Hayden Takes Third as Stoner Wins At Home
Source: Honda Motorsports
Oct 6, 2008 - 3:53:41 PM
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Nicky Hayden |
Casey Stoner (Ducati) took a convincing win at his home track ahead of a
determined Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who was second and a resurgent Nicky Hayden
(Repsol Honda RC212V) who finished third at a cold Phillip Island hosting
red-hot racing.
Stoner launched his Ducati down the hill off the line into turn one pursued by
Hayden and a fast-starting James Toseland (Yamaha). As the horde peeled into
turn two Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) ran wide, onto the grass, and down
he went.
Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) was another
lap one casualty, the San Marinese man almost completing a lap before tumbling
out of contention. Stoner and Hayden were well away already and by lap three the
lead duo had 1.7 seconds over third-placed Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha).
Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V) got badly baulked at the start
and began the lap in last place. But he cut through the field fearlessly to
begin edging back up the race order to lie seventh by lap seven – a staggering
comeback from the depths of nowhere.
Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda
Gresini RC212V) was riding strongly too. The Japanese ace was sixth in the early
laps and he had the race pace to hang in there with the pack dicing for third
place. He managed a valiant fifth at the flag, and could have even have snatched
fourth in the four bike melée for fourth place.
Randy de Puniet (LCR
Honda RC212V) was another Honda man in the mix for the places, but a race-long
duel with Yamaha rider Colin Edwards prevented him from gaining places by
getting clear of his rival. The fast Frenchman had to settle for ninth at the
end of these 27-laps.
By mid-race distance Stoner had shed the
attentions of the determined Hayden and began working his lead cushion from 2.6
seconds to the 7.9s lead he had at the flag. Nicky meanwhile had his work cut
out fending off the hard-charging Rossi.
On the final lap Rossi dived
past Hayden at turn one and Nicky tried all he could to get back on terms and
stage a pass on the final lefts onto the start/finish straight where Hayden
really hangs the back of his RCV out as he puts down the power. But it was not
to be.
Dovizioso too was robbed on the final lap while holding fourth
place. Lorenzo got the verdict for fourth when Toseland and Dovi tangled letting
Nakano in for fifth at the same time. All Honda finishers were in the top ten,
although not as high as Nicky and Dovi felt they could have been.
Stoner, after his win now has 245 points and is closing in on the title
runner-up spot. Dani lies third with 209 points after this untimely DNF. There
are two rounds to go.
250cc Grand Prix
Series
points leader Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) won a thrilling race from his title
challenger Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia). The pair fought tooth and nail throughout
this 25-lap encounter with the verdict going to the Gilera man by a mere two
tenths of a second.
The fight for third between KTM men Julian Simon and
Mika Kallio was equally absorbing, the factory man Kallio just stealing the
final podium place on the line by a fairing nose. But this duo was 14 seconds
behind the front men.
Yuki Takahashi (JiR Scot Honda RS250RW) finished
seventh. The Japanese rider, who moves up to the MotoGP class next season, was
edged down to seventh in a three-way fight for fifth while the rapid Ratthapark
Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG RS250RW) didn’t get the quick getaway he needed off
the line and had to battle through for ninth at the flag.
The World
Championship points table looks like this with two rounds remaining: Simoncelli
240, Bautista 203 and Kallio 191. Kallio is still mathematically in touch but
the fight is now effectively between the Italian leader and his Spanish
challenger, with Simoncelli favourite (barring disaster).
125cc
Grand Prix
Frenchman Mike Di Meglio (Derbi) clinched his first
World Championship today when he won from Stefan Bradl, second and former World
Champion Gabor Talmacsi, third. Di Meglio inherited the lead when holeshot hero
Bradley Smith (Aprilia) fell on lap one while leading.
Di Meglio then
rode a strong yet safe race from the front where he controlled his lead cushion
with ease to broach the line more than ten seconds ahead of Bradl (who has now
moved up to second overall in the standings). Di Meglio’s main rival Simone
Corsi (Aprilia) could only finish ninth today.
With 237 points to
Bradl’s 187 and four wins to his credit so far, the 20-year-old Di Meglio is now
uncatchable in the points table. Bradl now has to defend his runner-up spot from
Corsi on 183 points and Talmacsi on 181 points. Cyril Carrillo (FFM Racing Honda
RS125R) finished 18th.
