PEDROSA FIGHTS TO FOURTH AS ROSSI WINS AT HOME2008-08-31 10:12In stifling heat on the Adriatic coast of Italy Casey Stoner (Ducati) threw away his last fading hopes of winning the MotoGP title again when he crashed while leading on lap eight of this 28-lap race. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) won from his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo with Toni Elias (Ducati) third. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) finished a gallant fourth after leaving the line in superb style to lie second into turn one behind Stoner. But the Spanish star could not maintain the pace of the eventual podium men, and despite a gutsy bid for third in the closing stages, he finished 17 seconds behind the winner. His team-mate Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) did not ride today after struggling throughout qualifying with the injury to his right foot. He should be fit enough, however, to appear at Indianapolis in the USA in two weeks time. Stoner flew in the early laps building a 3.3 second lead after only three tours of the 4.226km circuit and looked untouchable. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) made a good launch too and lay fourth on lap one — until he fell, not even completing the opening lap. He crashed here on lap one in 2007 too. Dani was hanging on gamely however and it looked as if the Honda man was back to form after his German crash and the disappointment of missing out on riding at Laguna Seca. But Dani couldn't quite hang in there and as Rossi passed him early on, then Lorenzo and Elias on lap five, he had to make do with holding onto fourth. Things were not going the way of the Honda men here. After De Puniet's early departure, San Marino lost it's main man when Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) crashed on lap two. This left Dani, Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V) and Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) as the only men left in the running. Rossi was pressuring Stoner as best he could but the reigning world champion was maintaining the three second cushion he'd established. Until, that is, he slid off his machine on lap eight at the hairpin leading onto the short 565m straight. He did not restart and his 2008 title ambitions are now surely in ruins. Lorenzo was now the man chasing Rossi, but the Italian rider now worked on keeping his Spanish team-mate at bay and this he did, working his lead up to three seconds in the three laps from a 2.7 second base. Lorenzo made a late effort to close this but Rossi's job was now done. Action downfield consisted of a spirited fight for fifth place between the Suzuki riders Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi, Yamaha man James Toseland, and the stalwart Dovizioso, who never stints in fighting for every inch of track with any rival. His three antagonists overhauled him in the final laps but the trio knew they had a fight on their hands when they eventually moved through. Nakano showed well early on but faded to 12th at the flag, completing a difficult, yet at the same time defiant, day in the premier class. Rossi now has 262 points, Stoner 187, Pedrosa 185 and Lorenzo 140. Rossi's 75 point lead with five races to run is to all intents and purposes almost unassailable, but so long as mathematical chances remain, his four rivals will ride as fiercely as ever. Dani said: "That was a definitely a very physically tough race for everyone. It was very hot, much hotter than yesterday. Anyway, I can say I'm quite happy with the result. I didn't expect to finish fourth at the end. We had some trouble during the second half. We had two different rear tyres to choose from and I only made the choice on the grid. I went for the softer of the two tyres, thinking to gain some advantage during the early stages of the race. Obviously it wasn't the best option. But we had a much better race than we had at Brno and I did my best, so I am quite happy." Dovi said: "I did everything possible today. I had to overtake and recover positions I lost from starting 14th. My aim today was fifth. But my front tyre wasn't so good on corner entries, while the rear tyre was