Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa took a brilliant second-place finish at Shanghai this afternoon following a race-long battle with winner Valentino Rossi. The result maintained the Spaniard’s 100 per cent 2008 podium record and most importantly moved him into the World Championship points lead. Nicky Hayden enjoyed a busy race during which he battled long and hard for a sixth-place finish.
The race, which started on a dry track after heavy morning rainfall, belonged to Pedrosa and Rossi. The pair quickly built a huge advantage over the rest of the pack, lapping faster and faster as the race went on despite a few spots of rain falling mid-race. Pedrosa had taken the lead from Colin Edwards on lap two then rode wheel to wheel with Rossi until easing his pace in the final stages to secure second place. Going into this race the Spaniard had been joint leader of the World Championship, now he sits seven points ahead of Jorge Lorenzo with four of 18 races run.
Hayden made a great start from the fourth row of the grid and spent the race fighting back and forth with a number of rivals including Marco Melandri, Andrea Dovizioso, Colin Edwards and Lorenzo. Down in eighth at one stage, he modified his lines and adjusted his traction control to fight back to take sixth during the final few laps.
Dani Pedrosa
Finished 2nd, World Championship leaderFront tyre: 16" Michelin slick hard
Rear tyre: 16.5" Michelin slick medium
“I’m very happy with today’s result. We had been expecting a wet race, so to get second today is fantastic and it’s 20 good points for the championship. I started a bit cautious during the early laps because I didn’t know what the track conditions were like, but then Valentino and I began to set an extremely fast pace. Lap by lap our rhythm got faster. I had the advantage through the middle section of the track, he had the advantage through the first and last sections. My Michelin tyres were working really well and we were riding at lap record pace all through the race. The wind was very strong today, so my engine was over-revving, which is why I decided to ride a little more conservatively in the final laps to secure second place and the world championship lead.”
Nicky Hayden
Finished 6th - 8th in World Championship
Front tyre: 16" Michelin slick hard
Rear tyre: 16.5" Michelin slick medium
“We knew starting tenth was never going to be easy. I crashed my number one bike in qualifying, then this morning I rode the other bike, so I started the race with the bike I’d crashed but it was fine. I got a really good start and a good first corner too, but I just couldn’t go with the lead group today. We had a huge tailwind on the back straightaway, so I was running out of gear. It made it so hard to get it stopped for the corner at the end of the straight, so a lot of guys were running wide. Mid-race I had a few problems, felt a few drops of rain, and my corner speed in the long corners wasn’t so good. Towards the end I changed a few little things with my lines and the traction control settings. I started to move forward and at the end I was going pretty good. There was a lot of good battling going on but it would’ve been better to have been battling for a better position. I didn’t give up, kept pushing and picked off a few guys near the end.”
Kazuhiko Yamano - Team Manager“We are happy with Dani’s result – he did a great job and this second position is important for the championship, especially considering that today’s weather and track conditions were very complicated. Of course, we would have preferred to win, but second position was very good. Nicky finished sixth after some good battles, so he and his team also did a good job in changeable weather conditions. We have listened to his comments and we will work with him to keep improving.”
Race Results:
1, 1 V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 44'08.061
2, D. PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team + 3.890 3, C. STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team + 15.928
4, J. LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team + 22.494
5, M. MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team + 26.957
6, N. HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team + 28.369 7, C. EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha + 29.780
8, T. ELIAS SPA Alice Team + 30.225
9, L. CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 31.440
10, S. NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini + 35.969
11, A. DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 36.246
12, J. TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha + 43.191
13, R. DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP + 43.442
14, J. HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team + 45.855
15, S. GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team + 46.330
16, A. DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini + 50.593
17, A. WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team + 1'05.593
Not Classified: C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 16 Lap
Circuit Lenght: 5281 m
Fastest Lap (new record) 2008: V. Rossi(Yamaha) 1'59"273
Circuit best lap 2008: 1'58"139 C.Edwards (Yamaha)
Race conditions:
Temperature: 21°C
Weather: wet race
Track: 21°c
Humidity: 72%
World Champioship Classification:
1. Dani PEDROSA - SPA- Repsol Honda Team 81 2. Jorge LORENZO - SPA - Fiat Yamaha Team 74
3. Valentino ROSSI - ITA - Fiat Yamaha Team 72
4. Casey STONER - AUS - Ducati Marlboro Team 56
5. Loris CAPIROSSI - ITA - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 33
6. James TOSELAND - GBR - Tech 3 Yamaha 33
7. Colin EDWARDS - USA - Tech 3 Yamaha 31
8. Nicky HAYDEN - USA - Repsol Honda Team 29 9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO - ITA - JiR Team Scot MotoGP 26
10. John HOPKINS - USA - Kawasaki Racing Team 26
11. Marco MELANDRI - ITA - Ducati Marlboro Team 23
12. Shinya NAKANO - JPN - San Carlo Honda Gresini 22
13. Toni ELIAS - SPA - Alice Team 15
14. Chris VERMEULEN - AUS - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 14
15. Randy DE PUNIET - FRA - LCR Honda MotoGP 11
16. Alex DE ANGELIS - RSM - San Carlo Honda Gresini 7
17. Sylvain GUINTOLI - FRA - Alice Team 4
18. Anthony WEST - AUS - Kawasaki Racing Team 3
Constructor Points:
1. YAMAHA 90
2. HONDA 81 3. DUCATI 56
4. SUZUKI 34
5. KAWASAKI 26
Team Points:1. FIAT YAMAHA TEAM 146
2. REPSOL HONDA TEAM 110 3. DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM 79
4. TECH 3 YAMAHA 64
5. RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP 47
6. KAWASAKI RACING TEAM 29
7. SAN CARLO HONDA GRESI 29
8. JIR TEAM SCOT MOTOGP 26
9. ALICE TEAM 19
10. LCR HONDA MOTOGP 11
