Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa scored a dominant victory in front of 131,000 sun-drenched fans at Jerez today, his team-mate Nicky Hayden running in the leading pack for much of the race to finish a strong fourth.
Pedrosa took over the lead from holeshot man Hayden at turn two and stayed out front for the rest of the 27 laps, setting a red-hot pace that put him and his Repsol Honda RC212V almost four seconds ahead at half distance. The Spaniard crossed the finish line 2.8 seconds in front of Valentino Rossi, having smashed both lap and race records. Pedrosa’s fifth premier-class success continues an amazing run of Jerez results, following runner-up finishes with Repsol Honda in the 2006 and 2007 MotoGP races and victory in the 2005 250 event aboard his Honda RS250. The 22-year-old received his winner’s trophy from King Juan Carlos, a keen motorcycle fan. Pedrosa’s latest Jerez success was a poignant moment for his mentor Alberto Puig who became the first Spaniard to win a premier-class GP when he won the 1995 Jerez event riding a Honda NSR500.
Hayden’s hard-fought result proved that the 2006 World Champion is really building momentum after a tough weekend at the season-opening Qatar GP. Just a tenth off the front row in qualifying, Hayden got a storming start that gave him the chance to run with the leaders. He did just that and was very much in the hunt for a podium finish, chasing Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, until he had a close call at turn one with five laps to go.
Dani Pedrosa: Race Winner, World Championship Leader
Front tyre: 16" Michelin slick medium
Rear tyre: 16.5" Michelin slick hard
“This is my first MotoGP win at Jerez and I’m very happy about today’s performance because it comes after a difficult winter during which we couldn’t test so much after I crashed and broke my right hand in January. To score good results in two complicated races and lead the championship is very important. I got a good start, not spectacular like in Qatar, but effective, so I was able t o take the lead. I did my best, I focused on not making mistakes and I was able to manage the race all the way to the finish and get a win in front of the Spanish fans. The crowd gave me incredible support, I hope they enjoyed the race, and it was an honour to get my trophy from the King. Today we are happy but we know that we have to keep working because Yamaha and Ducati are very competitive. We stay here for two days testing that will be crucial in helping us continue development of the RC212V in preparation for the next races.”
Nicky Hayden: 4th place, 7th in World Championship
Front tyre: 16" Michelin slick/medium
Rear tyre: 16.5" Michelin slick/medium
“It was fun to be competitive, to come into that stadium section the first lap with 130,000 people coming alive, bombs going off, it was cool, it was nice to be there in the mix. Obviously we’d like to have been having some bubbly afterwards, but the bike worked the best it’s worked all weekend and I was pushing hard. After I dropped back a bit I made a run on them, I was trying to give those guys a fight. Then I stayed on the brake a bit too long into turn one an d pretty much crashed. It was elbow down and I thought it was done, but the front tyre was good, so I picked it up on the knee and saved it. You can ride these bikes so hard now and the front tyres are so good, that’s the first time I’ve done that. All in all it’s been a good day for Repsol Honda, so thanks to my team and for the support from all the guys. We came in here a lot more competitive, hopefully we can keep rolling from here and keep moving up.”
Kazuhiko Yamano - Team Manager“That w as an excellent race for the Repsol Honda team, we are really happy. The whole team has done a great job here, worked so hard and I want to thank them for that. I also want to thank Michelin, the tyres worked so well here. Dani had a great race, his concentration level is incredible, and it’s also great to see Nicky back up there and enjoying a strong race.”
Race Results:1. Dani PEDROSA - SPA - Repsol Honda Team HONDA 45'35.121
2. Valentino ROSSI - ITA - Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 45'38.004 + 2.883
3. Jorge LORENZO - SPA - Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 45'3 9.460 +4.339
4. Nicky HAYDEN - USA - Repsol Honda Team HONDA 45'45.263 +10.142
5. Loris CAPIROSSI - ITA - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 46'02.645 +27.524
6. James TOSELAND - GBR - Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 46'02.929 + 27.808
7. John HOPKINS - USA - Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 46'03.417 +28.296
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO - ITA - JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA 46'03.570 +28.449
9. Shinya NAKANO - JPN - San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 46'07.690 +32.569
10. Chris VERMEULEN - AUS - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 46'10.212 +35.091
11. Casey STONER - AUS - Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 46'17.344 +42.223
12. Marco MELANDRI - ITA - Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 46'19.619 +44.498
13. Anthony WEST - AUS - Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 46'20.928 +45.807
14. Alex DE ANGELIS - RSM - San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 46'20.992 +45.871
15. Toni ELIAS - SPA - Alice Team DUCATI 46'44.679 +1'09.558
16. Sylvain GUINTOLI - FRA - Alice Team DUCATI 46'49.5 63 +1'14.442
Not Classified:5. Colin EDWARDS - USA - Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 9'10.348 144.661 22 laps
14. Randy DE PUNIET - FRA - LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 3'31.127 150.836 25 laps
World Championship Classification:
Rider:1. PEDROSA Dani - SPA 41
2. LORENZO Jorge - SPA 36
3. ROSSI Valentino - ITA 31
4. STONER Casey - AUS 30
5. DOVIZIOSO Andrea - ITA 21
6. TOSELAND James - GBR 20
7. HAYDEN Nicky - USA 19
8. CAPIROSSI Loris - ITA 19
9. HOPKINS John - USA 13
10. NAKANO Shinya - JPN 10
11. EDWARDS Colin - USA 9
12. MELANDRI Marco - ITA 94
13. DE PUNIET Randy - FRA 7
14. VERMEULEN Chris - AUS 6
15. WEST Anthony - AUS 3
16. ELIAS Toni - SPA 3
17. DE ANGELIS Alex - RSM 2
18. GUINTOLI Sylvain - FRA 1
Constructor Points:1. HONDA 41
2. YAMAHA 40
3. DUCATI 30
4. SUZUKI 19
Team Points:1. FIAT YAMAHA TEAM 67
2. REPSOL HONDA TEAM 60
3. DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM 39
4. TECH 3 YAMAHA 29
5. RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP 25
6. JIR TEAM SCOT MOTOGP 21
7. KAWASAKI RACING TEAM 16
8. SAN CARLO HONDA GRESI 12
9. LCR HONDA MOTOGP 7
10. ALICE TEAM 4
Circuit Lenght: 4423 m
Fastest Lap (new record) 2008: 1.40.116 Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
Circuit best lap 2008: 1.38.189 J.Lorenzo (Yamaha)
Conditions:Temperature: 19°C
Weather: dry
Track: 23°c
Humidity: 26%
Total Weekend Attendance: 243.004,
Race Day Attendance: 131.563
