MOTOGP ROUND 16, PHILLIP ISLAND, SUNDAY OCTOBER 16

DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: 4th                 Championship Position: 4th 

“IT’S NOT BEEN A GOOD WEEKEND FOR ME.”
With a strong breeze blowing across the Phillip Island, and darkening skies, the MotoGP race commenced with a rearranged grid following the withdrawal of Yamaha Factory riders Jorge Lorenzo, after a high side in the morning warm up left him with a severely injured finger, and Ben Spies who was still mildly concussed after a crash in Saturday’s qualifying. Nicky Hayden and Marco Simoncelli followed pole-sitter Stoner into turn one, with the Italian making an early move on Hayden to take second. Simoncelli then spent the remainder of the race tussling with Andrea Dovizioso, beating his compatriot across the line for his best MotoGP finish of second. Dani Pedrosa didn’t make one of his usual brilliant starts, fought back into contention but suffered with tyre wear in the closing stages; he eventually finished ten seconds adrift of team-mate Dovizioso in fourth. With the absence of Lorenzo, Stoner only needed 10 points to win the 2011 MotoGP Championship; his win secured the title.

“It’s been very tough, I didn’t feel comfortable throughout the weekend and the race didn’t start in the best way either. I had a problem with the wind at the start, I almost lost balance and I had to put the left foot on the floor at the same time as the red light went out, so I had a bad start. The first few laps were not so good, then I recovered slightly, I overtook Andrea and fought with him but the front tyre was finished in the last laps. When I tried to pull away I was losing the front, so I couldn’t keep him behind and then the rain arrived. It’s not been a good weekend for me, but I want to say congratulations to Casey for his title, he’s been the strongest this season, always on the podium, with no mistakes, so he deserves it.”

CAL CRUTCHLOW, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: DNF             Championship Position: 13th

“IT WAS LIKE SYNCHRONISED CRASHING!”
Cal Crutchlow was unfortunately caught out by the tricky conditions in the final stages while he was preparing for a late attack on Hiroshi Aoyama. He’d fought well to keep Karel Abraham and Randy de Puniet at bay when he hit a wet patch of tarmac at Lukey Heights on lap 24; Aoyama crashed in identical circumstances right in front of Crutchlow but the 25-year-old was unable to rejoin the race and finish.

“I’m pretty disappointed because it has been a very difficult weekend, so to get a top 10 would have been a very positive way to sign off. I’d been having a really good battle with Abraham, Aoyama and de Puniet and was confident I was going to finish at least eighth. But I came into Lukey Heights and couldn’t even see any rain and the next thing I was down. The weird thing is Aoyama went down right in front of me on the same wet patch, so it was like synchronised crashing. I had no idea why I’d crashed and someone in the crowd told me it had rained really quickly and then stopped – it is a pity because that cost me a decent result but I’ll be looking to get back in the fight for the top 10 in Sepang next week.”

COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: 5th                 Championship Position: 9th

“THAT WAS ALL ABOUT SURVIVING…”  
Colin Edwards finished the first lap in eighth place as he tried to judge the unpredictable gusts of wind to maintain a fast and consistent pace as the race unfolded. He was seventh when the rain shower soaked the track in a small section with three laps remaining. Edwards opted to stay out on slicks, rather than switch to his YZR-M1 set-up for the rain with only a small part of the track affected by the cloudburst – his decision paid off and he claimed his third top six finish of the season.
     
 “That was all about surviving because the conditions might have looked great on TV with the sun shining but the wind was horrendous. We know the wind plays a big part here normally but it seemed particularly bad and it was impossible to judge when a gust was going to hit you from one lap to the next. I got into a pretty good rhythm and was happy to be running a consistent pace in eighth when all the late chaos happened. It is never a good feeling when you see rain spots on the visor with slick tyres on but there was only rain in a small part of the track. I knew it was a flag-to-flag situation but I never thought about pulling in for the rain bike. I was just riding as hard as I could, but as safe as I could, in the last couple of laps and fifth is a great result.”

NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI
Race Position: 7th                 Championship Position: 8th

“I JUST ABOUT LOST IT!”
After a good start from the second row, Nicky Hayden was involved in a number of battles in the first part of the race, lapping at a competitive pace. When it began raining hard four laps from the end, making the conditions particularly tricky, Hayden changed motorcycles and went on to cross the finish line in seventh place.

