At one o`clock on the dot local time, one hour earlier than usual, to compensate for the time difference with Portugal, the race in the top category got away and it soon adopted its recent pattern. The Repsol Honda rider with the number 3 slipped between the two Yamahas on the front row and reached the first turn in the lead. Pedrosa had got off to another great start although two corners later he saw Jorge Lorenzo move to the front and at the end of lap 2 Stoner overtook him on the straight.
At that moment the race became a follow the leader as the first six did not exchange their positions at all. Tenth by tenth the gaps grew bigger and the group stretched out, but when Pedrosa tried to up the pace and catch Stoner – 2nd – on lap 4 he braked too hard and almost fell. In the end and in spite of setting the fastest race lap and a new record for Estoril on lap 11, he was not able to catch the Australian, and he rode the rest of the race in a comfortable 3rd place, alone, to the chequered flag, almost 10 seconds behind Jorge Lorenzo and 4 behind Casey Stoner.
His teammate, Andrea Dovizioso, finished in 7th position after a weekend full of problems with the setup on the rear wheel of his Honda. The Repsol rider started 9th, and at the end of the first lap had dropped down one place. Bit by bit he picked up the pace and on lap 5 overtook Capirossi, on lap 7 Hayden, and after Kallio fell he moved up to 6th. However, five laps from the end Toni Elías got past him and he had an intense battle with him to the finish. But in the end Dovizioso could not overtake the Spaniard, and a difference of 14 thousandths of a second separated them.
After this race Dani Pedrosa stays third in the rider overall, with a gap of 3 points separating him from Casey Stoner, whilst Dovizioso is fifth. Racing returns in two weeks, in Australia at the spectacular track of Phillip Island.
Dani Pedrosa, 3rd at 9.889 secs. >> Audio
“I made a very good start today and held the lead until the third corner where I ran a little wide and Jorge came by. He was pushing really hard in the first few laps and even though I was too, I couldn’t match his rhythm as he opened up a gap. When Casey came past I tried to stay with him and was able to put some pressure on and maintain a good pace. I had a moment though where the bike was snaking as I braked, I ran wide and I nearly crashed – that cost me some time and opened up the gap to Casey. So I’m reasonably happy with a podium and it definitely will now be an interesting fight for third place in the championship with Casey. He is the reference in Australia and so the next race is going to be hard fought – I’m looking forward to it. I definitely want to win at least one of the three races left and maybe the next one is the most important.”
Andrea Dovizioso, 7th at 35.723 secs. >> Audio
“It was a really close finish on the line and I just missed out on sixth place – which isn’t the result we wanted, obviously. I started from the third row and was ninth in the early laps before getting past Capirossi, Elias and Hayden which took me up to sixth. I was able to hold the gap to Elias behind me but then I lost time on one lap and he came past. I closed again and it was really close on the last lap – I thought I had a chance of taking the place out of the last corner but it didn’t happen. We’ve had a few issues finding good grip and finding the best settings this weekend which has made it quite difficult to get the best out of the machine. I’m disappointed today but we have plenty of potential to move forward and we’ll continue to improve our understanding with the new suspension for the next races.”