good. I had to maintain high corner speed, while other riders were able to be slower through the corners then accelerate away. Despite this, we again proved we can be competitive and we have to keep on this level." Nakano said: "It was a really difficult race for us today. Despite making a decent start and getting a couple of good laps under my belt, I started to feel a chatter problem in certain corners and couldn't push hard. By the closing stages of the race my lap times had dropped off by three seconds compared to our pace in practice. It's obvious that something isn't working but we'll have to analyse the data to find out what it is and work out a solution." Injured Nicky Hayden, who did not race, said: "This wasn't an easy decision. I love to race and the racer in me wanted to race, but in this kind of situation it's better to listen to the experts. The heel got worse as the weekend went on. I was sixth on Friday morning but I kept working my way backward after that, the more I rode, the more strength I lost in the foot. I felt I could have salvaged a little something out of today's race but that was just going to make things worse for Indy and for the rest of the season." De Puniet, who crashed unhurt on lap one, said: "I am very disappointed for me and the team. The whole weekend has been very positive and the fourth position on the grid was good. I was fifth when I went wide in the last corner loosing the rear end. My right arm aches a bit but will be fine for tomorrow's test. The Team made an excellent job this week end and I want to thank them for their efforts". De Angelis, another non-finisher, said: "I'm really disappointed with today's race because I got a good start and could have had a good race. Unfortunately Melandri came past me down the straight and we touched in the next corner under heavy braking. We both lost a lot of ground on the riders ahead of us and as I pushed hard to try and close the gap I lost the rear of the bike and it threw me into the air. I tried to hang on but I grabbed the front brake and crashed." 250cc Grand Prix A race that showed the quarter-litre class at its cut-throat best. A no-holds-barred contest that saw Yuki Takahashi (JiR Scot Honda RS250RW) ride with controlled aggression to finish a magnificent second behind winner Alvaro Bautista and ahead of third-placed Hector Barbera (both Aprilia). Action-packed from start to finish this race damaged sixth-placed Marco Simoncelli's World Championship lead. A race-long battle with Barbera with both riders barging each other off-line with some venom ended when Simoncelli crashed (of his own accord) with four laps to go. He remounted unlike Mattia Pasini (Aprilia) who fell mid-race when Barbera squeezed inside him on the series of fast right-handers. World Championship hopeful Mika Kallio (KTM) saw his thin hopes of late-season contention severely dented when he tangled with his team-mate Hiro Aoyama on lap four — a bitter blow for a rider who lead the series earlier in the season. The table now is thus: Simoncelli 190 points, Kallio 164, Bautista 163. Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG RS250RW) enjoyed a fine race, finishing eighth to equal his best result of the year so far. But it was Takahashi with a cool head and a burning desire to score a podium who starred here today. Takahashi, after his best result of the year so far, said: "I'm happy, because I feel this is my home race and I have so many fans here. Many of my mechanics live near the circuit and deserve this result. I knew from Friday we could make a good race but it was going to be really difficult. After the start I knew I could not leave the others and I didn't want to be involved in a big fight for the podium. I was helped by incidents and crashes, but I wanted to wait until the end of the race anyway to push at the very maximum." Wilairot, after his third top-ten finish of the season so far, said: "First of all I want to thank everyone who supported me because without their help I couldn't get this excellent result. The start of the race was good, I got 13th position but in one of the first corners I got touched and lost three positions. I finished 8th and I'm two points behind Faubel in the standings so I must continue fighting." 