DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: 8th Championship Position: 2nd
“I HAVE MIXED FEELINGS AFTER THIS RACE…”
For Pedrosa, the Grand Prix of Portugal was a remarkable feat of endurance bearing in mind the broken collarbone he sustained just four weeks ago, from which he is still recovering. The 25-year-old Spaniard started promisingly from 12th on the grid and climbed as high as fifth by producing a race pace that at one stage matched eventual winner Jorge Lorenzo’s. But fatigue in his left arm and shoulder was setting in from the third lap and Pedrosa lost strength and feeling throughout the race, meaning there was no way he could maintain this pace to the end. Despite this, Pedrosa took a comfortable eighth place and gained a valuable eight points which helps to defend his second place in the championship. Pedrosa now has a 19-point lead in the standings over Valentino Rossi, who finished in second.
“I have mixed feelings after this race. On one side the fact that I could finish 28 laps is good because from quite early in the race I didn’t know if it would be possible. On the other hand, I could have finished much higher up if I could have maintained the pace we had in the race. From the third lap I lost strength in my left arm and I couldn’t really feel it. Honestly I didn’t think I could keep that pace at the beginning of the race. At one stage I could see that finishing third would have been possible with the pace we were running, but it was impossible because soon I had no power in the arm. On every lap I was feeling more tired and I couldn’t maintain the 1m 39.5 laps. With ten laps to go I couldn’t keep pushing and I dropped back quite a lot. I’m going to have a check-up again with the doctors tomorrow because the arm still feels quite numb, but anyway we’ll have three days to relax and recover to be ready for Valencia. In terms of the position in the championship, I’m 19 points ahead and so I hope to hold on to second place.”
NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI
Race Position: 5th Championship Position: 7th
“I MANAGED TO LEAD THE RACE, WHICH HASN’T HAPPENED IN A WHILE”
After Saturday’s qualifying was cancelled due to torrential rain the race was the first opportunity for the riders to test their machines in dry conditions, giving them limited data on which to base their set-up. Engineers in the Ducati garage did their utmost to give the riders competitive machinery and Nicky Hayden used his bike to great effect, making a good start to lead the race on the second lap, after which the American hung onto third place for a lengthy spell, before giving best to Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli in the closing stages. He eventually crossed the line just behind them in fifth place.
“Today was the first time in my career that I have gone out to race in the dry without completing a single lap in those conditions before lining up on the grid. Over the first few laps the bike worked really well, I felt good and I even managed to lead the race which hasn’t happened for a while. In the middle part of the race I had a couple of moments on damp patches and lost my feeling a little. I got my rhythm back together towards the end and joined in the fight for the podium. Fifth place alongside a crash for Casey isn’t a brilliant result for the team – it has been a tough weekend on everybody but we will try to do better at Valencia.”
COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: 7th Championship Position: 11th
“IT WAS A BIT OF A LOTTERY…”
Edwards needed to call on all his experience as tricky conditions in the early laps presented the 36-year-old with a severe test of skill and bravery. Working out quickly where he could push, Edwards spent the majority of the race on the fringes of an exciting five-rider fight for third place. He got up to seventh on lap 18 with an overtake on Randy de Puniet and at that point he was only 1.6s behind Marco Simoncelli in third. Frustratingly for the Texan, he was unable to force his way into contention for a rostrum, despite launching numerous attempts to close down on the podium battle unfolding directly in front of him. He eventually finished seventh and heading to the final round in Valencia next weekend, Edwards is just one-point behind Marco Melandri in his bid to claim a top ten overall championship finish.
“It was a lottery before the race because we’d had no dry track time and at the start there were still quite a few damp patches around. My guys though did an awesome job because what we ran on the bike worked pretty good. But if you don’t adapt in a couple of laps then you’re in big trouble and off the pace. I felt pretty good from the start even though it was so difficult in the first few laps. It was hard to find the limit or work out when you were going to slide and everybody was having big moments. This is all going on why you’re trying to push at the same time and it was a bit of a lottery just to keep it on two wheels. I caught that group and I could see third but I couldn’t do anything with them and that was pretty frustrating. I made up time on them on the brakes but they just had a bit more punch coming out of the corners. So each time I’d close up, they’d gap me leaving the next corner. The podium was right there, I could see it, but I just couldn’t get close enough.”
HIROSHI AOYAMA, INTERWETTEN HONDA
Race Position: 12th Championship Position: 15th
“I AM ANGRY ABOUT THE MISTAKE”
Hiroshi Aoyama finished Estoril in 12th position and earned four more points in the world championship standings. At the beginning of the race the 29-year-old Japanese didn’t want to risk anything as, after three wet practice sessions, it was the first dry session on the track and he didn’t know how the tyres and bike would react. Then it went better and better for Aoyama and he gained confidence, pushing very hard to be fast. When he reached the group in front of him he was able to overtake them; in 10th position the MotoGP rookie made a mistake and had to run wide to avoid crashing and lost his position.
“I had a good start, but I didn’t want to risk anything at the beginning of the race. I wanted to see how the bike and the tyres react in these conditions first. Then it went better and better and I was faster and faster at the middle of the race. I could catch the group in front of me and was able to overtake them. Unfortunately I made a mistake then and to avoid crashing I had to go wide. Fortunately I didn’t crash, but I lost my position. I am angry about the mistake, but that is racing and it happens. Next time I will try to ride a better race.”
The next – and final – MotoGP round is at Valencia, on Sunday 7th November.
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