The Czech GP finished with a positive second position for Dani Pedrosa, who took perfect advantage of a mistake made by Jorge Lorenzo to cross the line behind Valentino Rossi and get another 20 points. For Andrea Dovizioso, today’s hard-fought race against Toni Elías, ended with a hard-earned 4th place, after a battle from the very start to the finishing line.
Pedrosa got away fast at the start once again, this time in front of 138 000 spectators, and was first at the end of the straight. However a few corners later Valentino Rossi got past the Spaniard and took control of the race. He tried to stay with him for four laps but then Jorge Lorenzo also overtook him, the Repsol rider falling to 3rd position.
The two Yamaha riders set a pace that was impossible to keep up with, and they rode alone at the front of the field the whole race. With five laps left Lorenzo fell meaning that Dani Pedrosa crossed the finishing line in second place.
That fall also helped Andrea Dovizioso and Toni Elías as their dogfight gained in significance, they were now fighting for third place. The two rode together from the very start of the race when Dovizioso, starting 6th, overtook Edwards and moved just behind the Spanish rider’s rear wheel. Behind them Loris Capirossi, these three had a tough battle the whole race.
There was little room for manouevres and it was not until four laps were left that Dovizioso managed to get past Elías. Hoewever, although Dovizioso defended well on the following lap, the Spaniard finally snatched third place from the Italian, who goes home with 13 more points.
Tomorrow both Pedrosa and Dovizioso have a very important day’s work ahead of them regarding the run in to the end of the championship, as the final day of practice allowed in the rules before the end of the season will be held.
Dani Pedrosa, 2nd at 11.776 sec. >> Audio
“At the start of the race I pushed really hard to stay with the leaders and for the first few laps I was with them. Then they kept getting faster on every lap and, though I was pushing to the maximum, I couldn’t maintain that sort of pace today. So for the rest of the race I just had to concentrate on not making a mistake because there was a big gap in front of me and also behind me. Second place is a good result for me and the team, though obviously we would have wanted to be closer to front-running pace. It’s great to finish a race on the podium and feel in good physical condition after the problems I had in the first part of the season – especially because it was very hot out there today and this is a demanding track. We have a test tomorrow and it is going to be really important for us to work on the areas we still have to improve so that we can challenge for wins again”.
Andrea Dovizioso, 4th at 21.418 sec. >> Audio
“I was riding really hard out there and I had a tough battle for third place in the last few laps. From the start I tried to stay with Dani and the leaders but it wasn’t possible. The gap to Elias was always small and my pace was very similar to his which made it very difficult to overtake him. I tried really hard in the middle of the race without any success and then in the last few laps the grip dropped off a little and to overtake Toni I had to take some risks. I really wanted that podium finish so I was pushing very hard, and also I had Capirossi behind who was putting a lot of pressure on too. Fourth is not a bad result but I can’t say that I’m satisfied with the result today. Still there is a day of testing tomorrow and this will give us a chance to make improvements to our machine package and prepare for the next races”.
