The impressive Czech track, yearly venue of the Motorcycle World Championships comeback into action after the summer break, was once again host to excellent races. Today, this premise was complied with in the threes classes, with hard fought victories, which were decided almost always during the last lap. The MotoGP race had two completely different developments for the Repsol Honda Team riders, with Nicky Hayden loosing positions along the race and Max Biaggi constantly improving, starting from the fourth row of the grid, being eleventh after the first lap and taking the chequered flag in third position. The race started with Gibernau in the lead, closely followed by Rossi, Melandri and Hayden quickly leaving the rest of the riders behind. Rossi and Gibernau opened a small gap of only one second which the others were not able to close and Hayden overtook Melandri with the intention of catching up with the leading two. But young Repsol rider didnt manage to do so and lost the pace lap after lap, being overtaken by Barros, Capirossi and his own team-mate Biaggi, who had a superb recovery improving positions and finally crossing the finish line third after leaving Barros, Hayden, Melandri, Edwards, Checa, Hopkins and Hofmann behind. The victory was finally for Valentino Rossi, while Gibernau was forced to retire two corners before the end of the race due to mechanical problem.
A hard fought 250cc race was witnessed today in Brno, with Dani Pedrosa in an impressive shape, firmly moving toward his second title in the class. The race started with a large group in the lead, leaving the rest of the pack behind as the race went by. Leading the group was Aoyama, setting a very fast pace, followed by Lorenzo, Stoner, De Angelis, Dovizioso and Pedrosa. Both riders of the Repsol Aspar Team, De Puniet and Porto, made a bad start thus conditioning the rest of their race, because they lost contact with the leading group and, despite having the same pace of the fastest riders, they had no chance to catch-up with them. In the lead, Lorenzo overtook Aoyama, trying unsuccessfully to break away from the rest. And the laps were passing by until only a few laps before the end, Pedrosa and Lorenzo opened a small gap to the rest of the pack, starting an intense duel for the victory in three close and powerful laps, with the victory finally going to the current World Champion Dani Pedrosa. Stoner, third, rounded off the podium, followed by De Angelis, Aoyama and Dovizioso. Sebastián Porto crossed the finish line on seventh position and his team-mate De Puniet was eight, both in Solitary and more tan 25 seconds behind the winner.
Exciting and highly contended race in the eighth-of-a-litre class, with an intense, grouped race, including uncountable overtaking manoeuvres and constant changes in the lead. The race was a passionate battle between Luthi, Kallio, Simoncelli and Pasini, a group of four that escaped together with Zanieti from the rest of the pack halfway the race. As regards the Repsol riders, Sergio Gadea was the most competitive of them, finishing fourth after an incredible recovery allowing him to catch-up with the leading group in the last lap of the race, however with no chance to improve further. In the leading group, Pasinis crash in the last lap allowed Luthi to cross the finish line in first position quite comfortably. Héctor Faubel, who started from a back forth row of the grid, was tenth after the first lap, but began loosing positions despite the good start. Later on, he was able to benefit from some crashes, being able to move up to the seventh place, but with two laps to go, he crashed loosing any chance to score some valuable points.
Riders´s comments
MotoGP. Max Biaggi
3rd, 4359.983:
That is an amazing result and one that makes me very happy for both myself and for all my team. It has been a very hard weekend and I knew that race would be difficult from the fourth row. The start was not so bad but I was touched in turn one when it was all very close and had a very big slide fourth gear. I composed myself and try to get the tyres to warm up especially the left side where we had troubles all weekend. After a few laps I can see that we can make progress little by little – and it is possible to move up the field. I start to believe I can move forward and we do. We make the best possible result from our position and I hope this is the start of the more positive part of the season for me. For sure it has not been easy so far. We test here for the next two days and I am very much looking forward to the next races with renewed confidence.
MotoGP. Nicky Hayden
5th, 4400.902:
That was really a tough race. We got a good start and we were right in there early on. Me and Melandri went back and fourth a few times. I just didnt want to let the leaders get away. I found myself running into some of the corners a little too hot and got a little ragged at times. The pace was so fast up front but thats what you get with the best riders in the world. They dropped the hammer at the start and just went. I tried my hardest to make my boys proud but it didnt happen this weekend. It was all good experience and Im happy to be testing here tomorrow because were going to have to be in good shape for the rest of the season.
250. Dani Pedrosa
1st, 4124.944:
Its been a tough race and Im really happy with the result. The track conditions were complicated at the beginning; it drizzled, the track was slippery and the tyres were still cold. I stayed behind at the start but I began making up positions and managed to have a good race pace towards the end. I tried to follow Lorenzos pace, who was being very fast and the rest of the pack stayed behind. In the last laps we overtook each other several times and we made a nice race. Ive been very fast, almost as much as during practice. The tyres suffered a lot and were ruined at the end, but weve been able to lap really fast despite everything. I want to thank the team for the great job theyve done throughout the weekend; they deserved this result.
250. Sebastián Porto
7th, 4150.489:
Theres not much to say to be honest. Randy got in my way at the start and that put me back. I tried to make up positions as quickly as possible but on the first lap Corsi fell and forced me off the track. From then on the race changed for me. The only thing I could try and do was to make up some places but the front group were too far away. The bike worked well until mid-way, but then the tyres started to wear. It was difficult to maintain a rhythm, but at least we got some points. I am not happy because luck is not on our side at the moment.
250. Randy De Puniet
8th, 4157.103:
I am really unhappy with this result. When I started I tried to get past Sebas but I dont know what happened and the bike stalled. I could have had a good race, but I was a long way down then and it was very difficult to get back. The bike was not that fast so I couldnt do much. Its a shame because this morning I was not going badly in the warm-up and I had a good feeling about the race. Well have to hope we can be back towards the front in Japan.
125. Sergio Gadea
4th, 4140.163:
It was a difficult weekend because I had a lot of problems with my set-up in the qualifying sessions which meant we started a long way back. Luckily I found a good rhythm and was able to get up to the lead group, but it was then that the rain started to fall so I didnt want to risk what I had and finish without any points. This result really encourages me for the rest of the season.
125. Héctor Faubel,
crashed out:
It was very hard starting from the fourth row as I had a lot of people in front of me. When Gadea went past me, he served as reference to help climb the field but I struggled to get past a couple of riders and he got away. A few laps from the end it started to rain and I thought they were going to stop the race, they didnt and I fell. I hope to have better luck in the remaining races.
Track conditions
- Air: 19º-20º
- Asphalt: 21º-24º
- Humidity: 34%-42%
- Wind: 3 Km/h
Tyre´s choice
- Héctor Faubel:Hard – Medium
- Sergio Gadea: Hard – Medium
- Sebastián Porto: Hard – Hard
- Randy De Puniet: Hard – Hard
- Dani Pedrosa: Hard – Hard
- Max Biaggi: Medium – Medium
- Nicky Hayden: Medium – Medium
