Pedrosa wins at home

Dani Pedrosa speeds to victory

MotoGP

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa stormed to a stunning runaway victory at Catalunya today, cheered all the way by more than 113,000 adoring fans. A breakaway plan from Pedrosa worked to perfection in the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya, as he took the holeshot at his home race and never looked back. The win ended a long premier class run without a local winner in Barcelona, stretching back to 1999 and a popular triumph for Alex Criville in the 500cc category.

Keen to avoid a battle between himself and predicted podium finishers Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi, the Repsol Honda rider burst out of the blocks and set about putting space between himself and the rest of the field. A new circuit record was made by Pedrosa by the second lap, and he kept the pace up throughout the 25 lap race.

A fourth consecutive win proved a wish too far for Fiat Yamaha star Rossi, who nonetheless fulfilled expectations by fighting his way up from ninth on the grid. A penultimate lap slipstream of Stoner gave him second place, a sixth consecutive podium and, most importantly, the advantage necessary to maintain the lead in the MotoGP World Championship.

Andrea Dovizioso was spot on in his Saturday prediction, having noted that all three of last year’s rostrum finishers would repeat their form in 2008. What the JiR Team Scot rider was not so sure about was his own form, but a fourth place –equaling his previous best MotoGP finish from Qatar- was a remarkable performance for the highest placing satellite rider.

As in qualifying, the Tech 3 Yamaha pairing of Colin Edwards and James Toseland took fifth and sixth place, respectively, with the latter holding off Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen. In a sprint to the line. Nicky Hayden, Shinya Nakano and John Hopkins completed the first ten past the checkered flag.

The race was littered with retirements at the midway point, with Alex de Angelis, Loris Capirossi and Randy de Puniet all crashing out in quick succession. Toni Elias had just a few laps earlier been shown the black flag for not obeying an order for a ride-through penalty.

Today’s record crowd showed their enthusiasm for MotoGP by making it into the track despite traffic jams caused by a transport strike.

Quotes

(L to R) Rossi (2nd), Pedrosa (1st) and Stoner (3rd)

MotoGP

Dani Pedrosa – Race Winner

`I don't know where the pace came from. It was a fantastic race, amazing to win. I won in 125cc and 250cc here, so now to win in MotoGP is great. The other two were pushing hard. I went to a different setting than yesterday, and it worked.´

Valentino Rossi – Second Place

`What a race! I’m very happy; I had a lot of fun with overtaking. I’m pleased with 20 points, but knew that if we were going to beat Dani then we’d have to start at the front. It was a great battle with Casey, which I enjoyed a lot.´

Casey Stoner – Third Place

`For some reason we had no rear feeling entering the corners from the first lap. I lost a lot of confidence because in these corners you need hard braking as you’re cornering. Generally I wasn't happy at all with my riding today. In the end it was just a battle with vale at the end; he was close to me a few times, I could feel him. I have to be happy with a podium in any case.´
Results

1 D. PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 43'02.175
2 V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Ã- 2.806
3 C. STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ã- 3.343
4 A. DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP Ã- 10.893
5 C. EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha Ã- 16.426
6 J. TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha Ã- 21.482
7 C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Ã- 21.548
8 N. HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team Ã- 22.280
9 S. NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Ã- 22.375
10 J. HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team Ã- 46.835
11 M. MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team Ã- 57.991
12 A. WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team Ã- 59.168
13 S. GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team Ã- 1'00.779

Fastest lap (new record): Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1'42.358

Point Standings – Riders
1 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 142
2 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 135
3 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 94
4 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 92
5 Colin EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha 69
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP 57
7 James TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha 53
8 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 51
9 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team 48
10 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 42
11 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 40
12 John HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team 32
13 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 29
14 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 24
15 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team 24
16 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 18
17 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team 15
18 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team 10
19 Tadayuki OKADA JPN Repsol Honda Team 2

Constructor Points
1 YAMAHA 160
2 HONDA 135
3 DUCATI 97
4 SUZUKI 63
5 KAWASAKI 35

Team Points
1 FIAT YAMAHA TEAM 236
2 REPSOL HONDA TEAM 183
3 TECH 3 YAMAHA 122
4 DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM 121
5 RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP 91
6 SAN CARLO HONDA GRESI 66
7 JIR TEAM SCOT MOTOGP 57
8 KAWASAKI RACING TEAM 42
9 ALICE TEAM 39
10 LCR HONDA MOTOGP 18