Rossi Wins, Stoner Falls, No Grip For Pedrosa
Source: Honda Motorsports
Aug 18, 2008 - 12:59:53 PM
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Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) put one hand on the 2008 World Championship here at
Brno when he won from Toni Elias (Ducati) with seasoned campaigner Loris
Capirossi (Suzuki) third.
With Casey Stoner (Ducati) falling on lap seven and failing to score, and with
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) collecting just one point for a gutsy 15th
place riding with little grip and even less confidence from poorly performing
tyres, Rossi has all but secured the title. With six rounds left and holding a
50-point lead, it is effectively now his to lose.
Stoner romped into the
lead from pole as extinguished lights signalled the start of a 22-lap race
around the majestic dips and curves of this 5.403km woodland circuit. Hopkins
and Rossi chased him from the front row with Rossi eventually getting the better
of the unyielding Hopkins for second.
Dani had powered from 12th on the
grid to sixth from the start, his trademark rapid launch serving him well after
qualifying so low. But as the pace hotted up it was abundantly clear his rubber
was not up to the demands of this newly resurfaced track and he dropped back lap
by lap.
Anthony West (Kawasaki) moved up to fourth from sixth on the
grid as Stoner established a 0.6 second lead by the halfway point of lap one. By
the end of that opening lap it was a 1.1 second lead and Rossi was giving it
everything to stay in touch with the flying Aussie.
Dani was hanging
onto sixth but by lap two he’d slipped back to eighth. There was nothing he
could do about abject lack of grip, from his front tyre in particular. All the
Michelin riders were suffering here to a degree not seen before in MotoGP.
By lap four Rossi had stabilised Stoner’s lead. Having pushed his
advantage to 1.3 seconds Stoner now had to find more to put distance between his
Ducati and the chasing Rossi. He found it with a fastest lap on lap five, but on
lap seven Stoner’s title challenge derailed.
He lost the front end of
his machine, tumbled into the gravel, and despite frantic efforts to restart and
rejoin the race he parked his bike and trudged back to the pits. Randy de Puniet
(LCR Honda RC212V) also crashed on this lap but managed to get back on track to
finish the race in 16th place.
Rossi now led the Suzukis of Chris
Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi by 12 seconds. There was no way he was going to be
caught and, with no pressure from title rivals, unlikely he would make an error.
Sure enough he kept his composure to win by 15 seconds from Elias.
There
was action aplenty downfield. Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V) had
hoisted himself to seventh, Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) lay
ninth and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) tenth, while a
four-rider fight for fourth ensued.
Capirossi, Vermeulen, Hopkins and
the rapid Elias were battling it out before it became clear that Elias had the
measure of them all. He eased away to secure second while a hard-charging Nakano
hauled himself up from seventh mid-race to fourth at the flag, and highest Honda
finisher.
Dovizioso was the highest-placed Michelin-shod Honda rider in
ninth place, one place behind De Angelis. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) did
not ride this weekend after injuring his foot at the Los Angeles X Games earlier
this month.
Rossi now has 237 points, Stoner 187 and Dani 172. The next
round of six remaining is at San Marino, Italy on the weekend of August
31st.
250cc Grand Prix
Alex Debon (Aprilia) took a
finely judged win ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) who was second and Marco
Simoncelli (Derbi) who was relegated to third after being in the hunt for the
win for much of this 20-lap race.
Simoncelli led into turn one before
Thomas Luthi (Aprilia) stole past him to exploit an open track. Luthi would then
drop back a place before crashing out while trying to hold second place. The
race then became a Debon, Bautsista, Simoncelli show as they headed Mika Kallio
(KTM) and Hector Barbera (Aprilia) in fourth and fifth by 1.5 seconds with five
laps to go.
Yuki Takahashi (JiR Scot Honda RS250RW) finished a strong
sixth, nudging ahead of Mattia Pasini (Aprilia) as they crossed the line.
Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG RS250RW) rode to 11th after starting
from 20th on the grid.
The World Championship points table now shows
Simoncelli out in front with 180 points to the 164 of Mika Kallio, who was fifth
here today. Debon lies third with 139 points and Bautista is fourth on
138.
125cc Grand Prix
Stefan Bradl (Aprilia) won the
first Grand Prix of his career ahead of World Championship points leader Mike Di
Meglio who finished second and Joan Olive in third (both Derbi). Bradl’s father
Helmut won here on a 250cc Honda in 1991.
