For the second consecutive race the riders in the top category of motorbike racing started on wet tyres and had to change bikes in the midle of the race as the conditions got better. With such changeable conditions the local rider Andrea Dovizioso fought for a place on the podium, in the end he was 4th. Dani Pedrosa had worse luck, after being injured yesterday he was in pain when riding and he fell on the lap 13.
After the sunshine and high temperatures on the two previous days the circuit of Mugello was covered with grey cloud this morning, it soon began to rain intermittently and the track was still wet just before the MotoGP race began. The more than 80 000 fans at the circuit saw another intense and exciting race, as is usual here. The race began with a blistering start from Dani Pedrosa who was on the third row of the grid – 8th – but who reached the first corner in the lead. His teammate Andrea Dovizioso also got off to a good start and at the same point was 5th.
However, Pedrosa was still in pain after being injured yesterday and was not able to put up a strong fight against his rivals, and so at the end of the first lap the Repsol Honda Team rider had fallen back to 4th position. His teammate Dovizioso put in a pefect first lap though and was 2nd behind Stoner.
With the track wet but drying out the riders and teams were waiting for the right time to make a pit stop and change bikes, riding on slicks. Meanwhile the race was red hot; Dovizioso, who was 3rd behind Vermeulen & Stoner, moved into the lead on lap 4. And he stayed there until lap 8 when he made way for an aggressive Rossi, the Italian had been left far behind at the start but now had the bit between his teeth. Pedrosa had dropped to 7th doing the best he could on his Honda RC212V and in great pain from his injured right hip.
And on lap 9 the time had come for the two Repsol Honda Team riders to change bikes. Andrea Dovizioso went back out onto the track in 8th position, and Dani Pedrosa in 11th. In just two laps Dovizioso was back in the lead, whilst Pedrosa on cold tyres and physically weak, dropped one place to 12th. But on lap 13 the Spaniard in the Repsol Honda Team fell on corner 7, bringing a sad end to his difficult weekend. Another medical check in the Mobile Clinic ruled out any new injuries, although he hit the zone he injured in yesterday´s fall again.
Andrea Dovizioso continued in the lead until lap 14 when the Australian Stoner, who in the end was the winner of the Italian GP 2009, overtook the Italian and got away from the rest of the field. Dovizioso was 2nd for a few more laps, but was not able to hold off Lorenzo – overtaken on lap 19 – or Rossi – overtaken on lap 21 – and crossed the finishing line in 4th position.
After this race Dani Pedrosa is still 4th in the overall classification, 33 points behind Stoner – the new championship leader – and Dovizioso is 5th, one point behind his stable mate in the Repsol Honda Team.
Dani Pedrosa, fell
“What can I say? It’s obviously been a pretty bad weekend for us and the crash in the race just about summed it all up. After the problem with my right leg yesterday I had a pain-killing injection this morning for the warm-up and it allowed me to ride the bike, but to be honest there was still a lot of pain and I couldn’t ride at full speed. The rain didn’t help either because all the practice sessions were dry so the wet settings were a bit of a gamble. Anyway, I want to thank Doctor Costa and his assistants for all his help that allowed me to be on the grid today. I had another injection before the race but the conditions were very hard to read and it was difficult for me to gain confidence or find a rhythm – also the bike change wasn’t easy for me because of my leg. On the dry bike I didn’t really have time to get used to the settings and track conditions because I lost the rear on my third lap out and crashed. It’s quite hard to find anything very positive to say right now, but I’m glad that I didn’t do any more damage when I crashed – that’s something. I want to check it again with my doctors and have a bit of rest – I feel really tired now. Despite this setback we’ll keep working. It’s my home Grand Prix next and I just hope I can go there and be in contention.”
Andrea Dovizioso, 4th at 2.129 secs. >> Audio
“The sensation of leading the race in front of my home crowd was incredible and I think overall we had a good race today – I’m satisfied. I fought like hell to take third and we were so close – only 53 thousandths from the podium! I think our race strategy was good, we changed the bike at the right moment and I pushed as hard as possible to maintain my position. With three laps to go I tried to keep in contact with the others and when Rossi overtook me, I managed to stayed with him. Then I tried to slipstream him out of the last corner but I couldn’t make it. Anyway, all in all it was an exciting race and a positive result. We are getting closer, but still not close enough to win. We need to keep on working because we are still not as competitive as the fastest riders, especially in dry conditions. I want to say thanks to the team because they did a great job today, and we’ll use this result to give us an extra boost of motivation.”
