MOTOGP ROUND 5, SILVERSTONE, SUNDAY 20th JUNE

A challenging weekend for Arai riders in Northamptonshire…

DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: Eighth Championship Position: Third

“WE CAN QUICKLY PUT THIS WEEKEND BEHIND US”
The Silverstone MotoGP weekend finished up a difficult one for Dani Pedrosa, who was unable to find the same consistent pace in the race that he had established in practice. He struggled for grip during the 20-lap encounter with the rear wheel spinning and the front end pushing as he tried to maintain position in the early laps. Pedrosa had shown promising pace through the weekend (the 24-year-old Spaniard looked in with a chance of taking his second pole position in succession, but he fell as his RC212V hit bumps on his final quick lap and he suffered bruising to both knees) but another unfortunate crash in cold conditions in the morning warm-up meant he wasn’t able to find the same feeling in the race. An eighth place finish sees Pedrosa lying in 3rd in the standings, and bagging points that may prove valuable later in the season.
“Well, eighth is obviously a disappointing result because we were looking quite strong here yesterday and I was confident. However, we were lacking some grip from the beginning of the race and we couldn’t replicate the pace we were able to achieve in practice. The rear was spinning and sliding quite a lot and the front was pushing which meant that, even though I was pushing really hard, I wasn’t able to maintain my pace. It was frustrating because I could see the riders in front and I could stay with them but it was impossible to fight for position. The one positive thing from the weekend is that even though I had two crashes I wasn’t injured and I didn’t feel pain during the race today. This means we can quickly put this weekend behind us and move on to the next races; the first one being Assen next weekend. I’d like to thank the team because they worked really hard this weekend and had to rebuild the bike twice.”

NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI
Race Position: Fourth Championship Position: Fifth

“THE GOOD THING IS WE’RE IN THE HUNT AGAIN”
Fortunately for the 70,000 fans at Silverstone while Lorenzo rode off into the distance, the fight for second only got closer as the race went on, with Dovizioso and de Puniet caught by Nicky Hayden, Ben Spies and then Casey Stoner with three laps to go. But the final podium place came down to an all-American last lap battle between Hayden, chasing his first podium of the season, and Spies, fighting for his first ever grand prix rostrum. Hayden thwarted Spies’ first attack on the brakes into Stowe, but a defensive line through into the fastest turn on the circuit, the new Abbey curve, allowed Spies to cut inside the 2006 world champion on the exit and Spies clung to his first grand prix podium by just 0.214sec.

“It’s a pretty frustrating result because the team did a great job with the bike after the warm-up and it was a lot of fun to ride. Unfortunately I didn’t get a good start as we’ve been having some little clutch problems and didn’t get away well. The race was really fun, everybody was going back and forth, I was able to make some moves in the corners but just didn’t really have the top speed in the straights. It’s hard for me to dress this result up because I’m not happy to finish fourth again but the good thing is we were in the hunt again. We did something good with the bike today so hopefully it will work at Assen, a circuit I love.”

COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: Ninth Championship Position: Eleventh

“IT WAS A LOT BETTER THAN I EXPECTED”
Colin Edwards, fresh from a mid-week starring role at the North Yorkshire Road Racing Supporters Club (a fun and successful night was had by all…) rode a determined race after a difficult weekend where he never found the optimum setting with his YZR-M1. He also encountered a repeat of the arm pump issue that hindered him at the last round in Mugello, but he was satisfied having rode to a creditable ninth position to maintain his record of scoring points in every race so far in 2010.

“I don’t want to be finishing in ninth at all but honestly I’m reasonably happy with the way I rode and it was a lot better than I expected after what has been a tough weekend. I’m still a fair way behind the top group but I had so many problems this weekend that even a top ten was looking like a difficult result to achieve. I didn’t leave anything out there and I went better than I did in qualifying but it was still not easy. The bike isn’t agile enough and having to muscle it around gave me a small arm pump problem, but not as bad as Mugello. If I could get the bike to go where I want it to go I could save lots of time, but we’ve got some ideas for the future. It was a bit of a lonely race but I rode as hard as I could for as long as I could. I want to congratulate Ben though because he did an awesome job and I’ve got nothing but admiration for him. He showed today what a great rider he is.”

HIROSHI AOYAMA, INTERWETTEN HONDA
Race Position: DNS Championship Position: Fourteenth

Hiroshi Aoyama did not make the grid for the start; the 250 world champion highsided in the warm up and hit the ground hard, causing heavy contusions to his back. After a check in the medical centre at the circuit, the doctors decided that Aoyama needed to go to a hospital for a CT scan to make sure all was well.

The next MotoGP round is at Assen, on Saturday the 26th June, 2010.

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