Bradley Smith (Aprilia)
launched off the line to head the pack into turn one but as early as lap three
Bradl took charge of this 19-lap race and always looked as if he’d be in the mix
for the podium places at the end. So it proved.
By mid-race Bradl set a
fastest lap of 2m 08.923s and barring any lapses in concentration or mechanical
disasters it was his race. Di Meglio collected useful points in second while
Olive deprived Hungarian ‘local’ Gabor Talmacsi (Aprilia) of a podium.
Di Meglio heads the World Championship with 186 points to the 142 of
Simone Corsi (Aprilia) who finished tenth here today. Bradl is third with 126
points and reigning World Champion Talmacsi fourth with 122.
MotoGP:
Shinya Nakano, San Carlo
Gresini Honda: 4th.
“We took another step forward with the new bike
today although I have to say that it has not been easy to get this result. We
came to Brno without any test data but the team did a great job with the set-up.
I want to thank Honda and Team Gresini for giving me the chance to ride this
bike, which represents a great opportunity for me to improve on the results
we’ve managed so far. I’m just disappointed that I lost positions at the start
because I made contact with another rider but at the same time satisfied to have
recovered and finished the race in fourth – a result I can be pleased with.”
Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Gresini Honda:
8th.
“Even I finished the race as the best of the RC212V satellite
riders today’s result isn’t too satisfying because we were expecting to finish
in the top six. We weren’t too far off that target but this wasn’t the race we’d
imagined. Unfortunately after the first lap, when I lost several positions, I
made several passes but lost the position to other riders who were faster down
the straights. Tomorrow we’ll make the most of the test here at Brno to continue
to improve ahead of the San Marino Grand Prix, which is of special importance to
me.”
Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda:
9th.
"My goal for the race was to be the first Michelin rider home,
which is what I have achieved, but things were too difficult to do better. I
started fully motivated and wanting to give the maximum and exploit fully the
material at our disposal, but today I cannot be satisfied with the result. I had
difficulty with the front tyre and was forced to change my style of riding,
which meant not being able to exploit my speed in the corners. I had to stop
hard and fire the bike out of the corners, rather than have a smoother style.
This difficulty penalised us in the race."
Dani
Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 15th.
“This weekend has been a complete
disaster. Today’s race was the probably worst of my career. In fact I couldn’t
even race today, all I could do was ride. I couldn’t control the bike, I didn’t
feel safe. I was riding so slow, I felt impotent and ashamed. I considered
stopping but I stayed out there to get some points. We really need a drastic
improvement from the tyres. I had no grip at the front and no grip at the rear,
from the first lap to the last. It was therefore impossible for me to push any
harder, even though I was going very slow, three or four seconds slower than the
leader. I almost crashed twice, so I just tried to finish the race. I did my
best in very difficult circumstances, at the end the tyre performance was even
worse than it had been during the early laps.”
Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 16th.
“Honestly I’m very
angry. I made a good start but couldn’t race as I wanted and was struggling a
lot for front-end feel. Many riders passed me in the corner entries and in the
first laps I lost the front a few times. So I decided to slow down but the
feeling with the front was very bad. When I tried to pass Pedrosa in the chicane
I crashed out in the gravel but rejoined the race. I suffered the same crash of
Friday afternoon and, although my crew worked hard to find a solution, we did
not solve the problem with the front tyre.”
Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda:
Will did race due to
injuries sustained at X Games Supermoto event in Los Angeles on August
1.
250cc:
Yuki Takahashi,
JiR Scot Honda: 6th.
"I am very satisfied with the result today,
because I have taken important points for the standings and I gave my very
maximum in the race. I started well but in the third corner I ended up on the
dirt and in danger of crashing, this made me lose time and I was down in
eleventh position. It was difficult, but I never gave up and on the last lap I
reached Pasini and I managed to pass him before the chequered flag. It was an
important weekend for the team and I, because we continually improved and the
result today motivates us to continue to do so. We are all encouraged now to do
as best we can the next Grand Prix at Misano, my 'second home race' because I
live in Italy near the circuit. I thank the team today that has done an
excellent job over the whole weekend."
Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT SAG: 11th.
