MOTOGP ROUND 7, CATALUNYA, SUNDAY 4th JULY

Podiums and hard graft for Arai riders under the Spanish sun

DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: Second                 Championship Position: Second

“I WAS PUSHING AS HARD AS POSSIBLE”
Dani Pedrosa took a closely-fought second place in an action-packed Grand Prix of Catalunya; it was a great result for the 24-year-old Spaniard who came close to disaster on lap one when he was forced to run wide in the first corner and dropped back to 11th place, before mounting a rapid recovery. He immediately mounted a fight-back, recovering five positions before the first lap was over and another place on lap two. Pedrosa moved forward again when he overtook the LCR Honda of Randy De Puniet on lap six and quickly inherited one more position when Casey Stoner ran wide, also in turn one. Now in third, Pedrosa benefited from his team-mate’s misfortune when Andrea Dovizioso fell from second position, and he spent the rest of the race fending off Casey Stoner behind him. The gap as they crossed the line was rarely more than two tenths of a second and Stoner was a menacing presence for the final 10 laps.

“I made a really good start and was leading towards turn one. I had a bit of a front-end shake on the way to the first corner but I didn’t think anything of it until I hit the brakes and… for a moment there was nothing. I was surprised because it was not such a big shake, but anyway I pumped a few times and it came back, but by then it was too late and I had to run wide. I took it slowly to get back on track because I didn’t want to be to be penalised [for cutting the corner]. And then I tried to recover as quickly as possible and make up the positions I’d lost. I got past Casey when he made a mistake and we raced together for many laps. I was pushing as hard as possible but we had a bit of a front-end issue through the race and the front end was closing in the corners; I think many riders were having this problem today though. I was able to hang on until the end of the race though and I’m happy enough with second place after that first lap. We’ve linked two good results together which was our target and now we must maintain this consistence and fight for the win at the next races.”

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

“I HELD MYSELF UP ON MY ELBOW A FEW TIMES!”
Nicky Hayden, who struggled to find the right balance for his Desmosedici GP10 in practice finished in eighth place, a result that lifts him to fourth in the championship.

“What a tough race! We thought we had found something in the warm-up this morning using a worn tyre but in the race with the extra grip from a new tyre the balance just wasn’t the same. I was really struggling over the first few laps and held myself up on my elbow a couple of times. The situation improved in the second half of the race, I was able to push a little harder to the point where I thought I could make up some positions. I lost too much time behind Melandri though and we finished eighth. It’s not a great result but at least we have brought some points home and we’re now fourth in the championship. If we want to stay there we have to do much better and get back to the level we were at a couple of races ago.”

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

“THAT WAS A TOUGH RACE”
Colin Edwards maintained his record of scoring points in every race so far in 2010. But 11th was little reward for a gritty performance. A sluggish start cost Edwards five places on the opening lap but he fought back superbly and claimed 11th from compatriot Nicky Hayden on lap nine. But just as he prepared to shadow team-mate Spies he ran into front-end grip issues and eventually had to settle for 11th position.

“That was a tough race. I had big problems all weekend and I tried a completely different set-up this morning. I put some more weight on the front and it seemed to work this morning when the temperature was a bit cooler. At the start of the race it felt good, even though I got an awful start. But I started pushing really hard and was able to get ahead of Nicky but immediately I started having a lot of trouble on the right side of the front tyre. After that it wasn’t a whole lot of fun because I couldn’t ride the bike how I wanted and kept running wide. I tried carrying less lean angle but nothing I could do was going to help me go any faster. I was riding as hard as I could and finished but 11th is not where I expect to be or where the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team expects to be.”

MOTO 2
The Tech 3 racing team celebrated a famous milestone when Yuki Takahashi stormed to a fantastic maiden Moto2 victory. A fast start from the front row of the grid helped Takahashi avoid a multi-rider pile-up at the first corner of the 23-lap race and he was fourth at the end of lap one. He quickly passed world championship leader Toni Elias on lap four and then hunted down Thomas Luthi and Julian Simon in the leading group to begin his challenge. Gaining confidence with the improved turning performance from a new chassis only finished on Friday night, Takahashi claimed third from Luthi on lap five. And he wasted no time in claiming second from Simon a lap later to try and prevent Andrea Iannone from scorching to another runaway victory. Takahashi produced a determined and concerted effort to close in on Iannone, but the key moment of the race came when it emerged the Italian had overtaken the Japanese rider under a yellow flag following the major incident at the first corner. Iannone eventually was penalised with a ride through penalty having failed to give up the position gained, leaving Takahashi with a comfortable lead of close to three seconds on lap 16. His win moves him to eighth place in the overall rankings.

He was ecstatic after the race; 

“I am a little bit speechless right now because I expected to be on the podium but this win is like a dream for me. Luckily I got on the front row in qualifying yesterday and that meant I wasn’t involved in the big crash at the first corner. I didn’t have a very good pace in the early laps while I gained some confidence with the front tyre, but once in my rhythm I could easily catch Luthi and Simon. My bike was working fantastic out of the last corner and it meant I could pass them both on the brakes at the first corner. I tried to follow Iannone but it was very difficult. He was riding very fast and I didn’t realise he was penalised for passing me under a yellow flag. My board said P1 even though I was second and for a while it was a little confusing. But when I saw him pull into the pitlane I understood the situation because I’d seen the penalty board and his number but I wasn’t sure what was happening. Then it became incredibly hard to maintain concentration because Iannone was a good reference. I settled down though and it was an amazing feeling. I can’t thank my team enough; they’re like a family and everybody works incredibly hard. They have unbelievable passion for racing and for me, and this win feels a lot more special than before because it is with a bike we’ve all developed.”

The next MotoGP round is at Sachsenring, on Sunday the 18th July.

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