Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V) scored a convincing win at Donington Park to notch his second victory in his rookie year and put himself firmly in the hunt for the World Championship. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) was second and Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V) third. In bright sunshine, despite a vicious rain shower on the morning of the race at 7:00am, riders lined up for 30-laps of this sweeping 4.023km track. And it was Melandri from third on the grid who led into Redgate on lap one with Pedrosa on his tail and Casey Stoner (LCR Honda RC211V) up with them in third.
As the field negotiated that crucial first lap, John Hopkins (Suzuki) relieved Stoner of third place down through the spectacular Craner Curves with his team-mate Chris Vermeulen now in fourth with Stoner fifth. Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR211V) was demonstrating the progress made with the Honda-powered KR bike holding sixth on lap one.
Melandri held his lead as lap two began with Pedrosa hard on his tail and Stoner working on getting past Hopkins. But Melandri and Dani showed they had the pace to leave the field as Hopkins gradually but visibly lost ground as the early order settled.
Pedrosa was anxious to pass Marco by lap four, but his eagerness nearly got the better of him on the next lap as he lined up a pass at the Melbourne hairpin and then and wobbled wide. Dani was lucky to stay on the machine, but incredibly he was still third as lap six began.
Dani then set a fastest lap of 1m 29.465s as he retrieved the ground he had lost. At this stage World Championship series leader Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V), who was circulating in seventh after a compromised qualifying performance, made an error at Foggy’s Esses in his bid to claw his way up the order and rejoined the race in 11th.
Kenny then set a fastest lap of 1m 29.351s on lap eight as Dani blasted past Hopkins to begin working on Marco for the lead. By lap ten Kenny had disposed of Hopkins for third place and two laps later Dani had taken the lead he was never to relinquish.
In the space of just one lap Dani, with a clear track, extended his advantage over Marco from 0.6 seconds to 1.5 seconds, setting a fastest lap of 1m 28.7s in the process. There was now only a battle for second place – Dani was long gone.
In the closing laps Dani eased back to secure his win, but from laps 17 to 23 Dani was circulating almost a quarter of a second faster than anyone else on track. But the three rider group of Melandri, Roberts and Stoner fighting for second were holding each other up allowing Rossi, who had gained on them, to catch them and enter the fray.
Melandri had a huge moment at McLeans when he hit the kerb with his knee, but miraculously the Italian stayed on to stay in the running. As Rossi and Melandri slugged it out for second, Stoner and Roberts lost ground and it was left to the last lap for this dispute to be concluded.
Marco dived past Rossi at the Foggy Esses and looked to be able to hold the advantage until he went wide at the Melbourne Hairpin allowing Rossi past again to hold second at the flag. Dani would have been blissfully unaware of all this as he took the flag 3.86 seconds ahead of Rossi, having eased off the gas in the final laps.
Dani said, “I’m happy because this was almost the perfect weekend the team did a great job in every session. When I tried to overtake Marco I braked but I couldn’t stop the machine so I was getting closer and closer to him and he was about to turn in. I was saying, ‘please leave room!’ and luckily he did. Then I was able to get back in front. I didn’t know at that point if I could open up a gap because this class is really close, but at the end I slowed down a little bit to be careful. I think the English crowd enjoyed the race, and this British weather is really good!”
Marco said, “That was so hard at every single point of the track. I was tired but I just told myself I had to keep going. I wasn’t happy about the first part of the race because I got a good start and then started sliding around a lot with a full tank of fuel. But in the last six laps the rear tyre got better and allowed me to get into a better rhythm. I fought hard for second, but just missed out.”
Casey, in fourth, said, “I got a good start and then got shuffled back by the Suzuki’s. I thought I could pull it back but they tyre didn’t want to seem to kick in. I had a hard time finding enough drive. I was a bit far away at the end but we’ve just got to keep going the way we are. I didn’t get a podium when I might have done, but that’s the way it goes.”
Fifth-placed Roberts said, “I got away OK, but then the balance of the bike shifted its bias forward and then back. The flowing sections were tough and braking good and then the opposite. I really tried but didn’t want to risk not finishing here. I saw Marco hit the kerb and lose the front and he did a fantastic job saving it. This bike had a podium in it today, but I didn’t quite get it there.”
Hayden finished seventh and said, “It’s been a tough weekend and things didn’t quite go for us here. I was coming through the field and making up some places when I made a mistake, got into the chicane bit hot and went straight on. That hurt, but I got back on the track, put my head down and clawed back a few places. We’ll regroup now, think about what didn’t go so well this weekend, and try to do better at the Sachsenring. Everyone in the team worked really hard this weekend we’ll come back strong at the next race.”
Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) finished 11th and said, “I started the race with different settings to those I used in qualifying. My start was not so bad but I was wide in the first corner. The bike was understeering in the fast corners today but not as much as yesterday. After the opening laps I held the same position for almost the whole race."
