Pedrosa rides but thinks again, while Hayden so nearly puts Arai on the podium
DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: DNS Championship Position: Second
“I THINK IT HAS BEEN WORTH IT”
Dani Pedrosa completed 42 laps of the Phillip Island track and qualified in 15th place, his lap time a creditable 3.277s behind Stoner’s pole lap. But the 25-year old Spaniard is still experiencing considerable discomfort from his injuries, and found that he lacked the strength and endurance required to handle a MotoGP machine at one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar. After qualifying Pedrosa and HRC took a joint decision that he would not race, instead focusing on coming back at Estoril in two weeks’ time.
“After the operation in Spain my target was to come back in Australia. But having ridden in the three practice sessions here it’s clear that it is really impossible for me to maintain a high pace because I lose strength in my arm lap-by-lap and controlling the bike gets increasingly difficult; even more so with the strong winds here. Phillip Island is a very fast circuit, I have to grip the handlebars very tightly, and this makes me very tired and gives me a lot of pain. To ride around three seconds off the pace in the race tomorrow and maybe collect just a few points wouldn’t make much sense. But I think it has been worth it to at least try to ride here because we really didn’t know how I would be on the bike until we tried. Now, though, I don’t want to take more risks so that I can recover in time for Estoril. I discussed the situation with HRC Team Director Kazuhiko Yamano and we have the same opinion.”
NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI
Race Position: 4th Championship Position: 7th
“FIGHTING WITH VALENTINO FOR ANY POSITION IS NEVER EASY… ”
Nicky Hayden came through from sixth on the grid to mount a strong battle for the podium, passing three riders on the first lap before exchanging positions with Marco Simoncelli, Ben Spies and Valentino Rossi in a fast and furious opening to the race. A pass on Rossi with three laps remaining looked to be enough to seal third place, but the Italian staged a late attack to edge out the American by just 0.038 seconds at the line.
“It was a good, hard battle in the sunshine and I am very disappointed to have lost. It would have been a lot cooler if it was for the win but fighting with Valentino Rossi for any position is never easy. We made a few changes to the bike today but in the warm-up I ran off the track and we missed the opportunity to try them, so it took me a few laps just to get used to the bike. I have to say the team did a fantastic job, because once I got going it felt great and I was able to recover the gap. I don’t want to make excuses or be a cry baby and say ‘maybe if I did this or that it would be different’ because the bottom line is I got fourth, I got beaten. I feel down because this is a track I love, I felt good and to beat Rossi on the last lap would have been really good for me but I can’t dress it up. I feel like I let the team down today because they gave me the bike to do the job but I didn’t get it done.”
DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: DNS Championship Position: Second
“I THINK IT HAS BEEN WORTH IT”
Dani Pedrosa completed 42 laps of the Phillip Island track and qualified in 15th place, his lap time a creditable 3.277s behind Stoner’s pole lap. But the 25-year old Spaniard is still experiencing considerable discomfort from his injuries, and found that he lacked the strength and endurance required to handle a MotoGP machine at one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar. After qualifying Pedrosa and HRC took a joint decision that he would not race, instead focusing on coming back at Estoril in two weeks’ time.
“After the operation in Spain my target was to come back in Australia. But having ridden in the three practice sessions here it’s clear that it is really impossible for me to maintain a high pace because I lose strength in my arm lap-by-lap and controlling the bike gets increasingly difficult; even more so with the strong winds here. Phillip Island is a very fast circuit, I have to grip the handlebars very tightly, and this makes me very tired and gives me a lot of pain. To ride around three seconds off the pace in the race tomorrow and maybe collect just a few points wouldn’t make much sense. But I think it has been worth it to at least try to ride here because we really didn’t know how I would be on the bike until we tried. Now, though, I don’t want to take more risks so that I can recover in time for Estoril. I discussed the situation with HRC Team Director Kazuhiko Yamano and we have the same opinion.”
NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI
Race Position: 4th Championship Position: 7th
“FIGHTING WITH VALENTINO FOR ANY POSITION IS NEVER EASY… ”
Nicky Hayden came through from sixth on the grid to mount a strong battle for the podium, passing three riders on the first lap before exchanging positions with Marco Simoncelli, Ben Spies and Valentino Rossi in a fast and furious opening to the race. A pass on Rossi with three laps remaining looked to be enough to seal third place, but the Italian staged a late attack to edge out the American by just 0.038 seconds at the line.
“It was a good, hard battle in the sunshine and I am very disappointed to have lost. It would have been a lot cooler if it was for the win but fighting with Valentino Rossi for any position is never easy. We made a few changes to the bike today but in the warm-up I ran off the track and we missed the opportunity to try them, so it took me a few laps just to get used to the bike. I have to say the team did a fantastic job, because once I got going it felt great and I was able to recover the gap. I don’t want to make excuses or be a cry baby and say ‘maybe if I did this or that it would be different’ because the bottom line is I got fourth, I got beaten. I feel down because this is a track I love, I felt good and to beat Rossi on the last lap would have been really good for me but I can’t dress it up. I feel like I let the team down today because they gave me the bike to do the job but I didn’t get it done.”
COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: 7th Championship Position: 11th
“I WAS CONFIDENT GOING INTO THE RACE”
Colin Edwards got his bid for a top ten world championship finish back on track in Australia, the experienced Texan claiming seventh. Edwards was hopeful of fighting for a top six finish but spent the majority of the race adapting his riding style to counter a small rear grip issue. With just two races remaining, at Estoril and Valencia, Edwards is three-points away from an overall top ten finish.
“The pace I’d run all weekend was pretty much the pace I was able to run in the race. Conditions changed so much over the weekend that we never really got enough time to work on finding a decent set-up. I was confident going into the race and got a decent start but pretty much from the second corner I was having some spinning from the rear tyre. I tried to adjust my riding style because I didn’t want to lose contact with the group in front of me. I settled into a comfortable rhythm but I just couldn’t go any faster. I was trying different lines but I couldn’t enter the corner like I wanted to. My speed was basically dictated by what the rear was doing, but we’ll look at the data and figure a few things out for the final part of the season. I want to thank my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. This has been a tough period of the season but we’ve worked really hard together and I’m happy with the way I’ve performed. Congratulations to Ben too for getting Rookie of the Year. He’s rode awesome all year and he’s beaten a lot of good guys to achieve that.”
HIROSHI AOYAMA, INTERWETTEN HONDA
Race Position: 13th Championship Position: 15th
“I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO GO FASTER!”
Because of some tyre issues Hiroshi Aoyama could not improve from his 13th place qualifying position. He, of course, was not happy with the result and would have liked to ride faster, but as the feeling with his bike didn’t provide him with confidence he – perhaps very wisely – didn’t want to take any risks.
“I was waiting for the tyres to warm up, but for the whole race I didn’t feel the same grip level as usual and had to deal with this problem. I would have loved to go faster, but it was not easy to deal with the bike with this problem. It is a pity that I could not improve in the race. The next race is in two weeks in Portugal and I hope I can be faster there.”
The next MotoGP round is at Estoril, on Sunday 29th October.
For more information and news on Arai Helmets please visit www.whyarai.co.uk
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