two Italians and passed them with just five laps to go. Finally, fifth for Andrea Dovizioso.The 2010 season has ended in Valencia today with Dani Pedrosa second in the final championship standings and Andrea Dovizioso fifth. Tomorrow, the MotoGP riders will have a break but will be back in action on Tuesday in the same place to start the 2011 pre-season.
Dani Pedrosa, 7th 26.797 sec. behind >> Audio
“This was the one of the hardest races of my life and also one of the ones I can feel most proud of. Honestly I was not sure at all before the start that I could do 30 laps today, but I managed to do it and I’m very happy now, and also exhausted. I made a good start and to stay with Stoner in the early laps was amazing for me. I fought as hard as possible to maintain the pace for as long as I could and it was during this period that I set the fastest lap of the race. But of course my strength was ebbing away little by little and I was caught by the group behind me. From then on I just concentrated on staying on the bike and finishing the race – I was counting down the laps. To finish second in the championship was not our goal at the beginning of the season of course, but only we know how hard it has been to keep second place after the crash in Japan. We will take our time to recover after this race and we can also have a useful test on Tuesday and Wednesday in preparation for next year”.
Andrea Dovizioso, 5th 19.160 sec. behind >> Audio
“We have done a good job here at Valencia and we can be happy that we were the first Honda rider home today. Our pace wasn’t enough to compete for the win so we can’t be totally satisfied of course, but overall we’ve had a positive end to the season. I was missing some speed in the middle of the corners today which is an area to work on in future, as is improving the stability under braking. I’m disappointed I couldn’t re-pass Spies, but my tyres were very worn by the end and I couldn’t fight in the last laps because the grip was dropping off quite a lot and it was difficult to maintain the pace from the first part of the race. Anyway it was a good battle with Simoncelli again and I hope there will be more like this next year – it shows that pocket bikes was a good training ground! Overall we have to be satisfied with the job done by Honda, the team and myself throughout the year and I’d like to thank all those involved. The package has improved a lot and, whereas last year we were struggling, this year I’ve been consistently faster. We still have some fine tuning to do for next year – and that can start here in the test on Tuesday”.
