Difficult sunday for the Repsol Honda Team in Japan.
Nicky Hayden is fifth and keeps the overall leadership with an advantage of 12 points. Dani Pedrosa, improving during the race, finishes seventh. The Repsol Honda team takes the teams championship and Honda the manufacturers championship.
Yesterdays timed practice did not forecast an easy race for the riders of the Repsol Honda Team in MotoGP, and after covering the 24 laps on the Japanese track of Motegi, Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa have finished a difficult weekend in average positions. Nicky Hayden finished fifth and team mate Pedrosa seventh.
Todays race has had little surprises: Loris Capirossi took the lead, setting a high pace and escaping from the pack with Melandri and Rossi. Nicky Hayden had to watch his bike wheeling at the start, what made him loose several positions, thus being ninth after the first lap.
ani Pedrosa, who did not make a good start either getting off the track in the fourth corner of the first lap, was thirteenth after the first lap. Ahead of Pedrosa, Hayden was riding on eighth position trying to stick to Nakano, Gibernau, Checa and Stoner, although the latter went off the race after a crash. Once he had overtaken Elias, the North American rider of the Repsol Honda Team tried to catch Nakano while he was sixth but although he did not manage to do it, the Japanese Kawasaki rider crashed during the last lap, trying to pass Gibernau. The crash befitted Hayden, who crossed the finish line fifth.
His biggest rival in the fight for the title is now Italian rider Valentino Rossi, who finished second, so that the advantage of the Repsol rider in the overall standings has now been reduced to 12 points, with 50 points still at stake. Dani Pedrosa, improved during the race and finished seventh after being thirteenth in the first lap and overtaking Tamada, Roberts and Edwards, in addition to being benefited by the crashes of Stoner, De Puniet and Nakano. Winner of the race was Loris Capirossi.The positive side of this weekend for the Repsol Honda Team was the teams title and the manufacturers title won by Honda. With two races left for the end of the 2006 season, the Repsol Honda Team has already an advantage of 110 points over the second qualified team, thanks to the good performances both riders on the 15 races held this year.
Little luck for the riders of the Repsol Honda Team 250cc as well. Shuhei Aoyama, who was expecting to get at least a place on the podium today, finally had to settle for the sixth place, after not having been able to feel comfortable on his bike at any moment of the race. Team mate David De Gea, after a good performance during the practices, despite the little time he had to adapt to the bike thirteenth on the grid-, did not manage to finish the race. After recovering one position during the first lap, being twelfth, De Gea crashed with Ballerini during a strong braking manoeuvre and they both crashed.
Fortunately De Gea and Ballerini were not hurt after the spectacular crash. In his first season racing in the Motorcycling World Championship, young Repsol rider Bradley Smith is showing a quick learning ability in the eighth-of-a-litre class. He managed to score his first championship points in front of his home crowd in England and then in Germany, followed by two non-scorers in the Czech Republic, Australia and a lost race in Malaysia. Today, the young British rider has made a superb race after setting the ninth fast time in the qualifying practices.
After an average start eleventh after the first lap- Bradley was benefited by the crashes in front of him of Luthi and Di Meglio while being twelfth. From the tenth position, he caught experimented riders such as Koyama y Talmacsi, putting himself eighth halfway the race. In an exciting last lap, Smith made everything he could to defend his eighth position and despite Koyama finally overtaking him, the crash of Gadea during the last lap allowed the Repsol rider to keep his eighth position under the chequered flag, his best result since his start in the World Championship.
Rider´s comments
Nicky Hayden:
Well thats another 5th place which isnt great obviously. Lap one was pretty wild and luckily in the first couple of corners I made up a lot of positions because my start was a bit of a disaster that was the worst part of the race for me. Luckily that first lap turned out as good as it did because otherwise the result could have been much worse. I actually got hit by another rider on the first lap and bent the clutch lever up which didnt help. I tried to come through the pack but its hard youre coming past fast guys and in this class its really tough. Towards the end I started closing, closing, closing on Nakano and Gibernau and then I made a little mistake in Turn 5 and they picked up the pace too. Actually my bike worked pretty well today, and the Michelins did too. My rhythm wasnt bad – I was much faster than I was able to go here last year and I guess thats one positive thing to come out of today. And luckily weve got a couple of days here to test to see if we can sort it out.
