The Repsol rider achieves his fifth victory at the Sachsenring, second of a World Championship still led by Casey Stoner, today third ahead of Dovizioso, fourth
For the second year in a row, Dani Pedrosa finished the German Grand Prix on the highest step of the MotoGP podium. It is the fifth time that the Repsol rider wins at the Sachsenring —the third in MotoGP and his second win this year—, confirming he is fully recovered after his two collarbone fractures. Today he won outperforming Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner, second and third, respectively, in a race that Andrea Dovizioso finished in fourth position.
The race started with Stoner and Pedrosa in the first positions of the starting grid. When the red lights went out, it was the number 26 Repsol Honda who took the lead of the race. The Australian was also overtaken by Jorge Lorenzo, who before the end of the first lap did the same with Pedrosa. Behind them, Andrea Dovizioso also had a good start, even overtaking Stoner in the second lap and Pedrosa in the third.
Nevertheless Stoner overtook Pedrosa a lap later and caught and passed Dovizioso and Lorenzo in the following lap, taking the first position until half race. The Italian was also overtaken by Lorenzo and Pedrosa, who increased the difference lap after lap. Dovizioso and his countryman Simoncelli got ready to battle for the fourth position during the rest of the race. In front of them, the victory and the other two podium positions would be decided among the current three strongest rider of the premiere category.
Stoner led the race until lap 14, when Lorenzo, that had been at his wheel, passed him and got the first position. He kept the lead until nine laps from the end of the race, when Pedrosa snatched the first position and started to increase the pace. Lorenzo and Stoner, very attentive, did not allow the Spaniard to escape. But in the second-to-last lap, Dani changed his pace and could start the last lap with a second of advantage over Stoner and Lorenzo. Victory went finally to Dani Pedrosa, who with this result puts an end in the best way to a difficult recovery since he fractured his right collarbone in France.
Behind him, Stoner did his best to keep the second position, but problems with his tyres —he had nearly zero grip due to the back tyre being worn— prevented him from defending himself from Lorenzo’s final attack in the last corner and he had to settle for the third position. Despite that, the Australian keeps the lead of the championship with an advantage of fifteen points over the second, Spain’s Jorge Lorenzo.
And third on the overall standings is still Andrea Dovizioso, who today gathered 13 points after battling for the fourth position of the race with his countryman Simoncelli. The Italian of the Repsol Honda Team rode the whole race together with Simoncelli, and in the end he took advantage of his potential to secure the fourth place.
It was undoubtedly a good weekend of the Repsol Honda Team, thanks to Dani Pedrosa’s win, Casey Stoner’s third place and Andrea Dovizioso’s fourth position.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
1st – 41:12.482
“It’s an incredible feeling to be back and win a race so early; I didn’t expect it, but this circuit has been always very good for me and I made it happen. I was already surprised yesterday with second position in qualifying and to finish the weekend in this way is amazing, a huge relief for me after a very hard time with injuries. Here I suffered less than in Mugello because of the layout, but in the race today I had a strange feeling, something I’ve never had before. At the beginning of the race I wasn’t feeling great on the bike, I was fourth but I didn’t get nervous or worried because I’m still not mathematically out of the Championship battle, but I know it’s almost impossible. So, I just let the laps pass and in the middle of the race, with less fuel in the tank and when the tyres started sliding, I decided to step it up a little and it worked perfectly. I’m very happy with this victory, I’ve been suffering a lot even though this race track is not physically demanding, because I’m still weak. A big thanks to my family and doctors that helped me to be back here because they all know how hard it has been. Also to my team and to all my fans that never gave up, they deserve it also”.
Andrea Dovizioso >> Audio
4th at 10.513 sec.
“It was a tough race because this circuit is small and difficult. Our target was the podium so I’m a little disappointed with fourth position, but if we look at today’s race in a bigger perspective, we took a big step forward in terms of race pace compared to my previous records at this circuit. We had a good start and tried to stay with the front riders. It was a good battle with Simoncelli and Spies for fourth position and I’m happy we won this battle! We were consistently fast during the whole weekend and even though today we were struggling, we finished fourth. We confirm that we are there and we have retained third position in the Championship, even if we aimed to gain more points on Lorenzo and Casey. My congratulations go to Dani, Casey and Jorge for a great race”.
Casey Stoner >> Audio
3th at 1.568 sec.
“We knew today would be a hard race, we found a good set up yesterday in qualifying but we had an issue with the rear tyre and the temperatures getting too high, with it spinning too much. We took it easy in the early part of the race and thought we’d try to preserve the tyre and warm it up slower than we did in Mugello. After a few laps I decided to make a move to the front to see what we could do and we were able to pull a small advantage, but too small compared to the effort we were putting in so I backed off on my pace a little and tried to stay as smooth as possible and see what happens. They came past me and Dani was riding so strong and was able to get past Jorge before I got there, he built a small advantage and by the time I got past Jorge and I struggled to chase him down. I made a few small mistakes and that left just Jorge and I for the last few laps. I tried everything I could, riding the cleanest lap possible and trying to block my line, but Jorge came up on the dirty part of the track and I thought it would be too high a risk but he made it stick and I have to settle for third place. I’m still leading the Championship and I’m thankful for the points here today”.