MotoGP:
Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda:
3rd.
“We got a really good start and I thought was going to lead.
Things felt pretty good early on, I went a lot faster in the race than I went
all weekend. The bike and everything was working pretty good, so I was able to
stay with Casey for a while, I felt comfortable there. Then once he started to
pull away I had some issues, I couldn’t keep the corner speed I had early on. I
enjoyed the race, it was a lot of fun – riding this track for 27 laps is quite
intense, you don’t realise how fast you’re going around here. It was a good
battle at the end, Valentino started coming for me, I started to ride a little
harder but I ended up going a little slower. I tried to stay wheels in line as
best I could and hold him off. But I didn’t get off the last corner great going
into the last lap. Coming down the start-finish I saw him on the big TV screen
out of the corner of my eye, so I knew it was going to be tough, there wasn’t
much I could do, I didn’t have much tyre left. Nonetheless it’s cool to be on
the podium, I enjoyed the race. My Michelin guys wanted me to run a harder tyre.
I did the sighting lap on that tyre, put back in my original choice for the
race. The warm-up was really good, it was nice to get some heat in there. It got
a little loose at the end but it was fun. A big thanks to my team and to all my
fans for sticking with me.”
Shinya Nakano, San
Carlo Gresini Honda: 5th.
“Despite our problems in practice the race
went well today – I got a good start and managed to improve on my pace from
practice so I’m really satisfied. After the warm-up we decided on a medium
compound tyre, which proved to be the right choice because the bike felt really
balanced and I was able to stick with a fast group of riders from the start.
Having chosen a softer compound I obviously didn’t want to risk too much in the
early stages because I needed to save some rubber for the end and on the final
five laps I really pushed hard, taking two riders and crossing the line in
fifth. It has been a long time since I enjoyed a race like this so today I’m
happy I was able to show our true potential and I’d like to thank the team for
that.”
Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda:
7th.
"I feel I made a tremendous race. If I had not had to recover
from last after being pushed off the track at the start, we could have had a
podium. At the start I kept on the left for the first turn, Lorenzo was almost
alongside me and then he moved outside. This resulted in me finishing on the
grass. From here I started a great comeback, even if in those first laps I could
not push 100%, but instead I followed Valentino Rossi who also had the pace to
gain positions. With Lorenzo we could have moved towards third position, but
Toseland was too aggressive and a little dangerous while fighting for the lead
of the group. The last ten laps the tyres were finished and I was not able to
push anymore. At one of the corners, I had to go wide to avoid Toseland, who I
was lining up to overtake, but because of this Nakano made it past us both. I am
sorry to have lost the fourth place because it was a reality today."
Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 9th.
“We
could finish in a better position but after five laps I got stocked behind Colin
and could not pass him for 8 laps. Then, when I caught him, the gap to the front
was to wide and tried to keep my rhythm. At the end Colin overtook me in the
straight at 2 laps to go. Anyway I am pretty satisfied about the job we made
during the whole week end because the overall package was good and we had the
chance to fight for the top five positions”.
Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Gresini Honda: dnf – crash first
lap.
“I’m really disappointed with today because I finally managed to
get a good start and I’d made up some positions. After the first couple of
corners I was following De Puniet but he made a mistake under braking and I was
too close behind him to avoid him. Unfortunately I came out worse and I’m
disappointed because today was a good opportunity for us to show our potential.
I’m sorry for the whole team because they’ve all worked so well here, making
constant improvements in every session.”
Dani
Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: dnf – crash first lap.
“I got a good start and
was entering the second corner in third position when the rear tyre started
sliding. I tried to correct the bike but I ran off the track. On the grass I
tried to correct the bike again but I crashed. I hurt my left knee in the fall.
Fortunately I’ve not broken any bones or damaged any ligaments, but I’ve got a
lot of pain and the knee is swollen. I am very disappointed because we knew we
had a good race pace and I was very confident that I could score another podium,
just like at Motegi last weekend. It was another bad race. I am sorry for the
team, they worked hard throughout the weekend. Tonight I will fly back to Spain
and rest the injury while looking forward to the Malaysia GP. Now it’s looking
difficult for second place in the championship, there are only two races left.”