“Conditions were really tough, with wind and rain off-and-on at different parts of the track. My start actually wasn’t amazing, but I think everybody else got away worse than I did. I was in a good position, but I really had no grip at the rear from the very beginning, and although I tried as hard as I could, I couldn’t defend much when guys started coming past. Eventually I blistered the rear tyre and was just trying to make it to the finish, and then when it started to rain harder, it felt really slick. I just about lost it, and when I saw Bautista go down, I decided to come in and change bikes rather than risk doing the same.”

Hiroshi Aoyama crashed his San Carlo Honda Gresini after the downpour at Lukey Heights, but remains 10th in the Championship. Karel Abraham finished 10th on his Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati, and is 14th in the Championship.

Round 17 of MotoGP is at Sepang, Sunday October 23.





For more information on Arai helmets please visit www.whyarai.co.uk

MOTOGP ROUND 15, MOTEGI, SUNDAY OCTOBER 2

Arai’s Dani Pedrosa takes first MotoGP victory in Japan!

DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA

Race Position: 1^st                 Championship Position: 4^th 

“I’M SUPER HAPPY!”

Dani Pedrosa took his third victory of the season in a dramatic Grand Prix of Japan with Jorge Lorenzo alongside him on the podium in second position, and Casey Stoner in third – it’s the first win for Honda at this track since Makoto Tamada was victorious aboard his Camel Honda in 2004. Pedrosa made a fantastic start and was involved in the leading pack for the first four laps but Stoner ended up running off the track, narrowly avoiding the barrier. Andrea Dovizioso, while leading the race, was then given a ride through penalty for a jump start; Pedrosa took the lead and improved his pace lap by lap to take a comfortable win by more than seven seconds ahead of Jorge Lorenzo.

“I’m super happy with this victory, for the team that has been working so well, for HRC because this is the first win in Motegi with the Repsol Honda Team and for myself because it is the first time I’ve won here in MotoGP after doing so in 125cc and 250cc. The race was strange at the beginning with Stoner and Dovi really fast on the first few laps, they pulled away and then Casey had some problem and Andrea had a ride through due to his jump start. I was alone in front with Lorenzo very close, but I tried to put my head down and push every lap to pull away. I’m really happy because at this track I’ve had a mix of good and bad results and some bad injuries, so to come back one year later and win in MotoGP is fantastic.”

CAL CRUTCHLOW, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3

Race Position: 11^th                Championship Position: 13^th

“WHERE DO YOU START AFTER A RACE LIKE THAT?”

Cal Crutchlow certainly had an eventful afternoon, but salvaged a deserved 11th place having twice run off the 2.983 miles circuit while trying to fight his way into the top 10. He also had to ride through the pitlane for jumping the start, but mounted a brilliant recovery to finish inside the points for the fourth successive race. Crutchlow was running in ninth place when he ran off track at Turn 3 on lap four after contact with Toni Elias; he dropped back to 15th and then lost a further 17 seconds when he was penalised with a ride through pitlane for a jump start. He returned to the track in last position but never gave up and he salvaged five important World Championship points to strengthen his bid to be crowned 2011 Rookie of the Year.

“Where do you start after a race like that? I knew I’d jumped the start because directly in front of me was Simoncelli and I just let the clutch out when I saw him move. After that I just wanted to push to pick up as many places as I could before I needed to come in for the pitlane ride through. I was pushing to pass Elias but he braked really sharply at Turn 3 and I nearly ran into the back of him. That put me in the gravel, so if you take off the time I lost in that incident and the time I lost with the penalty, I’m sure I could have been in the top seven. After all the drama I just wanted to finish! This is the fourth race in succession now that I’ve finished and I’m gaining a lot of experience. I haven’t felt my best physically this weekend and I didn’t know the track either, so to bag a few more points is a positive outcome and now I’m really excited about the last three races. I know Phillip Island, Sepang and Valencia, so hopefully I can have a really strong finish to the season.”

COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3

Race Position: 8^th                 Championship Position: 9^th

“WHAT A RACE THAT WAS!”

Starting from 14th, Colin Edwards kept his composure as the chaotic action unfolded in front of him to move into seventh position on lap 18 having brilliantly pulled away from Twin Ring Motegi specialist Hiroshi Aoyama. Edwards dropped back to eighth with factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies mounting an exciting surge back through the pack after he was caught up in a first lap incident with Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. At the chequered flag the 37-year-old was once again the top non-factory rider.