Former WCM rider Michel Fabrizio, standing in for the injured Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC211V), did not start after breaking a collar-bone in practice. Elias is expected to return to action in Germany in two weeks time.
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1st“I’m happy because this was almost the perfect weekend the team did a great job in every session. My start was good and then I pushed really hard and tried to get past Marco but it was not so easy. When I tried to overtake I braked but I couldn’t stop the machine so I was getting closer and closer to him and he was about to turn in. I was saying, “please leave room!” and luckily he did. Then I was able to get back in front. I didn’t know at that point if I could open up a gap because this class is really close, but at the end I slowed down a little bit to be careful. I’m really pleased with the win and I think the English crowd enjoyed the race too, and this British weather is really good! I’m not looking at the championship position because that’s not my target this year. My focus is still on getting the best performance from myself and taking profit from my opportunities.”
Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda: 3rd"Today was an incredible day! Bearing in mind my physical condition two weeks ago, I have to be very satisfied. I want to thank the Clinica Mobile for the work they did to allow me to race here in good shape. After the first few laps I could feel that my strength was going, but I made a big effort to maintain my pace. The first part of circuit was harder for me to negotiate, but as the race went on I improved on that part and the bike worked perfectly. It's a shame I lost second because of a small error on the penultimate corner, but the battle with Valentino was great and I think the fans really enjoyed the spectacle."
Casey Stoner, LCR Honda: 4th“I was hoping for a better result but I didn’t get the job done today. I had the perfect set-up for two days until qualifying, and then again in the race the bike was not reacting the way it was in practice. When I was in front of Marco, Valentino and Kenny I couldn’t find the drive, the rear-end was spinning up. Plus I lost a little bit of fitness and I couldn’t brake as hard as normal, so I just eased off and settled for fourth. Towards the end I lost touch and I wasn’t close enough to make a pass when Marco and Valentino were fighting each other.”
Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR Honda: 5th"I raced with the old chassis today, the one we built after the Barcelona race, because I felt more at home on it than the new one. The start was OK and I closed on the leaders but as the race went on I had to change my style and racing lines and dropped back a bit. The front end of the bike was really good early in the race while the fuel load was heavy but it felt light when the fuel load went down. Then the rear end of the bike was working much better. When Valentino caught me I tried to stay with him for a couple of laps before he went away from me. I was under no pressure from the guys behind so I rode out the race and took the points. I have been through three bikes and a crash this weekend and I have to thank everybody in the team for what they did for me this weekend. When we get to Germany for the race I have to find the best machine balance on Friday if I am to get a good set up for the race. We have made so many changes and a lot of progress these last few weeks but now we have the time before the German GP to sit down and analyse everything."
Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 7th“It’s been quite a tough weekend and things didn’t quite go for us here. This morning, being fastest in the warm-up in the wet was quite positive and had me hoping for rain in the race, though really we needed that 20 minutes to try a few more things out. We used a quite lot of time on Friday testing some new parts and yesterday we made some progress, though we had a little electrical problem in the afternoon. That’s all excuses though and the bottom line is that we didn’t get it done this weekend. I was coming through the field and making up some places when I made a mistake, got into the chicane bit hot and went straight on. That hurt, but I got back on the track, put my head down and clawed back a few places. We’ll regroup now, think about what didn’t go so well this weekend and try to do better in Sachsenring. Everyone in the team worked really hard this weekend we’ll come back strong at the next race.”
Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 11th"We tried some different settings in the warm up today but didn't have enough time to check everything we needed to. We changed the geometry a little and the suspension to get a better balance and raced with the 16.5inch tyres we have used all weekend. So I started the race with different settings to those I used in qualifying. My start was not so bad but I ran wide in the first corner. The bike was under-steering in the fast corners today but not as much as yesterday. After the opening laps I held the same position for almost the whole race."
Michel Fabrizio, Fortuna Honda, substitute rider for the injured Toni Elias. Did not race due to broken collarbone sustained in practice.
MotoGP Round 09 at Donington Park1 Dani Pedrosa / Repsol Honda Team
2 Valentino Rossi / Camel Yamaha Team
3 Marco Melandri / Fortuna Honda
4 Casey Stoner / Honda LCR
5 Kenny Roberts JR / Team Roberts
6 Colin Edwards / Camel Yamaha Team
7 Nicky Hayden / Repsol Honda Team
8 John Hopkins / Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
9 Loris Capirossi / Ducati Marlboro Team
10 Carlos Checa / Tech 3 Yamaha
11 Makoto Tamada / Konica Minolta Honda
12 Randy De Puniet / Kawasaki Racing Team
13 Alex Hofmann / Ducati Marlboro Team
14 James Ellison / Tech 3 Yamaha
15 Jose Luis Cardoso / Pramac d'Antín MotoGP
The World Championship now looks like this after nine of 17 rounds: Hayden 153,
Pedrosa 127,
Rossi 118,
Melandri 114.
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