Arai rider Dani Pedrosa is number one in Germany!
DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: 1st Championship Position: 5th
“IT’S AN INCREDIBLE FEELING TO BE BACK AND WIN!”
101,309 spectators at Sachsenring, in Germany, witnessed an incredible battle for the MotoGP victory between Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, with Pedrosa finally clinching the win. It was a great race for Dani who returned to the top step of the podium at only his second race after having missed three races due to an injury to the right shoulder. The Repsol Honda rider today sealed his second win of the 2011 season and his fifth Grand Prix victory at the Sachsenring circuit (three wins in MotoGP class, and two in 250cc). On lap twenty, Dani also broke his own Circuit Record Lap record at the Sachsenring with a 1'21.846s.
“It’s an incredible feeling to be back and win a race so early; I didn’t expect it, but this circuit has been always very good for me and I made it happen. I was already surprised yesterday with second position in qualifying and to finish the weekend in this way is amazing, a huge relief for me after a very hard time with injuries. Here I suffered less than in Mugello because of the layout, but in the race today I had a strange feeling, something I’ve never had before. At the beginning of the race I wasn’t feeling great on the bike, I was fourth but I didn’t get nervous or worried because I’m still not mathematically out of the Championship battle, but I know it’s almost impossible. So, I just let the laps pass and in the middle of the race, with less fuel in the tank and when the tyres started sliding, I decided to step it up a little and it worked perfectly. I’m very happy with this victory; I’ve been suffering a lot even though this racetrack is not physically demanding, because I’m still weak.”
CAL CRUTCHLOW, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: 14th Championship Position: 15th
“I DIDN’T GIVE UP.”
Cal Crutchlow rode with typical aggression and he produced a fantastic ride under intense pressure to keep Randy de Puniet, Hector Barbera and fellow MotoGP rookie Karel Abraham at bay in 11th position. Battling a lack of front-end feel that Crutchlow had worked tirelessly to improve over the course of the weekend, the British rider was unable to keep his line entering Turn 3 on lap 26 and he dropped back to 14th place. The 25-year-old quickly got back into his rhythm, but despite launching a concerted effort to reclaim the lost places, he finished less than 0.5s away from 11th.
“Obviously I can’t be happy to have finished 14th because I believe I should be fighting inside the top ten. But taking the positives out of a difficult race, I was able to fight for the whole race with riders that are a lot more experienced than me, and who have much more knowledge of this track. But I didn’t give up and pushed as hard as I could right to the end and nearly recovered a couple of places. I just didn’t have enough grip from the front or the rear and it was difficult. I didn’t feel I could push any harder and it strange because we made a lot of big changes to the bike this weekend without ever really finding an improvement. We’ve learned a few things that will help in the future and now I’m looking forward to getting to Laguna Seca where I'll be aiming to get back inside the top ten.”
COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: 10th Championship Position: 9th
“USUALLY IT’S A DISASTER HERE SO I’M ACTUALLY HAPPY....”
Edwards delivered a determined ride throughout the 30-lap encounter, the American shrugging off the lingering affects of a nasty sore throat to finish in a hard fought 10th place after a captivating four-rider battle for seventh that included Alvaro Bautista, Valentino Rossi and compatriot Nicky Hayden, who are all riding full factory machinery. But with four laps remaining, he had to abandon his pursuit of the trio in front when he encountered a rear grip problem in the left-hand corners. Edwards though was still satisfied having set a personal best race time at the Sachsenring, which has traditionally been a bogey track for the 37-year-old.
“That was a difficult race because it was one of those where you can see a few places up for grabs in front of you but you can’t do anything to try move forward. I was with Valentino, Nicky and Alvaro for pretty much the whole race but it didn’t matter what I did or tried, I couldn’t get close enough to try and pass them. One tenth round this track feels like a million because it is so short but it felt like I was on a bungee rope the whole time. Each time we started going through the series of lefts from Turn 4 onwards, they just seem to have more traction than me. They’d pull a few bike lengths on me but then I’d gain it all back in the hard braking for Turn 12 at the bottom of the hill and hard braking for the last corner. With a few laps to go I was in Turn 2, off throttle and the rear came round. From that point on I had less grip and a bit of vibration and I couldn’t stay with them and I was making more mistakes trying to keep their pace. I’ve never gone great at this track and I’ve gone faster than I’ve ever run. Usually it’s a disaster here, so I’m actually happy...”
NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI
Race Position: 8th Championship Position: 7th
“WE HAD BETTER HOPES FOR TODAY!”
Nicky Hayden won the duel with his teammate Valentino Rossi for 8th place at the chequered flag, although he had hoped to be closer to the front after a good showing in practice, where he also qualified in 8th.
“I tried to go with that group in front of me off the start, but about the second or third lap I had a pretty big moment over the bumps in Turn 1 and they took off. From there I had a big battle with Bautista and Vale. It was fun, with a lot of overtaking, but battling for seventh place, 27 seconds back is hard for me to take at a track that I love and where I’ve been on the podium several times. I got to seventh toward the end and did my best lap, but they came with me. Bautista got me on my last lap, at the bottom of the hill. I re-passed him in the last corner, but he squared it up and nipped me to the line. It’s easy to say now, but I wish I raced the soft tyre. Thanks to the team and everybody that worked hard, but we had better hopes for today, going into Laguna.”
Hiroshi Aoyama, on his San Carlo Honda Gresini rode to 15th place, and lies 10th in the Championship while Czech rider Karel Abraham rode his Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati well to 12th; he remains 12th overall in the standings.
Round 8 of MotoGP is at Laguna Seca, Sunday July 25.
DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: 1st Championship Position: 5th
“IT’S AN INCREDIBLE FEELING TO BE BACK AND WIN!”
101,309 spectators at Sachsenring, in Germany, witnessed an incredible battle for the MotoGP victory between Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, with Pedrosa finally clinching the win. It was a great race for Dani who returned to the top step of the podium at only his second race after having missed three races due to an injury to the right shoulder. The Repsol Honda rider today sealed his second win of the 2011 season and his fifth Grand Prix victory at the Sachsenring circuit (three wins in MotoGP class, and two in 250cc). On lap twenty, Dani also broke his own Circuit Record Lap record at the Sachsenring with a 1'21.846s.
“It’s an incredible feeling to be back and win a race so early; I didn’t expect it, but this circuit has been always very good for me and I made it happen. I was already surprised yesterday with second position in qualifying and to finish the weekend in this way is amazing, a huge relief for me after a very hard time with injuries. Here I suffered less than in Mugello because of the layout, but in the race today I had a strange feeling, something I’ve never had before. At the beginning of the race I wasn’t feeling great on the bike, I was fourth but I didn’t get nervous or worried because I’m still not mathematically out of the Championship battle, but I know it’s almost impossible. So, I just let the laps pass and in the middle of the race, with less fuel in the tank and when the tyres started sliding, I decided to step it up a little and it worked perfectly. I’m very happy with this victory; I’ve been suffering a lot even though this racetrack is not physically demanding, because I’m still weak.”
CAL CRUTCHLOW, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: 14th Championship Position: 15th
“I DIDN’T GIVE UP.”
Cal Crutchlow rode with typical aggression and he produced a fantastic ride under intense pressure to keep Randy de Puniet, Hector Barbera and fellow MotoGP rookie Karel Abraham at bay in 11th position. Battling a lack of front-end feel that Crutchlow had worked tirelessly to improve over the course of the weekend, the British rider was unable to keep his line entering Turn 3 on lap 26 and he dropped back to 14th place. The 25-year-old quickly got back into his rhythm, but despite launching a concerted effort to reclaim the lost places, he finished less than 0.5s away from 11th.
“Obviously I can’t be happy to have finished 14th because I believe I should be fighting inside the top ten. But taking the positives out of a difficult race, I was able to fight for the whole race with riders that are a lot more experienced than me, and who have much more knowledge of this track. But I didn’t give up and pushed as hard as I could right to the end and nearly recovered a couple of places. I just didn’t have enough grip from the front or the rear and it was difficult. I didn’t feel I could push any harder and it strange because we made a lot of big changes to the bike this weekend without ever really finding an improvement. We’ve learned a few things that will help in the future and now I’m looking forward to getting to Laguna Seca where I'll be aiming to get back inside the top ten.”
COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: 10th Championship Position: 9th
“USUALLY IT’S A DISASTER HERE SO I’M ACTUALLY HAPPY....”
Edwards delivered a determined ride throughout the 30-lap encounter, the American shrugging off the lingering affects of a nasty sore throat to finish in a hard fought 10th place after a captivating four-rider battle for seventh that included Alvaro Bautista, Valentino Rossi and compatriot Nicky Hayden, who are all riding full factory machinery. But with four laps remaining, he had to abandon his pursuit of the trio in front when he encountered a rear grip problem in the left-hand corners. Edwards though was still satisfied having set a personal best race time at the Sachsenring, which has traditionally been a bogey track for the 37-year-old.
“That was a difficult race because it was one of those where you can see a few places up for grabs in front of you but you can’t do anything to try move forward. I was with Valentino, Nicky and Alvaro for pretty much the whole race but it didn’t matter what I did or tried, I couldn’t get close enough to try and pass them. One tenth round this track feels like a million because it is so short but it felt like I was on a bungee rope the whole time. Each time we started going through the series of lefts from Turn 4 onwards, they just seem to have more traction than me. They’d pull a few bike lengths on me but then I’d gain it all back in the hard braking for Turn 12 at the bottom of the hill and hard braking for the last corner. With a few laps to go I was in Turn 2, off throttle and the rear came round. From that point on I had less grip and a bit of vibration and I couldn’t stay with them and I was making more mistakes trying to keep their pace. I’ve never gone great at this track and I’ve gone faster than I’ve ever run. Usually it’s a disaster here, so I’m actually happy...”
NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI
Race Position: 8th Championship Position: 7th
“WE HAD BETTER HOPES FOR TODAY!”
Nicky Hayden won the duel with his teammate Valentino Rossi for 8th place at the chequered flag, although he had hoped to be closer to the front after a good showing in practice, where he also qualified in 8th.
“I tried to go with that group in front of me off the start, but about the second or third lap I had a pretty big moment over the bumps in Turn 1 and they took off. From there I had a big battle with Bautista and Vale. It was fun, with a lot of overtaking, but battling for seventh place, 27 seconds back is hard for me to take at a track that I love and where I’ve been on the podium several times. I got to seventh toward the end and did my best lap, but they came with me. Bautista got me on my last lap, at the bottom of the hill. I re-passed him in the last corner, but he squared it up and nipped me to the line. It’s easy to say now, but I wish I raced the soft tyre. Thanks to the team and everybody that worked hard, but we had better hopes for today, going into Laguna.”
Hiroshi Aoyama, on his San Carlo Honda Gresini rode to 15th place, and lies 10th in the Championship while Czech rider Karel Abraham rode his Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati well to 12th; he remains 12th overall in the standings.
Round 8 of MotoGP is at Laguna Seca, Sunday July 25.
For more information on Arai please visit www.whyarai.co.uk
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