Pedrosa take second in rain-hit Spanish Grand Prix

The race was won by reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) with Nicky Hayden (Ducati) finishing third. Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) challenged Hayden for the final podium position during the last lap, crossing the line just four tenths of a second behind the American for his best result since moving to MotoGP last season.

Honda‟s other MotoGP hopes were not as lucky. Qatar GP winner Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda), who qualified on pole position, was taken out by former World Champion Valentino Rossi (Ducati) in the early stages, while Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) crashed out of the lead a few laps later. And Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), who made a great start to place fourth after the first lap, eventually crossed the line in a disappointing 12th place due to tyre and traction control issues.

Rain arrived at Jerez before morning warm-up. There were a number of crashes in all three races, but conditions were probably at their most treacherous during the MotoGP race. As the laps went by the track started drying out, which caused serious degradation to the rain tyres chosen by all riders. Eight of the 17 riders who started the race slid off during the 27 laps, none of them sustaining injury.

Stoner made a perfect start from pole to lead the first few laps, but Simoncelli was the man on the move, passing both second-placed Lorenzo and then Stoner on lap six. While the Italian quickly established a 2.6 second lead and seemed destined for a maiden MotoGP victory, Stoner and Lorenzo were coming under attack from Rossi, who had made his way up from 12th on the grid.

Unfortunately Rossi was in too much of a hurry. After taking Lorenzo on lap seven, he dived under Stoner as the pair entered turn one for the eighth time. Rossi lost the front and his fallen machine took out Stoner and both bikes and riders slid into the gravel trap. Rossi managed to rejoin the race but Stoner wasn‟t able to restart his engine, which stopped when he fell.

It was a bitter end to a weekend of great work and great speed for Stoner. The Australian was looking in great shape after Friday and Saturday. As at Qatar, Honda machines had topped all four practice and qualifying sessions, those honors shared once again by Stoner and Pedrosa.

Four laps after the Rossi/Stoner incident, Simoncelli also fell at turn one. The former 250 World Champion lost it mid-corner, resulting in a highside that put him out of the race.

That put Lorenzo in front for the first time, with Pedrosa 2.7 seconds behind. In three laps Pedrosa shrunk the gap to 1.2 seconds, but that was as close as the Spanish pair got. Like many other riders, Pedrosa struggled more as the track started to dry, the grippier tarmac playing havoc with the soft rain tyres used by the entire grid.

Tomorrow Pedrosa will undergo surgery in an attempt to fix a circulation problem in his left shoulder, the legacy of a multiple collarbone fracture at last October‟s Japanese GP. Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP RC212V) scored his first points of the year with a steady ride to ninth position.

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 2nd “It‟s been a very difficult race. At the start, many riders overtook me and I thought „that‟s it‟. Anyway, I knew there were 27 laps and the situation was difficult for the tyres. I was a little nervous after my bad start, but when I realised that in the first lap I was faster than in the warm-up, I calmed down and started to improve. I took a good pace and had to ride at maximum concentration in order not to not make any mistakes; it was very easy to crash. Some riders started falling down and it was a matter of resisting. I tried to catch Lorenzo when I saw that his gap was about a second, but at ten laps to go the tyres were almost finished; I couldn‟t even open the throttle on the straight because the track was very slippery. When Spies crashed, my gap with Nicky was big enough to keep the second place and I crossed the finish line very, very happy. It‟s been a tough weekend for the arm injury, today I also had numbness and lack of strength, but to ride in the wet helped me because it‟s not as aggressive as in dry conditions. To leave Jerez with a second place finish, after the third place in Qatar, is amazing. We are nine points behind the Championship leader and it‟s a good gap to resume the Championship again in Estoril. On Friday we considered whether it was worth racing here or better to pull out thinking about the operation. So this second place is amazing.”

 Credit content: http://www.world.honda.com Photo: http://www.MotoGP.com