125cc Grand Prix This somewhat processional yet surprisingly eventful race reshaped the World Championship. Gabor Talmacsi won comfortably from Bradley Smith with Simone Corsi third (all Aprilia). But significantly series points leader Mike Di Meglio (Derbi) fell and failed to score. Smith nailed the holeshot but Talmacsi from pole barged past at turn four on the opening lap and aside from one error that allowed Smith a taste of the lead mid-race, the Hungarian reigning World Champion was never troubled. Talmacsi crossed the line five and a half seconds clear of Smith and is now back in touch in the Championship with 147 points to leader Di Meglio's 186. Corsi now has 158 points and with five rounds to go Frenchman Di Meglio now has 'form' riders breathing down his neck. Louis Rossi (FFM Racing Honda RS125R) finished 23rd and said: "I had an excellent start and overtook two riders in the first lap. But then I made a small mistake and the two riders passed me. Several riders fell in front of me and I ended up last. I kept up as best I could but the bike was sliding a lot on this track with such poor grip. We'd picked the same settings as the previous day, but even then I felt less grip. I am very disappointed." Honda rider quotes MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 4th. "That was a definitely a very physically tough race for everyone. It was very hot, much hotter than yesterday. Anyway, I can say I'm quite happy with the result. I didn't expect to finish fourth at the end. We had some trouble during the second half. We had two different rear tyres to choose from and I only made the choice on the grid. I went for the softer of the two tyres, thinking to gain some advantage during the early stages of the race. Obviously it wasn't the best option. But we had a much better race than we had at Brno and I did my best, so I am quite happy." Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda: 8th. "I did everything possible with the material at my disposal today. In the race I had to overtake many riders and recover positions that I lost from my starting position of 14th. My aim today was for fifth position, but I felt my front tyre wasn't so good on the entrance to the corners, while the rear tyre was very good. In order to not lose contact with the other riders I had to maintain high corner speed, while other riders were able to be slower through the corners but then accelerate away. Despite this, today we again proved we can be competitive and we have to keep on this level." Shinya Nakano, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 12th. "It was a really difficult race for us today. Despite making a decent start and getting a couple of good laps under my belt, I started to feel a chattering problem in certain corners and couldn't push hard. By the closing stages of the race my lap times had dropped off by three seconds compared to our pace in practice leading up to this Grand Prix. It is obvious that something isn't working but we'll have to analyse the data to find out what it is and work out a solution." Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Gresini Honda: dnf — crash lap 2. "I'm really disappointed with today's race because I got a good start and could have had a good race. Unfortunately Melandri came past me down the straight and we touched in the next corner under heavy braking. We both lost a lot of ground on the riders ahead of us and as I pushed hard to try and close the gap I lost the rear of the bike and it threw me into the air. I tried to hang on but I grabbed the front brake and crashed." Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: dnf — crash lap 1. "I am very disappointed for me and the Team. The whole week end has been very positive and the 4th position on the grid was a good occasion for me. I made a good start from the second row and knew that I could get a positive result as my pace was consistently fast throughout the week end. I was fifth when I went wide in the last corner loosing the rear control. My right arm aches a bit but will be fine for tomorrow's test. The Team made an excellent job this week end and I want to thank them for their efforts." Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: Nicky Hayden did not race due to injuries received at the X Games on August 2 last. Hayden tested his Repsol Honda RC212V in practice but the strain on his injured right heel became to painful to continue and he decided not to start the race. "This wasn't an easy decision. I love to race and the racer in me wanted to race, but in this kind of situation it's better to listen to the experts. The heel got worse as the weekend went on. I was sixth on Friday morning but I kept working my way backward after that, the more I rode, the more strength I lost in the foot. When I woke up this morning I had a lot of swelling and bruising, there wasn't any way the foot was going to fit in a boot. The team and I took the decision to try and be smart, to try to let it heal as best it can to get it ready for Indy, which is a huge race for me. I felt I could have salvaged a little something out of today's race but that was just going to make things worse for Indy and for the rest of the season." 250cc: Yukio Takahashi, JiR Scot Honda: 2nd. "I'm happy for this podium for many reasons, because I feel this is my home race and I have so many fans here. Many of my mechanics and Team live near the circuit and deserve this result. I knew from Friday that we could make a good race but it was going to be really difficult. After the start I knew that I could not leave the others and I didn't want to be involved in a big fight for the podium as I could have taken some unnecessary risks. I was helped by incidents and crashes, but I wanted to wait until the end of the race anyway to push at the very maximum." Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT SAG: 8th. "First of all I want to thank everyone who supported me because without their help I couldn't get this excellent result. The start of the race was really good, I got 13th position but in one of the first corners Debón touch me and I lost 3 positions. Since that time I started to ride in 1'40 and kept that pace until the end of the race. Finally I finished 8th and I am two points behind Faubel in the General qualifying so I must continue fighting to be in better positions in the championship standings." 125cc: Louis Rossi, FFM Honda: 23rd. "I had an excellent start and overtook two riders in the first lap. But then I made a small mistake, sliding the back wheel which took me onto the grass and the two riders passed me back. Several riders fell in front of me and I ended up last. I kept up as best I could but the bike was sliding a lot on this track with such poor grip. We'd picked the same settings as the previous day, but even then I felt less grip. I am very disappointed." Results MotoGP Race Classification MotoGP : (28 laps = 118.328 km) Pos/ Rider / Nat / Team / Motorcycle / Time/ KM/H / Gap 1 / Valentino ROSSI / ITA / Fiat Yamaha Team / YAMAHA / 44'41.884 / 158.836 / 2 / Jorge LORENZO / SPA / Fiat Yamaha Team / YAMAHA / 44'45.047 / 158.649 / 3.163 3 / Toni ELIAS / SPA / Alice Team / DUCATI / 44'53.589 / 158.146 / 11.705 4 / Dani PEDROSA / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 44'59.354 / 157.808 / 17.470 5 / Chris VERMEULEN / AUS / Rizla Suzuki MotoGP / SUZUKI / 45'05.293 / 157.461 / 23.409 6 / James TOSELAND / GBR / Tech 3 Yamaha / YAMAHA / 45'08.092 / 157.299 / 26.208 7 / Loris CAPIROSSI / ITA / Rizla Suzuki MotoGP / SUZUKI / 45'08.708 / 157.263 / 26.824 8 / Andrea DOVIZIOSO / ITA / JiR Team Scot MotoGP / HONDA / 45'09.475 / 157.218 / 27.591 9 / Marco MELANDRI / ITA / Ducati Marlboro Team / DUCATI / 45'15.053 / 156.895 / 33.169 10 / Colin EDWARDS / USA / Tech 3 Yamaha / YAMAHA / 45'18.413 / 156.702 / 36.529 11 / Sylvain GUINTOLI / FRA / Alice Team / DUCATI / 45'23.965 / 156.382 / 42.081 12 / Shinya NAKANO / JPN / San Carlo Honda Gresini / HONDA / 45'25.692 / 156.283 / 43.808 13 / Anthony WEST / AUS / Kawasaki Racing Team / KAWASAKI / 45'36.758 / 155.651 / 54.874 14 / John HOPKINS / USA / Kawasaki Racing Team / KAWASAKI / 45'37.038 / 155.635 / 55.154 Pole Position: Casey STONER 1'33.378 162.924 Km/h Fastest Lap (New record): Valentino ROSSI 1'34.904 160.305 Km/h Lap 6 Circuit Record Lap: New Circuit Circuit Best Lap: Casey STONER 1'33.378 162.924 Km/h 2008 World Championship Positions: 1 ROSSI 262, 2 STONER 187, 3 PEDROSA 185, 4 LORENZO 140, 5 DOVIZIOSO 118, 6 VERMEULEN 110, 7 EDWARDS 108, 8 NAKANO 87, 9 CAPIROSSI 86, 10 TOSELAND 85, 11 HAYDEN 84, 12 ELIAS 82, 13 DE ANGELIS 49, 14 MELANDRI 48, 15 GUINTOLI 47. 