Hot and heavy conditions for Arai riders in Italy, but Pedrosa makes podium again.
DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: 2nd Championship Position: 4th
“I WAS ABLE TO IMPROVE MY TIMES LAP BY LAP…”
The twenty-eight lap GP Aperol di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini at Misano was a tough one, held in 62% humidity. Jorge Lorenzo took an early lead from the front row with Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa following closely behind. The Australian rider maintained the gap to Lorenzo at under three tenths of a second for the first ten laps, but he was unable to match Lorenzo’s pace, who gradually pulled away. Stoner tried to keep a distance to third placed Pedrosa, but was unable to fend off his Spanish team-mate who passed him on lap twenty two. Dani was happy enough with another podium, but admitted his bike set-up was far from perfect.
“I’m a little disappointed with the race because the bike didn’t feel as good as it was in practice. We wanted to make a change to the suspension to improve it a little but we had the opposite effect, sometimes it happens. From the first lap, I realised I couldn’t keep up with Jorge and Casey, at the beginning the bike was closing the front and then it was sliding in the rear. Jorge had a perfect race today, but I was able improve my times lap by lap and catch Casey. I overtook him and maintained my rhythm to the finish with another second place in two weeks, which is not so bad. It’s been two very demanding races in a row and this one in particular was perhaps the toughest of the season so far, as the circuit is challenging with so many hard braking areas and it has been very hot again, also after Indy it has been difficult to recover from the jet lag and fatigue.”
CAL CRUTCHLOW, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: 10th Championship Position: 15th
“THAT IS A GOOD BOOST FOR MY CONFIDENCE!”
Super-fit Cal Crutchlow needed to call on all his reserves of energy to claim his first top ten finish since he was seventh at the Catalunya round. He was inside the top 10 on only the third lap, navigating pockets of light rain that had started to fall on sections of the track while the riders formed on the grid. Hector Barbera dropped him back to ninth on lap 25 but Crutchlow refused to settle for 10th position and launched a sustained attack on the Spaniard in the closing stages. Crutchlow gave his maximum effort but couldn’t find a way by Barbera, who clinched ninth by just over 0.2s.
“I am really pleased with the race and it is my first top 10 for a long time, so that is a good boost for my confidence. Finishing 10th was three places better than my qualifying position, so it was a positive outcome. It could have been a slightly better result but I just got pipped by Barbera right at the end. I did everything I could to get by him but I had a little issue with the rear tyre. Corner entry was really difficult at the end, so I didn’t feel like I could really push and have a go to overtake him with any confidence. His bike had a little more speed than me, so I just couldn’t get close enough to have a go. It was an unbelievably hard race for the body too. The humidity was incredible and I’m glad I do so many training miles on my bicycle because it was a real case of survival of the fittest out there. It was good that we gained a lot more experience and got another decent finish and now I can look forward to building on this result at the Motorland Aragon.”
COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: 13th Championship Position: 9th
“I’VE GOT NO EXCUSES…”
The race turned out to be a difficult experience for Colin Edwards, who battled with factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies for the first eight laps, with the 37-year-old experiencing a severe arm pump issue from lap 21 onwards. The demanding humidity and hard braking zones at the 2.626 miles circuit only made the issue worse for Edwards, who rode on despite the considerable discomfort. His courage and determination was rewarded with 13th position, a result which retains Edwards’ position as the leading non-factory rider in the standings heading to the Motorland Aragon in Spain.
“I’ve got no excuses, today’s result was nothing to do with anything else but me. I’ve no idea but for whatever reason, I just always ride so tense at this track. I kept telling myself that I needed to relax and calm down and then on the grid there’s a few rain drops in the air, so that immediately means you can’t help but be tense because you’ve no idea how hard it is coming down on other parts of the track. I pushed as hard as I could for the first ten laps and was pretty close to Ben (Spies) and then it hit me like a pile of bricks. I got such bad arm pump I couldn’t feel the front brake or the handlebars and by the end I was just moving my arms in the direction I thought they needed to go. It got to a point where almost pulled in. But I gritted my teeth and thought I could probably get a couple of points, which we did. But it was a complete nightmare.”
NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI
Race Position: DNF Championship Position: 7th
“BAM! I WAS DOWN!”
Nicky Hayden had a tough qualifying session and started the race from 15th on the grid, with plenty of ground to make up. It wasn’t to be, however and after a good start he fell while exiting Turn 15 on the third lap, and wasn’t able to return to the track.
“It was obviously a disappointing race. The team did a good job, as they made a couple of changes overnight, and in warm up I was able to go a couple tenths faster than in qualifying, with a good rhythm. I thought we had a better chance for the race. It was raining a little bit at first, which is normally good for our bike. I got a decent start, felt good, and was going to take a few chances to try to get up as far as I could. Then I lost the front on the exit of Turn 15 and—bam!—I was down. We looked at the data, and I’m not really sure why I crashed. We were tip-toeing because of the rain, so maybe the left side of the tyre wasn’t quite up to temperature, although it was still rider error.”
Hiroshi Aoyama rode his San Carlo Honda Gresini to 11th place, and remains 10th in the Championship. Karel Abraham finished on his Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati just behind Aoyama and also stays 13th overall in the standings.
For more news and information on Arai please visit www.whyarai.co.uk
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