Stoner & Dovizioso score Honda one-two at Le Mans

But what could have been a perfect day for the team was spoiled by a mid-race incident, which saw the luckless Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) crash and break a collarbone after tangling with Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V). Simoncelli was subsequently punished with a ride-through penalty that demoted him from second place to fifth.

Stoner dominated this weekend just as he ruled the season-opening Qatar GP in March, topping free practice, qualifying and the race. And yet the race wasn’t without its moments for the Australian who overheated his clutch on the grid and therefore didn’t make his usual fast getaway. Nevertheless Stoner didn’t lose his cool and had muscled his way back into second by the end of the first lap, right behind Pedrosa. The following lap he moved into the lead and the two Honda riders quickly pulled clear of the pack, once again demonstrating the remarkable performance of the 2011 RC212V.

Stoner, however, couldn’t make the break. Whenever he upped his pace, his team-mate responded with impressive speed, establishing a new lap record on lap nine. Just before half-distance Stoner did finally open a small gap, leaving Pedrosa to deal with the advancing Simoncelli.

Simoncelli passed Pedrosa at Garage Vert on lap 18, ran wide, putting the pair side by side as they sped towards the Chemin aux Boeuf left/right chicane. The Italian was later on the brakes and rode round the outside into the left-hander, leaving his Spanish rival with nowhere to go, which caused the pair to collide. Simoncelli stayed on, Pedrosa fell, fracturing his right collarbone, another unlucky blow for the former 250 and 125 World Champion.

The controversial collision left Simoncelli clear in second place, but Race Direction decided to impose a ride-through penalty, which he took with four laps remaining. The punishment dropped the former 250 World Champion to seventh, but during the final few laps he fought back to fifth, ten seconds behind reigning MotoGP World Champion and current points leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) who finished off the podium for the first time this year.

With Simoncelli knocked down the order, the duel for second was fought out between Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi (Ducati), all the way to the finish. Earlier in the race Dovizioso had survived a scare when Lorenzo ran into him at turn two, but he came back strongly to get the better of Lorenzo. Later in the race Rossi got past his fellow Italian, but Dovizioso had a plan for the final lap and used some superb late-braking moves to keep Rossi behind him. The result gave a delighted Dovizioso his first podium appearance of the year.

The MotoGP circus now enjoys two weekends off before commencing a busy period with four races over five weekends, commencing with the Catalan Grand Prix outside Barcelona on June 5.

Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda: race winner “The whole weekend has gone so well for us, arriving here from the Portugal test with the bike almost the same and we have improved small things here and there and only needed to adjust the set-up for this circuit. We went into the race confident. At the beginning of the race Dani was very fast and he was difficult to pass as he as being cautious. When I overtook him I thought I might be able to take some advantage, but he was able to match my times and follow me for some laps, so I continued to push more than I prefer and eventually I put a gap between us. From this point the race came to me and I was able to focus on my consistency and win. A big thanks to the team and everyone for all their hard work, but my thoughts are with Dani at this moment. I hope he can recover soon as he is a very strong contender for this championship.”

Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 2nd “I’m really happy with the second position today, it’s so important for the championship and it arrives after a start of the season where we didn’t get the results we expected. We did a very good job with the team since the beginning of the weekend and I knew I could fight for the podium, but I didn’t expect second place. I had a great battle with Valentino and to beat him always has a special taste, and it’s good fun to get the podium after a hard fight. I was losing a lot in two areas, but I was strong in braking, so I made a good strategy and once I overtook him, I pushed 100 percent not to have him too close especially in turns 10 and 11, where he was faster. Concerning the race, I had a good start, Lorenzo’s strong overtaking slowed me down a little, but then I pushed to recover the gap. We had good pace, but we need to be faster. We have to keep on working to reduce the gap to stay with the front riders. Dani today was very unlucky and I hope he can recover soon.”

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Monique Norris
Blue Wing Honda Ltd
PH: 09 571 0975 or email: monique.n@bwhonda.co.nz