250cc Race Classification 250cc: (26 laps = 109.876 km) Pos / Rider / Nat / Team / Motorcycle / Time / KM/H / Gap 1 / Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Mapfre Aspar Team / APRILIA / 43'15.831 / 152.380 / 2 / Yuki TAKAHASHI / JPN / JiR Team Scot 250 / HONDA / 43'17.919 / 152.257 / 2.088 3 / Hector BARBERA / SPA / Team Toth Aprilia / APRILIA / 43'19.583 / 152.160 / 3.752 4 / Roberto LOCATELLI / ITA / Metis Gilera / GILERA / 43'23.303 / 151.942 / 7.472 5 / Julian SIMON / SPA / Repsol KTM 250cc / KTM / 43'26.693 / 151.745 / 10.862 6 / Marco SIMONCELLI / ITA / Metis Gilera / GILERA / 43'37.011 / 151.147 / 21.180 7 / Thomas LUTHI / SWI / Emmi - Caffe Latte / APRILIA / 43'45.271 / 150.671 / 29.440 8 / Ratthapark WILAIROT / THA / Thai Honda PTT SAG / HONDA / 43'49.713 / 150.417 / 33.882 9 / Lukas PESEK / CZE / Auto Kelly - CP / APRILIA / 43'50.882 / 150.350 / 35.051 10 / Karel ABRAHAM / CZE / Cardion AB Motoracing / APRILIA / 44'01.236 / 149.760 / 45.405 11 / Fabrizio LAI / ITA / Campetella Racing / GILERA / 44'03.091 / 149.655 / 47.260 12 / Federico SANDI / ITA / Matteoni Racing / APRILIA / 44'26.495 / 148.342 / 1'10.664 13 / Manuel HERNANDEZ / SPA / Blusens Aprilia / APRILIA / 44'26.713 / 148.330 / 1'10.882 14 / Toni WIRSING / GER / Racing Team Germany / HONDA / 44'49.163 / 147.091 / 1'33.332 15 / Simone GROTZKYJ / ITA / Campetella Racing / GILERA / 43'29.476 / 145.753 / 1 lap Pole Position: Hector BARBERA 1'38.047 155.166 Km/h Fastest Lap (New Record): Marco SIMONCELLI 1'38.993 153.683 Km/h Lap 5 Circuit Record Lap: New Circuit Circuit Best Lap: Hector BARBERA 1'38.047 155.166 Km/h 2008 World Championship Positions: 1 SIMONCELLI 190, 2 KALLIO 164, 3 BAUTISTA 163, 4 BARBERA 142, 5 DEBON 139, 6 PASINI 117, 7 TAKAHASHI 115, 8 AOYAMA 101, 9 LUTHI 95, 10 SIMON 83, 11 LOCATELLI 72, 12 ESPARGARO 55, 13 FAUBEL 49, 14 WILAIROT 47, 15 ABRAHAM 31. 125cc: Race Classification 125cc (23 laps = 97.198 km) Pos / Rider / Nat / Team / Motorcycle / Time / KM/H / Gap 1 / Gabor TALMACSI / HUN / Bancaja Aspar Team / APRILIA / 40'03.679 / 145.573 / 2 / Bradley SMITH / GBR / Polaris World / APRILIA / 40'09.081 / 145.247 / 5.402 3 / Simone CORSI / ITA / Jack & Jones WRB / APRILIA / 40'18.067 / 144.707 / 14.388 4 / Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Repsol KTM 125cc / KTM / 40'20.737 / 144.548 / 17.058 5 / Nicolas TEROL / SPA / Jack & Jones WRB / APRILIA / 40'21.000 / 144.532 / 17.321 6 / Andrea IANNONE / ITA / I.C. Team / APRILIA / 40'21.161 / 144.522 / 17.482 7 / Sandro CORTESE / GER / Emmi - Caffe Latte / APRILIA / 40'21.164 / 144.522 / 17.485 8 / Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Ajo Motorsport / DERBI / 40'22.336 / 144.452 / 18.657 9 / Esteve RABAT / SPA / Repsol KTM 125cc / KTM / 40'22.827 / 144.423 / 19.148 10 / Sergio GADEA / SPA / Bancaja Aspar Team / APRILIA / 40'38.329 / 143.505 / 34.650 11 / Efren VAZQUEZ / SPA / Blusens Aprilia Junior / APRILIA / 40'38.534 / 143.493 / 34.855 12 / Joan OLIVE / SPA / Belson Derbi / DERBI / 40'43.073 / 143.226 / 39.394 13 / Michael RANSEDER / AUT / I.C. Team / APRILIA / 40'50.983 / 142.764 / 47.304 14 / Danny WEBB / GBR / Degraaf Grand Prix / APRILIA / 40'56.920 / 142.419 / 53.241 15 / Jonas FOLGER / GER / Red Bull MotoGP Academy / KTM / 40'57.028 / 142.413 / 53.349 Pole Position: Gabor TALMACSI 1'43.729 146.666 Km/h Fastest Lap: Gabor TALMACSI 1'43.839 146.511 Km/h Lap 13 Circuit Record Lap: New Circuit Circuit Best Lap: Gabor TALMACSI 1'43.729 146.666 Km/h 2008 World Championship Positions: 1 DI MEGLIO 186, 2 CORSI 158, 3 TALMACSI 147, 4 BRADL 126, 5 OLIVE 114, 6 TEROL 113, 7 SMITH 109, 8 CORTESE 86, 9 ESPARGARO 83, 10 IANNONE 77, 11 GADEA 72, 12 REDDING 70, 13 MARQUEZ 46, 14 BONSEY 39, 15 RABAT 34. Source: Honda Pro Image Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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