250cc:
Yuki
Takahashi, JiR Scot Honda: 7th.
"Today I wanted to get a better
result, and for the two days of practice and qualifying the team worked
intensively to develop the bike for me. In warm-up we changed the suspension to
make some improvements. At the start I was not able to break away and was
battling with Pasini, Debon and Locatelli. I tried to push as hard as I could,
turning in a high 1'33” lap, but this was a pace that I could not keep up. I
tried to recover what I was losing out on the straights by maximizing my
cornering. In the championship I have made progress and that is positive for the
coming races, the last two in the championship. So, we must give our utmost to
improve further."
Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai
Honda PTT SAG: 9th.
“I got a little bit nervous before the start
losing some concentration, and I started very badly. I tried to recover as
quickly as possible pushing hard in the first laps, but once I arrived behind
Pesek, I was not able to advance anymore. He was more than three seconds away
and rode at the same pace as me, so it was impossible to catch him. I ran alone
for the rest of the race, and I’m not satisfied because I expected to do better
here. Anyway, at least the result is not so bad.”
125cc:
Cyril Carrillo, FFM Honda:
18th.
“I started well and made a very good start to the race. I was
fighting with the Spaniards Adrian Martin and Enrique Jerez. I was faster than
them on most of the track except for the last two curves which lead on to the
straight. They were overtaking me there every time which annoyed me and caused
me to change rhythm. I tried in vain to improve on my times which I know I can
do. It’s true it’s not a bad result but it’s not.’
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MotoGP World Championship Round 16
Australia Grand Prix at Phillip Island line
MotoGP
1 Casey STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team)
2 Valentino ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team)
3 Nicky HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team)
4 Jorge LORENZO (Fiat Yamaha Team)
5 Shinya NAKANO (San Carlo Honda Gresini)
6 James TOSELAND (Tech 3 Yamaha)
7 Andrea DOVIZIOSO (JiR Team Scot MotoGP)
8 Colin EDWARDS (Tech 3 Yamaha)
9 Randy DE PUNIET (LCR Honda MotoGP)
10 Loris CAPIROSSI (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP)
11 Toni ELIAS (Alice Team)
12 Anthony WEST (Kawasaki Racing Team)
13 John HOPKINS (Kawasaki Racing Team)
14 Sylvain GUINTOLI (Alice Team)
15 Chris VERMEULEN (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP)
250cc
1 Marco SIMONCELLI (Metis Gilera)
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA (Mapfre Aspar Team)
3 Mika KALLIO (Red Bull KTM 250)
4 Julian SIMON (Repsol KTM 250cc)
5 Alex DEBON (Lotus Aprilia)
6 Roberto LOCATELLI (Metis Gilera)
7 Yuki TAKAHASHI (JiR Team Scot 250)
8 Aleix ESPARGARO (Lotus Aprilia)
9 Ratthapark WILAIROT (Thai Honda PTT SAG)
10 Fabrizio LAI (Campetella Racing)
11 Karel ABRAHAM (Cardion AB Motoracing)
12 Alex BALDOLINI (Matteoni Racing)
13 Imre TOTH (Team Toth Aprilia)
14 Lukas PESEK (Auto Kelly - CP)
15 Simone GROTZKYJ (Campetella Racing)
125cc
1 Mike DI MEGLIO (Ajo Motorsport)
2 Stefan BRADL (Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing)
3 Gabor TALMACSI (Bancaja Aspar Team)
4 Andrea IANNONE (I.C. Team)
5 Pol ESPARGARO (Belson Derbi)
6 Sandro CORTESE (Emmi - Caffe Latte)
7 Esteve RABAT (Repsol KTM 125cc)
8 Marc MARQUEZ (Repsol KTM 125cc)
9 Simone CORSI (Jack & Jones WRB)
10 Scott REDDING (Blusens Aprilia Junior)
11 Efren VAZQUEZ (Blusens Aprilia Junior)
12 Lorenzo ZANETTI (ISPA KTM Aran)
13 Pablo NIETO (Onde 2000 KTM)
14 Joan OLIVE (Belson Derbi)
15 Robin LASSER (Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing)
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