What could have been a perfect weekend for the Repsol Honda Team rider turned out to be a disappointment – a fall for the Spaniard. Dani Pedrosa, the rider who dominated the weekeend at the Indianapolis track, got another brilliant start and from the very first corner set a scintillating pace trying to get away from his rivals.
It was all going to plan, the distance between Rossi, 2nd and Lorenzo, 3rd, stayed at around half a second whilst the Repsol rider waited for his tyres to reach the right temperature. These three needed just two laps to get away from the rest of the field – by then they had a 2 and a half second gap. But on the lap 3, and when it seemed that he had increased his lead, the front tyre on his Honda RC212V slid more than expected on the final corner before the home straight and the Repsol rider was on the floor. The end to any hopes of a victory.
Pedrosa got back on his bike and gritted his teeth – he was the fastest rider in the race even with some damage to his bike – all in vain even though he overtook several rivals and finished 10th, getting 6 more points, but without a doubt a bitter ending to a promising weekend.
Behind him Andrea Dovizioso had a good race, getting better as the race progressed, after a discreet start where all he could do was defend his position – the Repsol started on row 3 in 8th place. But he was always in the chasing group, on De Angelis, Edwards, Hayden´s and Melandri´s rear wheels. As the laps went by, a fall for Pedrosa and another for Rossi, his 8th position became a 6th and Dovizioso kept up a constant pace trying to reach the podium.
On lap 4 the Repsol rider overtook Melandri, and ten laps later it was Edwards´ turn. His next target was the Nicky Hayden´s Ducati, 3rd position, who had a lead of just 1.701 seconds. Lap after lap Dovizioso cut the gap and at the beginning of the penultimate lap the American could hear the Italian on his Repsol Honda bike just behind him, 2 tenths away. However Hayden did not let him past and Andrea Dovizioso finished 4th.
The next objective is in 7 days at the circuit of Misano, in the small Republic of San Marino, situated in the north-east of Italy just 70km from Forlimpopoli, Andrea Dovizioso´s birthplace.
Dani Pedrosa, 10th at 45.377 secs. >> Audio
“This result was a real shame but sometimes it happens – it’s racing. We did a great job all through practice and qualifying, I was confident for the race and of course I was hoping to win today. I was pushing very hard at the start of the race and perhaps I pushed too much. There was some cloud cover today and maybe the front tyre was a little cooler than before, but whatever the reason, I made a mistake and lost the front. I’m sorry for the team because they’ve worked really hard for me, and also to the fans who’ve given me great support. I wanted to win in American again but it wasn’t to be. There was some damage to the bike – the handlebar was bent inwards and the footpeg was worn away quite badly, but actually I was able to recover and ride at a fast pace to take some points at the end. Looking on the positive side, we’ve been very fast here and that means we can take a lot of confidence to Misano next weekend”.
Andrea Dovizioso, 4th at 13.478 secs. >> Audio
“After the warm-up today we made a radical change to the set-up and I have to say that my team has worked really well because, thanks to this modification, my feeling with the machine improved a lot in the race. I could ride faster than during the practice sessions and my rhythm in the race was also consistent. Considering how the weekend had gone up to this point, finishing fourth is quite positive result. We still have to improve though of course. I was close to Nicky and I tried to overtake him several times by taking big risks. It’s a pity to finish fourth because the podium was not impossible. The important thing is that we have taken an important step forward. We are close the podium and we will start again in Misano building on this good base”.