Dani Pedrosa:
My race was didnt go well at the beginning. In the first left hander Elias made a mistake, I was just behind and I couldnt avoid him so I went off the track. Everybody passed me and I was near the back of the field which made it really difficult and I was making mistakes trying to pass people. After that the leading group had gained a big lead, and anyway I was not as fast as them today. But I tried to recover as much as possible and I finished seventh, which is not such a good result for me this season. My race pace was quite good but the problem was that we didnt manage to get this pace early in the practice sessions this weekend. Im happy to have won the Rookie of the Year though because I got it in the 125cc and 250cc classes, so its nice to get it also in MotoGP.
Shuhei Aoyama:
Im very disappointed. I made a good start, but as the first lap went by I already lost several positions. The other riders managed to outbrake me in the corners and there was nothing I could do, then I would pass them back and wanted to push, but it was very difficult, the lap times were very similar. As the race went by the grip of the tyres was better and I was able to improve my times, but so did the others. I dont really know the reason but, its sad.
David de Gea:
I made a good start, but I kind of pushed too hard in the second lap and wasnt able to avoid the strong braking in the rear part of the circuit, the second gear corner. I went on the brakes and when the tyre fell back onto the ground the bike just destabilised and I wasnt able to regain control. I tried to stop it but Ballerini was right in front of me and I just couldnt avoid touching him, thats when I crashed. Im physically OK, nothing serious.
Bradley Smith:
Its definitely been better than expected. With a ninth position start its been very good for me. I know how to crack on in the first three laps, but I didnt really, I sat and watched the group in front but after Di Meglio and Luthi went down I new that I had to go with the group because they had already broken away. I pushed and I pushed and I caught Koyama and I brought Koyama to Talmacsi and I passed him. I was trying a 120% to get away but it just werent to be. Its so difficult leading from the front without a slipstream they can always stay in the area, never pass you, just stay there. I tried to break away for about twelve laps. Im pretty tired now but over the moon with the result.
Tyre´s choice
– Nicky Hayden; Medium Front, Medium Rear
– Dani Pedrosa; Medium Front, Medium Rear
Standings
MotoGP
- L.Capirossi (Ducati) 43’13.585
- V.Rossi (Yamaha) + 5.088
- M.Melandri (Honda) + 8.378
- S.Gibernau (Ducati) + 9.712
- N.Hayden (Honda) + 11.944
- D.Pedrosa (Honda) + 19.937
MotoGP World Championship
- N.Hayden, 236 points
- V.Rossi, 2243. M.Melandri, 209
- L.Capirossi, 205
- D.Pedrosa, 202
250
- H.Aoyama (KTM) 43’36.310
- A.de Angelis (Aprilia) + 1.341
- J.Lorenzo (Aprilia) + 4.349
- A.Dovizioso (Honda) + 4.530
- S.Aoyama (Honda) + 24.111
NC. D.de Gea (Honda)
250 World Championship
- J.Lorenzo, 265 points
- A.Dovizioso, 238
- A.de Angelis, 187
- H.Aoyama, 173
- R.Locatelli, 158
8. S.Aoyama, 89
15. M.Cárdenas, 37
125
- M.Kallio (KTM) 41’41.155
- A.Bautista (Aprilia) + 0.185
- J.Simón (KTM) + 7.769
- M.Pasini (Aprilia) + 7.907
- L.Pesek (Derbi) + 7.924
- B.Smith (Honda) + 22.911
125 World Championship
- A.Bautista, 300 points
- M.Kallio, 226
- M.pasini, 185
- H.Faubel, 152
- S.Gadea, 143
19. B.Smith, 16
