STONER & PEDROSA SCORE FIFTH REPSOL HONDA ONE-TWO

Stoner had been race favorite after dominating practice and qualifying, but track conditions were very different from yesterday, with much cooler temperatures and a strong tail-wind on the back straight. Today’s track temperature was 15 degrees lower than during qualifying, which created grip issues for several riders during the 23 laps.

Nothing, however, could stop Stoner who started from pole position for the ninth time this year. Despite being beaten into third place during the first few corners by Pedrosa and Ben Spies (Yamaha), the 25-year-old Australian had regained the lead by the end of the first lap. From there he never looked back, establishing a new track record on lap four and steadily increasing his advantage over Pedrosa. The success also increased his championship advantage to 44 points over reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) with four races to go.

Stoner ended the race 8.162s seconds in front of Pedrosa who also had a lonely ride to his third consecutive runner-up result. Pedrosa always knew it was going to be difficult running Stoner’s pace because throughout the weekend he had been losing several tenths through the track’s first section. During the later stages of the race he also struggled with wheel-spin issues, though he was always well clear of third- and fourth-place finishers Lorenzo and Spies.

Today all three Repsol Hondas ran a special one-off livery created by Spanish designer Davidelfin, a superb way to celebrate the partnership’s 100th Grand Prix victory. Repsol Honda achieved its first premier-class win with Mick Doohan at the 1995 Australian GP. Although the Stoner/Pedrosa one-two made today an almost perfect day for the team, Andrea Dovizioso was unable to complete the race after sliding off on the first lap.

Simoncelli did everything he could to make it an all-Honda podium, just as he had done at last month’s Czech GP. The lanky Italian came through strongly after finishing the first lap in sixth place, passing Nicky Hayden (Ducati), then Lorenzo and Spies to move into third on lap nine, only to run wide the next lap and ruin all his hard work. Demoted to fifth, Simoncelli kept his cool and slowly worked his way back towards Spies, from whom he took fourth place with seven laps to go. But with his rear tyre past its best there was nothing he could do about Lorenzo.

The MotoGP paddock now packs up and heads eastward for the first of three ‘flyaway’ races outside Europe: the Japanese, Australian and Malaysian GPs.

Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda: race winner
“Our start was pretty average, I pulled to the left a little on the start and managed to avoid hitting Dani but Ben came around the outside and I ended up third at turn one, from there we were able to settle down and feel pretty comfortable with the bike. I wanted to get to the front as soon as possible as the bike has been working perfect all weekend and it was our race to lose, so I wanted to try and get out in front and pull a gap. I passed Dani as soon as I could and tried to pull that gap, Dani kept with me for the first few laps but slowly I was able to push and put in a gap and from there manage the race. I think everyone was struggling with tyres to some degree but the bike was fantastic and I don’t mind the bike when it slides around a little! A big, big thank you to the whole team and to take this hundredth win for Repsol Honda is something special.”

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V): 2nd
"We already saw in practice that Casey was very fast here and it was also like this in the race. I was loosing some tenths in the first sector and I was unable to reduce the gap in the other parts of the lap. The second half of the race I was sliding all the time and I had some fun, but it was a shame not to be closer to Casey, I had many problems with the rear tyre for the whole race. My priority was to control the gap to Spies and Jorge in the final laps and get another podium. We've been second in the last three races, which is not so bad, but we want to keep improving in the coming races".

Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 4th
“I am pleased with this result – we had to grit our teeth and I’m sure that even without the mistake I wouldn’t have been challenging for the podium anyway. Lorenzo was faster than me on used tyres so no complaints there. I didn’t get a great start but I managed to get into my rhythm quickly and make some passes to get up to third place. From the tenth lap onwards the tyres really dropped off and then again after another five laps, although Spies was in even worse shape than me so I was able to fight back to fourth.”

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