“It
was a strange weekend, practice sessions were really complicated because of the
rainy weather and a lack of feeling with the bike, I was suffering until I
thought I would not qualify. Today everything changed a lot, I’ve made a good
start, but in the first five laps it was difficult for me to pass Fabrizio Lai
because he rode at a slow pace but he braked very late, and this fact made it
complicated for me to pass him. Finally I’ve got passed and I got to finish the
race in 11th position, for this I’m really happy and I am pleased with my the
whole team who have worked very hard and never lost the trust in me to have a
good race.”
125cc:
Louis
Rossi, FFM Honda: 29th.
“This race was pretty hard as this was my
first time on this difficult racetrack. Insofar as we had a lot of rain during
the practice session, I was missing riding in dry conditions. Nonetheless during
the race I improved by 3.5 seconds on my qualifying time, which is enormous. I
had a good start and was part of a group with Alexis Masbou, Robert Muresan,
Hugo Van den Berg and Bastien Chesaux. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to keep up
with them until the end of the race. I had some chattering when leaned over with
my Honda and I failed to keep up. It’s a real shame but I wasn’t able to catch
up with them.” |
MotoGP World Championship Round 12
Czech
Republic Grand Prix at Brno
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MotoGP
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| 1 |
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Valentino ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team) |
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| 2 |
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Toni ELIAS (Alice Team) |
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| 3 |
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Loris CAPIROSSI (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) |
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| 4 |
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Shinya NAKANO (San Carlo Honda Gresini) |
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| 5 |
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Anthony WEST (Kawasaki Racing Team) |
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| 6 |
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Chris VERMEULEN (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) |
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| 7 |
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Marco MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) |
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| 8 |
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Alex DE ANGELIS (San Carlo Honda Gresini) |
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| 9 |
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Andrea DOVIZIOSO (JiR Team Scot MotoGP) |
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| 10 |
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Jorge LORENZO (Fiat Yamaha Team) |
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| 11 |
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John HOPKINS (Kawasaki Racing Team) |
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| 12 |
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Sylvain GUINTOLI (Alice Team) |
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| 13 |
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James TOSELAND (Tech 3 Yamaha) |
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| 14 |
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Colin EDWARDS (Tech 3 Yamaha) |
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| 15 |
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Dani PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team) |
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250cc
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| 1 |
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Alex DEBON (Lotus Aprilia) |
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| 2 |
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Alvaro BAUTISTA (Mapfre Aspar Team) |
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| 3 |
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Marco SIMONCELLI (Metis Gilera) |
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| 4 |
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Hector BARBERA (Team Toth Aprilia) |
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| 5 |
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Mika KALLIO (Red Bull KTM 250) |
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| 6 |
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Yuki TAKAHASHI (JiR Team Scot 250) |
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| 7 |
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Mattia PASINI (Polaris World) |
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| 8 |
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Hector FAUBEL (Mapfre Aspar Team) |
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| 9 |
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Roberto LOCATELLI (Metis Gilera) |
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| 10 |
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Aleix ESPARGARO (Lotus Aprilia) |
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| 11 |
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Ratthapark WILAIROT (Thai Honda PTT SAG) |
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| 12 |
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Julian SIMON (Repsol KTM 250cc) |
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| 13 |
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Hiroshi AOYAMA (Red Bull KTM 250) |
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| 14 |
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Lukas PESEK (Auto Kelly - CP) |
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| 15 |
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Alex BALDOLINI (Matteoni Racing) |
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125cc
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| 1 |
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Stefan BRADL (Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing) |
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| 2 |
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Mike DI MEGLIO (Ajo Motorsport) |
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| 3 |
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Joan OLIVE (Belson Derbi) |
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| 4 |
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Gabor TALMACSI (Bancaja Aspar Team) |
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| 5 |
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Nicolas TEROL (Jack & Jones WRB) |
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| 6 |
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Bradley SMITH (Polaris World) |
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| 7 |
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Sandro CORTESE (Emmi - Caffe Latte) |
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| 8 |
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Pol ESPARGARO (Belson Derbi) |
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| 9 |
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Andrea IANNONE (I.C. Team) |
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| 10 |
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Simone CORSI (Jack & Jones WRB) |
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| 11 |
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Scott REDDING (Blusens Aprilia Junior) |
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| 12 |
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Sergio GADEA (Bancaja Aspar Team) |
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| 13 |
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Esteve RABAT (Repsol KTM 125cc) |
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| 14 |
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Dominique AEGERTER (Ajo Motorsport) |
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| 15 |
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Robin LASSER (Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing) |
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