“What a race that was and I’m struggling to remember everything that happened because it seemed like each time I went round a corner somebody else was in the gravel! There was so much chaos it was just about surviving. Right away I knew Cal had jumped the start and then Valentino and Ben were in the gravel. Casey was then off track, so I just got my head down and once the hard rear tyre got heated up and working good, I put in some decent times around the halfway stage. Honestly speaking, my pace wasn’t there all weekend, so to get eighth is a positive result and we can move on and try be much faster at Phillip Island, which is a great track.”

NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI

Race Position: 7^th                 Championship Position: 7^th

“I CAME IN WAY TOO HOT...”

Ducati rider Nicky Hayden was fighting with Alvaro Bautista for fourth place and lapping at a very competitive pace when he entered Turn 1 too quickly and went off track, losing several positions. He ultimately finished the race in seventh place.

“Our bike was pretty good this weekend. Even though I was only eighth fastest in morning warm-up, I was pretty consistent, and this weekend is really the first time I’ve been kind of competitive here. On the start, everybody flinched, and I almost got baited into jumping. Then I got touched by Vale on the exit of Turn 1 and went off the track and lost a lot of time. We were all racing, and it was normal for the first lap. I got into a pretty good rhythm, and when Casey came past me, I wanted to try to follow him past Bautista, but I came in way too hot and went off the track. It’s a shame, because with everybody making mistakes, I had a chance to get us a good result. It was my mistake, and I’m sorry to Ducati and everybody, because they worked so hard. Phillip Island is a track I like, so hopefully there we can do a decent race there.”

Hiroshi Aoyama rode his San Carlo Honda Gresini to 7^th place at a track he knows extremely well, and remains 10^th in the Championship. Karel Abraham did not start the race and drops to 14^th overall in the standings.

Round 16 of MotoGP is at Phillip Island, Sunday October 16.

For more information on Arai helmets please visit www.whyarai.co.uk

ARAI AXCES WINS AWARD FROM RiDE MAGAZINE!

The Arai Axces helmet has been given the Value Award in the November 2011 RiDE Awards issue of the magazine. Designed specifically by Arai to act as an affordable entry point to the iconic Japanese brand’s array of desirable helmets, the Axces has proved an extremely popular addition to the range and enjoyed great sales success.

The Axces maybe the most affordable Arai ever, but nothing has been spared in its construction – to quote from the RiDE Awards article itself: 

“When it comes to safety and quality, no corners have been cut.”

The shell is made with Arai’s Super Fibre Construction (SFC) and features the same ring shaped strengthening in its lower section as found on the benchmark race-specification RX-7 GP. Built into the outer shell are an air conductor rear vent, ducting for an optional top vent, plus side exhaust vents. A powerful chin vent features enlarged duct access for improved efficiency.

The triple density inner shell and fully washable interior add to the Axces’s comfort and safety, as does the Arai-standard double ‘D’ ring strap fastening. The 2mm polycarbonate Pinlock® ready visor features twin brow vents, de-mist visor lock, Lever Release System (LRS) and mounts via Arai’s aerodynamic recessed visor holder system.

John Wakefield, Managing Director of Arai’s UK importer Phoenix was delighted to receive news of the RiDE Award; “Arai has long been, and always will be, a premium product but the Axces has given the opportunity to a whole segment of motorcyclists who may have always wanted an Arai, but with the recent economic situation were finding it difficult to actually own one. And as RiDE so succinctly points out, it’s still very much an Arai with the attention to detail and quality you’d expect.”

The Arai Axces is available in Plain Black or White, sizes XS–XXL with an RRP of £259.99 or Black Frost with an RRP of £269.99.

MOTOGP ROUND 14, ARAGON, SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 19

Arai’s Dani Pedrosa claims second place and Cal Crutchlow breaks into top 10!

DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: 2nd           Championship Position: 4th 

“I HAD SOME FUN!”
Dani Pedrosa finished eight seconds behind his Repsol Honda team-mate Casey Stoner to claim yet another second place at the Grand Prix of Aragon. Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo took the last podium position, but could not match the dominance of the Honda riders.

