Pedrosa, the first Spaniard to win at Laguna Seca and the first ever victory with Bridgestone tyres. Andrea Dovizioso fell and lost out on a probable podium finish
This victory came at the best time for Dani Pedrosa and the Repsol Honda Team. After all the bad luck that has affected the Repsol rider over the last twelve months, with injuries and falls that have stopped him from showing his talent, today Dani Pedrosa made up for it all with a perfect race at the always difficult but spectacular circuit of Laguna Seca. And whilst Dani was on the way to victory from the very first lap, today it was his teammate Andrea Dovizioso who had bad luck.
In spite of starting well and being part of the leading group, with a good chance of getting a podium finish, a fall on lap 7 when he was 4th – behind Rossi – meant he had to retire. Today the Italian was a serious contender for a podium finish.
The race began with another brilliant start from Dani Pedrosa – something that has become usual – who started on the second row but who was clearly in the lead at the end of the home straight. From that moment on the Repsol Honda Team rider did a perfect “Pedrosa” race, that is to say setting a fast constant pace so that he could open up a gap over his rivals little by little. Behind him Stoner and Rossi fought for second place, with Dovizioso trying to catch them up – just a second and a half between them – and Lorenzo, with physical problems after his bad fall yesterday, on his rear wheel.
Dovizioso was following Rossi`s wheel in an attempt to get past him but he hit the clutch lever with the plastic protection at the end of the straight that separates the track from the slipway when he leaned over, and from then on could not operate the clutch correctly. On lap 7 and on corner 7 Dovizioso saw the front wheel on his Honda RC212V lose adherence and he could not avoid falling. A bad end to what could have been his first podium finish in the Repsol Honda Team colours.
So Lorenzo moved into 4th position whilst Dani was setting a fast pace out in front. On lap 10 Pedrosa had built up a one second lead over Rossi who had got past an exhausted Stoner, the Australian had lost his push and was losing a lot of ground to the Spaniard and the Italian. Behind them Lorenzo caught Stoner and was in a podium position.
The rest of the race saw the Repsol rider exercising complete control over his rivals with help from the blackboard, the gap respect to Rossi varied between a little over 3 seconds to a few tenths at the finishing line. On the final lap Rossi got dangerously close though as the Spaniard had relaxed too much and Rossi took advantage to get within a few metres of him. With this victory the Repsol Honda Team rider Dani Pedrosa, the first with Bridgestone tyres, breaks a bad run of over twelve months without a win and becomes the first Spaniard ever to win at Laguna Seca.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
“This is a fantastic win for us and it’s a great feeling after such a long time without a victory. The start to the season has been really difficult and actually it’s been tough since Sachsenring last year because I’ve had a lot of injuries and I haven’t been able to ride at 100 per cent for a long time, or train properly. But my team and Honda never gave up and I’d like to thank everyone who’s been working really hard to help me get back to this position. I’d also like to thank the doctors who have treated me because there have been quite a few of them! I got a good start, I was able to get into a good rhythm straight away and my pace was a little better than in practice. Perhaps my only mistake here was to slow down too much on the last lap because I didn’t realize how close Valentino was. Anyway, it was a great race, a great day and it’s a great feeling. Now I just want to focus on each race and get the best results possible. There’s a long way to go in the championship but there’s also a big gap to the leaders so I’m just going to take it one race at a time.”
Andrea Dovizioso >> Audio
“We were in good shape, I’d got into a fast rhythm and I’m sure we could have had good result today, so I’m very disappointed. Unfortunately I made a mistake and I have spoiled this opportunity. During the first laps, I was behind Valentino, I wanted to overtake him and I was very close at the end of the straight. It’s a blind point and I was so close that I didn’t see the plastic poles that separate the track from the pit lane. I hit a few of them and in the impact the clutch lever bent, and from that moment on I couldn’t control the engine braking. It was my mistake as my line was too far to the left but after that it was tough to ride and change gear properly. Nevertheless, I tried to stay up with the leaders. Then I lost the front and crashed after having had a couple of warnings. I’m really disappointed because we are getting closer to front-running pace at every race and here we could have done well. Still, I believe in myself, in the machine and in my team, and I really hope to get a good result soon.”
