PEDROSA NAILS LORENZO FOR 2ND MOTOGP VICTORY OF THE SEASON
2010-07-19 19:37:43 Author: admin Source:
Dani Pedrosa won a dominant victory at the German Grand Prix in Sachsenring on Sunday. The Spaniard got the better of MotoGP Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo to score his second victory of the 2010 season. Lorenzo finished second to keep his consecutive podium streak undisrupted, while Casey Stoner edged out Valentino Rossi in a last-corner duel for third overall. Pedrosa’s team-mate Andrea Dovizioso grabbed a tight contest with Marco Simoncelli for fifth place, making it three Hondas in the top six.
The race ran in warm and dry conditions was stopped and restarted following a three-bike accident that left Randy de Puniet nursing a broken left leg. The Frenchman crashed on lap ten of what should have been a 30 lap race, his fallen machine bringing down Alvaro Bautista and Aleix Espargaro.
In the first race Pedrosa had shadowed leader Lorenzo and in the 21-lap restart he once again followed his compatriot, before beginning his attack shortly before half distance. Between the two races Pedrosa’s crew had made a small tweak to his suspension settings which allowed him to mount a stronger challenge. On lap nine, he briefly got into the lead at turn one, only to run wide and allow Lorenzo back in front. The following lap he repeated the pass and this time made it stick. Pedrosa then built a commanding lead for his first success since his runaway win in last month’s Italian Grand Prix.
Rossi meanwhile, back racing just six weeks after breaking his leg, had dropped two places on his grid position to seventh at race start. On the second lap he passed Hector Barbera and then loomed up behind Simoncelli, passing his fellow Italian to take fifth on lap four. The defending champion had more than a second's gap to Dovizioso but he quickly started to close down on him and was in range on the ninth lap, passing him on the tenth.
At the race restart, the 'Doctor' passed Hayden second time around to retake fifth and set off in pursuit of the leaders. On the sixth lap, he got by Dovizioso but with a near two-second gap to Stoner it looked unlikely that the Italian would make much headway on the Australian. But, the final six laps saw some superb action between the two rivals, with Rossi looking as if he had never been away and several brilliant overtaking manoeuvres from both riders. On the penultimate lap Rossi took the lead in what looked like a decisive move, but on the final corner, Stoner somehow found a way back through for the final podium spot, denying Rossi a probable podium finish on his return.
Dovizioso (above) ran fourth in the first race and had a busier time in the restart, spending the last half of the 21 laps fighting back and forth with Simoncelli and Hayden. With three laps to go, he was at the back of the three-man group but he planned the last few laps to perfection, picking off his fellow Italian and Hayden to net a useful points haul that keeps him third in the championship.
Simoncelli enjoyed the race somewhat, swapping positions several times a lap. The former 250 champion had one last go at beating Dovizioso at the final turn, but ran wide Nevertheless his sixth-place result is his best so far in the elite class and sends him to Laguna Seca in optimistic mood. Team mate Marco Melandri finished in tenth place, still suffering from the dislocated left shoulder he sustained at Assen a few weeks ago.
Alex de Angelis had a challenging return to MotoGP, coming into this race as replacement for the injured Hiroshi Aoyama, without any testing. The Italian had a high-speed tumble in qualifying and finished the race in 12th place.
In the Ducati camp, Stoner picked up his third podium finish of the season which is somewhat a far contrast to his previous years' performance in the premier two-wheel event. The Australian fought to the finish to wrestle third place from Rossi on the last dash to the flag. Hayden, meanwhile, had made a good start to the first race, charging from fifteenth on the grid to ensure sixth spot on the reformed grid. He made up another position in the second race but was unlucky to be passed by two riders after losing the front of his GP10 just three laps from the end, leaving him in an otherwise creditable seventh.
Suzuki racer Loris Capirossi (above) brought his Suzuki home in 11th place, whilst team-mate Álvaro Bautista was forced to miss the second half of a two-part race following a red flag incident. Capirossi and Bautista were both battling for top-10 finishes during the first part of the race and the latter had just posted his fastest lap, before de Puniet crashed on lap 10.
Capirossi was in close vicinity to the accident but missed the falling rider, however Bautista was not so fortunate and had to take evasive action to avoid de Puniet, but couldn’t avoid the stricken Honda. Following the restart, Capirossi began from 11th on the grid, but he was unable to find any grip from the tyre he used for the re-start and wasn’t able to make any advances through the field.
Lorenzo's championship lead now stands at 47 points from Pedrosa, Dovizioso holds on to third place and Stoner fourth. Rossi, who ranked seventh before the German GP, has moved up one place to sixth in the riders' standings.
With round nine of the 2010 MotoGP series taking place in California next weekend, the MotoGP circus is already making its way west towards the Mazda Raceway circuit at the Laguna Seca vicinity.
Results
1. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 28'50.476
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha + 3.355
3. Casey Stoner Ducati + 5.257
4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha + 5.623
5. Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda + 17.158
6. Marco Simoncelli Honda + 17.757
7. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 17.935
8. Ben Spies Yamaha Tech 3 + 20.957
9. Hector Barbera Aspar + 22.000
10. Marco Melandri Honda + 35.217
11. Loris Capirossi Suzuki + 45.042
12. Alex de Angelis Honda + 45.204
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 185
2. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 138
3. Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda 102
4. Casey Stoner Ducati 83
5. Nicky Hayden Ducati 78
6. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 74
7. Randy de Puniet Honda 69
8. Ben Spies Yamaha Tech 3 67
9. Marco Simoncelli Honda 49
10. Marco Melandri Honda 45
11. Hector Barbera Aspar 41
12. Colin Edwards Yamaha Tech 3 39
13. Loris Capirossi Suzuki MotoGP 30
14. Aleix Espargaro Pramac 28
15. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki MotoGP 25
16. Mika Kallio Pramac 24
17. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 18
18. Alex de Angelis Honda 4
19. Kousuke Akiyoshi Honda 4
20. Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha 1