Dani Pedrosa

“We already saw in practice that Casey was very fast here and it was also like this in the race. I was losing some tenths in the first sector and I was unable to reduce the gap in the other parts of the lap. The second half of the race I was sliding all the time and I had some fun, but it was a shame not to be closer to Casey; I had many problems with the rear tyre for the whole race. My priority was to control the gap to Spies and Jorge in the final laps and get another podium. We've been second in the last three races, which is not so bad, but we want to keep improving in the coming races”

CAL CRUTCHLOW, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: 9th              Championship Position: 13th

“I GAINED A LOT OF EXPERIENCE TODAY RIDING WITH VALENTINO…”
Cal Crutchlow quickly found his pace from the start after losing time in the braking zone at the first corner and his charge into the top 10 kicked off when he claimed 11th place from Colin Edwards on the fourth lap. He then launched an immediate attack on Hiroshi Aoyama and Toni Elias, passing both with masterful overtakes to claim ninth on lap six. Valentino Rossi then dropped the British rider back into 10th on lap seven. From that stage of the race until its conclusion 16 laps later, Crutchlow was involved in the most exciting battle on track in front of a windswept crowd of over 63,000 fans. He passed Rossi and Aoyama on lap 18 and despite coming under intense pressure from the more experienced duo, he managed to keep them at bay to claim his best result since the Catalunya race in early June. The seven valuable points collected move Crutchlow two places up the World Championship rankings into 13th position.

“I’m really pleased with how the race went because I was back inside the top 10 and having a really good and enjoyable fight with two of the best riders on the grid, who have had a lot of success in Grand Prix racing. It is a shame that I lost a couple of places at the first corner because I’m sure with a better start I could have been battling with Bautista and Hayden. But to hold off Valentino and Hiroshi at the end took a massive effort. I think if they’d started the final lap in front of me on the straight it would have been hard for me to slipstream. I gained a lot of experience today riding with Valentino and that has given me a lot of confidence for the next few races.”
COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: 13th              Championship Position: 9th

“WE WERE PRETTY MUCH CHASING OUR TAILS ALL WEEKEND.”
The race proved to be a difficult affair for Colin Edwards, who struggled to find the right set-up to give him the rear grip he needed to push with his normal confidence. He made more weight distribution modifications to his Yamaha YZR-M1 ahead of the race, but the tweaks didn’t have the desired effect and he finished in 13th.

“That certainly wasn’t a great way to celebrate my 150th race in MotoGP. We tried to get the bike right all weekend but we were pretty much chasing our tails the whole time. We were trying to improve the rear grip to compensate for the speed we lose on the straight and for the race; we altered the weight distribution again. We put a lot of weight on the rear but it never really worked. After about five laps, the grip just went down and I wasn’t expecting it to drop off that quickly. Once that happened, I couldn’t stay in that group I was in and I just went backwards. If somebody gave me 10 million Euros to do a 1.51 right now, there is no way I could do it. The last two races have been pretty tough...”

NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI
Race Position: 7th          Championship Position: 7th

“WE HOPED THAT WE COULD PUT UP A BETTER FIGHT.”
Nicky Hayden started very well from the third row and finished in seventh place after a great battle with Hector Barbera, that lasted right until the final corner.

“I had a good start and was decent at the very beginning. We knew tyre wear was going to be an issue, and we had a drop in performance after the first couple of laps. It lost grip, and I also wasn’t able to load the bike well for turning. I was okay in parts of the track, but compared to the fast guys, I was losing time in the last corner. I hoped to hang onto the second group for a while, but it just wasn’t possible. I’d like to have fought with Bautista on the last lap because he was on our pace, but Barbera and I were going back and forth, which hurt both of us and let him escape. It’s unfortunate, because coming here we hoped that we could put up a better fight. Still, this is the first race I’ve finished normally with the GP11.1, since at Indy I re-entered just to get points. Hopefully that will help us to get some data and be better off in the future.”

Hiroshi Aoyama piloted his San Carlo Honda Gresini to 11th place, and remains 10th in the Championship. Karel Abraham DNF’d his Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati and drops back to 13th overall in the standings.

Round 15 of MotoGP is at Motegi, Sunday October 2.

For more news and  information on Arai Helmets please visit www.whyarai.co.uk

MOTOGP ROUND 13, MISANO, SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4

Hot and heavy conditions for Arai riders in Italy, but Pedrosa makes podium again.

DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA

Race Position: 2^nd                       Championship Position: 4^th 

“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: 10^th                                       Championship Position: 15^th

“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: 13^th                                     Championship Position: 9^th

“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: 7^th

“BAM! I WAS DOWN!”

Nicky Hayden had a tough qualifying session and started the race from 15^th 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 11^th place, and remains 10^th in the Championship. Karel Abraham finished on his Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati just behind Aoyama and also stays 13^th overall in the standings.

Round 14 of MotoGP is at Aragon, Sunday September 18.

For more news and information on Arai please visit www.whyarai.co.uk