Superb first victory in MotoGP for Dani Pedrosa
Nicky Hayden, with his second position, completes a historical one-two finish for the Repsol Honda Team at the Grand Prix of China.
Repsol rider Dani Pedrosa has been fantastic today in Shanghai performing a perfect race from start to finish, awarding him with his first victory in the premier class. Team mate Nicky Hayden could not do less in such an important day, and after a race in which he improved constantly, he finished second, a bit more than one second behind Pedrosa, after a strategic duel between them during the second half of the race.
The race started with Pedrosa fifth after the first lap – despite starting from pole – and team mate Hayden seventh. Edwards took the lead of the race and started to push hard, taking Hopkins with him. Further in the back, Hayden and Pedrosa opened a gap to Gibernau and Stoner, going for Edwards and Hopkins, with whom they caught-up at almost the halfway point of the race. After a couple of laps, both Repsol Honda Team riders overtook Edwards and Hopkins and opened a gap with the clear intention to fight for the victory on their own. Always with Dani Pedrosa in the lead and with an Advantage that increased from half a second to one second and a half, the laps went by with Dani always in the lead, holding on, without making any mistake despite the constant pressure of his North American team mate. Finally great victory for Dani Pedrosa in MotoGP, second position for Nicky Hayden and historical one-two finish for the Repsol Honda Team.Dani Pedrosa’s victory in MotoGP and the second place of team mate Nicky Hayden confirm with no doubt, that the Repsol Honda Team is experiencing one of the best moments of its history in the Motorcycling World Championship. Leader from the first Grand Prix in the teams’ standings – now with an advantage of 39 points over the second qualified, Fortuna Honda – the figures are a clear proof of its potential in the premier class. After four Grand Prix staged so far, the Repsol Honda Team has both of his riders among the top three of the overall standings – one of them in the lead, and has recorded so fast one victory, two second places and two third places. In addition, Nicky Hayden has not left the podium for the last eight races, which is another fact to be considered, since he is right now the most consistent rider in MotoGP.
As regards the other races of the Chinese event, in the 250cc Shuhei Aoyama has not been able to make good use of his position in the front row of the grid, and after making a good start and reaching the end of the main straight in the lead he was much too careful during the first corner in order to avoid a crash like the one suffered in Turkey, falling back to eleventh after the first lap. From that moment until he began overtaking riders until catching up with Locatelli and fighting with the Italian for the sixth position. However, in the last lap, both were harmed by their fight, and were overtaken by Simoncelli who was riding after them, waiting for his moment. The Repsol rider finally crossed the finish line in eighth position. Team mate Sebastián Porto did not manage to make up today for the hard weekend in which he has not been able to be in the top positions at any moment during the three days of the Grand Prix. In lap 14 and while he was nineteenth, the Argentinean rider entered his pit garage, thus setting the full stop to a complicated weekend.In the minor class, Repsol rider Bradley Smith, who started from the thirtieth position of the starting grid, made an excellent start, recovering several positions, being already twenty-third after the first lap. During the race, Bradley had a nice fight with a group of four riders for the intermediate positions, eventually finishing the Grand Prix of China in twenty-second position.
Rider´s comments
Dani Pedrosa:
‘This is a perfect result for me and it was a fantastic race for me and for the Repsol Honda team. They have been working really hard and it was a great result for both riders – so I’m really happy for the team. The race was hard and the pace was high, but the conditions today were very good and I was able to get into a good rhythm. The tyres worked very well today and so I have to thank Michelin for that. I did a good start this time but I left the braking a little bit late and I went slightly wide so I was not able to keep a tight line and lost a few positions. But I was able to pick off the positions one by one. Once in the lead I was always looking at the pit board and seeing zero point something. I was trying to maintain the gap but it was not easy because Nicky was pushing more and more and the tyres were losing a little grip. Winning is always very special but the level in MotoGP is higher, so this is very special for me.’
Nicky Hayden:
‘I tried to go a little bit faster every lap and put some heat on Dani, but that dude just wouldn’t crack! So I definitely give Dani credit because he rode a really strong race. I felt good when I kept going a little bit faster, but it just wasn’t enough and when I got close to him I didn’t want to do anything silly. Congratulations to the team, and not just my guys but all the guys involved in Repsol Honda, they deserve it. I’m trying to be consistent in every race and every session, and while getting the points and podiums is good, I really want to win. I like to think that the win is not far away. It’s nice to pull out a little gap in championship but it’s early days. Honda’s fighting hard for this championship and I want to win so I’m looking forward to getting to Le Mans next weekend.’ Shuhei Aoyama: ‘Things have worked out very good this time, but I’ve been extra careful because I didn’t want to make any mistake. I wanted to avoid touching any other rider and crashing. The consequence was that many riders passed me in the first lap so I dropped down to eleventh after the first lap. But I had made my mind up, I have crashed in the first lap of two out of three races and it could not happen again today. I’m satisfied with the race, especially because I’ve gathered a lot of information which is going to be very useful, both for my team and myself, but I can’t say that I’m happy for finishing eighth.’
Sebastian Porto:
‘The truth is that it’s been rally bad. We’ve had lot of problems which we have not been able to solve along the weekend. I’ve tried to do my best today, but it’s been really hard to ride the bike. Well, we have to keep on working. I’ve always been optimistic. Let’s hope that we’ll be able to find a solution. This race is over and now we have to focus on the next.’
Bradley Smith:
‘I’m more happy than I was yesterday. Twenty-second is a lot better than thirtieth. I’m happy with the way I rode but I’m not happy with the things that have been pointed out to me. To do a 14.04 on the last lap is stupid really, I should be doing that in the beginning not riding around 16 or 15, but that’s what I’ve done so I can’t change that. The race is over but this is the way to go through my first season. For the next race I’ll tell them to put it all together like in a package and take it Le Mans. It’s difficult, it’s definitely difficult, I’m not saying it’s easy, but we’ll keep on pushing.’
Standings:
125
- M.Kallio (KTM) 42’06.223
- M.Pasini (Aprilia) + 0.097
- A.Bautista (Aprilia) + 0.357
- G.Talmacsi (Honda) + 0.899
- J.Simón (KTM) + 1.106
22. B.Smith (Honda) + 50.162
Mundial 125
- A.Bautista, 86 puntos.
- M.Kallio, 58
- H.Faubel, 54
- M.Pasini, 49
- S.Gadea, 46
250
- H.Barberá (Aprilia) 44’49.445
- A.Dovizioso (Honda) + 0.266
- H.Aoyama (KTM) + 3.320
- J.Lorenzo (Aprilia) + 3.602
- Y.Takahashi (Honda) + 3.618
8. S.Aoyama (Honda) + 16.555
NC. S.Porto (Honda) Mundial
250
- A.Dovizioso, 72 puntos.
- H.Barberá, 69
- J.Lorenzo, 63
- H.Aoyama, 62
12. S.Porto, 15
15. S.Aoyama, 11
MotoGP
- D.Pedrosa (Honda) 44’07.734
- N.Hayden (Honda) + 1.505
- C.Edwards (Yamaha) + 14.634
- J.Hopkins (Suzuki) + 19.265
- C.Stoner (Honda) + 23.061
Mundial MotoGP
- N.Hayden, 72 puntos
- L.Capirossi, 59
- D.Pedrosa, 57
- M.Melandri, 54
- C.Stoner, 52
