This was the MotoGP race that Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda
RC212V) wanted to win to sign off his season in style – and take
the coveted runner-up spot in the World Championship. He was a
cut above the rest with Casey Stoner (Ducati) was second and
John Hopkins (Suzuki) third.
Stoner rocketed into the lead form the lights and had established
a three-quarter second lead by the end of the first tour of this
4.005km circuit. The Aussie obliterated the lap record on lap two
and it looked as if the new World Champion might run away with
this race. But Dani knew otherwise.
On lap three Pedrosa was holding Stoner in check and this lead
pair had a 2.3 second advantage over first Nicky Hayden (Repsol
Honda RC212V) and then Hopkins when he stole past the former
World Champion on lap four. Conditons were perfect for racing
under sunny skies with a temperature of 19 degrees and the
track at 25.
Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda RC212V) began attacking Hayden
for fourth place and the Honda duo swapped places twice on lap
four, the lap when Dani decided to run the race at his own
increasingly rapid pace. Pedrosa set a fastest lap of 1m 32.748s
as he closed on Stoner.
Dani took him on lap six and two laps later the 21-year-old
Spanish star had a 0.6 second advantage, another two laps later
it was 1.1 seconds and Stoner had no reply. Nor did the rest of
the field. And Dani’s rival for second overall in the World
Championship, Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), was struggling at the
back of the field nursing a hand injury sustained in qualifying
yesterday.
Dani, starting from his fourth consecutive pole of the season
finally put his late season dominance to full effect and rode lap
after lap at blistering pace – annihilating the opposition. He
wanted second overall, but perhaps more than that, Dani wanted
a Grand Prix win again.
Rossi slowed on lap 18 with machine trouble and then pitted a lap
later, his race run. Dani was now riding for both the win and the
runner-up slot and he was never going to be stopped. His margin
at the finish was a massive 5.5 seconds over Stoner. Behind them
Hopkins had consolidated third while Hayden was slipping down
the order having lost fourth place to Melandri on lap 19, fifth spot
to Loris Capirossi (Ducati)... full story on world.honda.com
pics from motograndprix.it