Nicky Hayden repeats podium and Dani Pedrosa misses the prize after an impressive performance in Turkey
Third place and leadership for Hayden; a crash in the last lap takes Pedrosa out of the fight for the victory after starting from the 16th position. Repsol Honda Team keeps the leadership in the teams’ standings.
Excellent performance of the Repsol Honda Team riders in Istanbul, with Hayden third and leading the overall standings, and Dani Pedrosa protagonising an impressive recovery. After starting from the sixteenth position – sixth row of the starting grid – Dani overtook 15 riders, and even managed to lead the race on lap 11.
The race of the premier class started with Gibernau in the lead, setting the pace, Nicky Hayden fourth after the first lap and team mate Pedrosa in a back thirteenth position. From that moment on, there were two focuses of attention in the race. Five riders made up a group in the lead -Melandri, Hayden, Gibernau, Stoner and Vermeulen-, while Pedrosa, in the back, started a stunning recovery that took him in only eleven laps from the sixteenth to the leading position. With Pedrosa leading the Turkish race, Vermeulen and Gibernau were loosing positions and a solitary group of four riders, who were going to fight for the victory, was formed in the front.
The Repsol Honda Team riders even managed to be in the leading two positions of the race, but on the last laps they weren’t able any more to fight for the win. First it was Hayden who lost ground, unable to keep the pace of the lead, having to settle for the fourth place, until Pedrosa crashed in the last lap. Dani had lost some ground trying to avoid hitting against Melandri in a braking manoeuvre and in the following corner, trying to recover the ground, the young Repsol rider ended-up on the asphalt after loosing grip on the front end. Dani rejoined the race and crossed the finish line in fourteenth position. The race was won by Italian rider Marco Melandri. After Hayden’s third place in Turkey, the North American rider now tops the drivers’ standings. The teams’ standings are lead by the Repsol Honda Team, with an advantage of seven points over second classified Fortuna Honda Team.
The 250cc race had a very eventful start with Shuhei Aoyama causing the first incident. Aoyama, who started from the fourth row of the grid with the fourteenth fastest time, braked too late at the end of the straight after a good start and wasn’t able to avoid hitting Jorge Lorenzo. After the incident both riders were forced to retire from the race. Aoyama’s team mate, Sebastián Porto, did not make a good start and he was forced to go wide at the end of the straight in order not to crash against his team mate and Lorenzo, loosing valuable time. He was thirteenth after the first lap and after recovering some positions along the race, though without any option to reach the leading group, he crossed the finish line tenth.
In the 125cc, Bradley Smith, who took the start from the twenty-sixth position of the starting grid, was thirty-third after the first lap. After a bad start, the young British rider recovered several places lap after lap until moving up to twenty-third. Six laps before the end of the race, al light crash after loosing grip of his bike’s front end hindered him from finishing the race.
Rider´s comments:
Nicky Hayden,
3rd
‘It was a wild race. Everyone was riding super-aggressive and fighting for position but nobody was doing any bone-head stuff. So I enjoyed the race. I had a bit of a problem on the starting line when one of the tyre warmers melted to the front disc and I thought about coming into the pits on the warm up lap. The brakes actually came in pretty good, but all through the race I felt a bit sloppy on the brakes – it didn’t feel perfect. Although the other guys were riding real fast and breaking really deep, so perhaps that’s what it was it! At the end I just didn’t get it done, I make no excuses. The Repsol Honda team really did a good job – and the Michelins worked very well today. I’m really happy to keep the podium streak alive and leading the world championship is something to be proud of – it’s a good accomplishment for me – but it’s only three races in so I’m not going to jump up and down just yet. I’ve gotta keep working hard and stay focused and really I’ve gotta win races if I’m going threaten for the title.’
Dani Pedrosa,
14th
‘Until the last lap I think the race was good. I got a good start and recovered a lot of positions at the beginning. Then I got into a very good rhythm and I was able to overtake riders and catch the leaders, which was the main plan before the race. Near the end it was difficult because I lost some time and there was a little gap to the leaders so I was not completely with them. Then I crashed as I was entering the first corner – maybe I had a little movement at the back of the bike – and then I lost the front end. Fortunately I was able to pick the bike up and finish in 14th place, so at least I got two points. I’m sorry for my team because they were really good for the whole weekend and maybe I was not fully concentrating on the job because two mistakes and two crashes – this is a lot for me..’
Sebastián Porto,
10th
‘Well, it’s been really bad. The truth is that I lost the race right after at the start, in the first corner, when I saw that my team mate was running wide and in order to avoid him I had to go a bit straight, loosing all chances to fight for being in the leading group. Then I made my race, I made up as much as I could, but the leading group had already escaped. I’ve been riding all alone the whole race, but at least I managed to score. There’s still a lot to improve, the bike still doesn’t work the way I want, but I’m not worried, there are a lot of races left and we have to work.’
Shuhei Aoyama,
crashed out
‘I’m really sorry for what happened and I want to apologise to Jorge Lorenzo for that. I knew that in order to get a good result I needed a good start, so I focussed on it. I actually made a good start but when I arrived at the first left-hand corner, I braked too late and I couldn’t avoid crashing with Lorenzo. It’s been my fault; I’m very sorry for Lorenzo and for my team, who have been working really hard this weekend to provide me with a competitive bike.’
Bradley Smith,
crashed out
‘My plan for the start was going to the inside into the first corner but when Pesek’s bike slowed I had to go to outside to avoid touching him so I lost a lot o time. There was a lot of hesitate and bumping and bouncing but I kept it like flat out running outside and managed not to loose too many places which was ok. Then I passed four riders on the first lap. From the first few laps I had really bad left hand side front grip. In the fast corners it was just chattering really badly and in the end I haven’t been able to avoid he crash. It’s a shame, but now we have to focus on China.’
Standings:
MotoGP
- M.Melandri (Honda) 41’54.065
- C.Stoner (Honda) + 0.200
- N.Hayden (Honda) + 5.458
- V.Rossi (Yamaha) + 6.209
- T.Elías (Honda) + 6.5871
- D.Pedrosa (Honda) + 53.525
World Championship MotoGP
- N.Hayden, 52 points.
- L.Capirossi, 51
- M.Melandri, 45
- C.Stoner, 41
- V.Rossi, 40
- D.Pedrosa, 32
250
- H.Aoyama (KTM) 40’02.376
- H.Barberá (Aprilia) + 0.401
- A.Dovizioso (Honda) + 0.467
- R.Locatelli (Aprilia) + 0.641
- Y.Takahashi (Honda) + 2.555
- S.Porto (Honda) + 20.910
NC. S.Aoyama (Honda)
World Championship 250
- A.Dovizioso, 52 points.
- J.Lorenzo, 50.
- H.Aoyama, 46
- H.Barberá, 44
- S.Porto, 15
- S.Aoyama, 3
125
- H.Faubel (Aprilia) 39’30.095
- A.Bautista (Aprilia) + 0.243
- S.Gadea (Aprilia) + 7.240
- S.Corsi (Gilera) + 8.340
- J.Olivé (Aprilia) + 9.127
NC. B.Smith (Honda)
World Championship 125
- A.Bautista, 70 points.
- H.Faubel, 45
- S.Gadea, 41
- M.Kallio, 33
- L.Pesek, 29
