Pedrosa rules San Marino MotoGP for 2nd consecutive victory
2010-09-06 13:49:38 Author: admin Source:
Round 13 of the Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) championship at Misano was marred by a tragic Moto2 accident which ended in the demise of Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa. Tomizawa’s death cast a great shadow over proceedings. All MotoGP riders reacted with shock and sadness when they were told of Tomizawa’s passing after they had finished their race.
Carrying the top form from the Indianapolis MotoGP, Dani Pedrosa took another convincing second consecutive victory at the San Marino Grand Prix as he finished 1.9 seconds clear of second place and current championship leader Jorge Lorenzo. Local hero Valentino Rossi grabbed third place in his final appearance for Yamaha, 3.2 seconds from the leader.
Pedrosa led from start to finish, steadily increasing his advantage until he was more than five second ahead of his nearest pursuer, Lorenzo. In the late stages, Pedrosa eased his pace, finally finishing almost two seconds in front. The Spaniard heroics came a little too late with five races remaining as Pedrosa still trails Lorenzo by a huge margin of 63 points.
Yamaha gained their first double podium since Laguna Seca, when Lorenzo finished second and Rossi third. As Pedrosa rocketed away at the start, Lorenzo lost one place and dropped to third but before the first lap was over he had got back past Casey Stoner to retake second position. Despite pushing hard in the early stages, it was soon clear that the championship leader was not able to run the same pace as Pedrosa and he was forced to settle for an uneventful ride to second, importantly taking another 20 points for his title challenge and continuing his flawless record of a podium in every race this season.
Rossi made a good start and kept fourth place in the early stint, holding on to the leaders over the first few laps. He gradually began to close down Stoner and made the pass stick on his second try, on lap eleven of 28. In the latter part of the race, he came under pressure from fellow countryman Andrea Dovizioso but he was able to hold him off, putting in his fastest lap of the race three laps from the end and coming home just over a second behind his team-mate.
Dovizioso tried his best to score a podium finish at his home race, but the man from Forli couldn’t quite get the better of Rossi. Nonetheless Dovizioso showed great determination in coming through from a third-row start. Fifth place went to Stoner (above right) who was more than a little disappointed with the result, eventhough he was feeling quite confident for a better finish following a front row start in third place. "I tried to stay with Jorge (Lorenzo) in the race but I started to make mistakes because the front kept closing. It became a challenge just to make it to the end of the race and hold my position," the 2007 MotoGP champion said after the race.
Team mate Nicky Hayden endured a difficult race at Misano, crashing out at the second corner after making contact with Loris Capirossi.
Álvaro Bautista (above) rode a consistent race at Misano to bring his Suzuki home in eighth place after a hard-fought race. Bautista started from 16th on the grip and was lucky to avoid a first corner incident that caused him to lose time on the pack of riders in front of him. He quickly regained his composure and set about chasing the field. Bautista caught and passed a number of riders as he made his way up to eighth on lap 18, he then tried to catch Colin Edwards who had a large gap between himself and Bautista, but the Suzuki man was unable to bridge the distance - even though he made huge in-roads into the American’s lead.
The next round comes at the new track of Motorland Aragon in two week's time.
Results
1.. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 44'22.059
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha + 1.900
3. Valentino Rossi Yamaha + 3.183
4. Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda + 6.454
5. Casey Stoner Ducati + 18.479
6. Ben Spies Yamaha Tech 3 + 28.385
7. Colin Edwards Yamaha Tech 3 + 34.934
8. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki MotoGP + 38.157
9. Hector Barbera Aspar + 40.943
10. Marco Melandri Honda + 42.377
11. Aleix Espargaro Pramac + 45.906
12. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda + 46.394
13. Randy de Puniet Honda + 50.481
14. Marco Simoncelli Honda + 1'23.143
Riders' standings
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 271
2. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 208
3. Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda 139
4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 130
5. Casey Stoner Ducati 130
6. Ben Spies Yamaha Tech 3 120
7. Nicky Hayden Ducati 109
8. Randy de Puniet Honda 81
9. Marco Melandri Honda 67
10. Colin Edwards Yamaha Tech 3 66
11. Marco Simoncelli Honda 65
12. Hector Barbera Aspar 61
13. Aleix Espargaro Pramac 44
14. Loris Capirossi Suzuki MotoGP 41
15. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki MotoGP 41
16. Mika Kallio Pramac 31
17. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 26
18. Alex de Angelis Honda 11
19. Kousuke Akiyoshi Honda 4
20. Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha 1
