Bridgestone-shod riders took a magnificent one-two in Mugello this afternoon with Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi winning by a 2.2 second margin from Ducati’s Casey Stoner. Honda’s Dani Pedrosa took the final podium place in third.
The Italian GP victory continues Rossi’s enviable record at Mugello where he remains unbeaten in the MotoGP class, and marks his third consecutive win on Bridgestone tyres after recent success in China and France. It is also the first time that a rider on Bridgestone tyres has taken victory in Mugello.
Stoner has enjoyed a competitive weekend in Ducati’s home grand prix and set the fastest lap of the race, a 1m50.003s, beating Max Biaggi’s record that dates back to 2005.
After topping the warm-up session this morning, Honda Gresini rider Alex de Angelis took an excellent fourth position in the race, closing the gap to third-placed Pedrosa in the closing laps. He finished only 1.5 seconds from the podium having been down in 14th position at the end of the opening lap. His team-mate Shinya Nakano completed a great weekend for Honda Gresini taking ninth place at the chequered flag less than three seconds from fifth place. Suzuki saw both riders in the top ten again with Loris Capirossi in seventh and Chris Vermeulen in tenth.
With six riders and four different manufacturers represented in the top ten, two riders on the podium and the first pole position of the season, it has been a strong weekend for Bridgestone. Mixed weather conditions in the free practice sessions hindered race tyre preparations, but with track temperatures hitting close to fifty degrees this afternoon, most riders opted for hard specification rear tyres and medium spec fronts which performed competitively right to the end of the race, giving Bridgestone a boost as MotoGP heads back to Spain for next weekend’s Catalan GP.
Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Sport Unit“What a great result. It is fantastic to see two Bridgestone riders on the top two steps of the podium for the first time this season.Valentino produced one of his trademark Mugello performances and his victory was a great achievement. With Valentino’s unbeaten record in Mugello, and his pole position from Saturday, we were under a lot of pressure today, so I am glad our tyres were up to the job. Ducati and Casey must also be praised for a great weekend and second place in their home GP. I am very happy that Casey could play such a prominent role in today’s race. Alex de Angelis was another standout ride this afternoon in fourth, so well done to him; to see Honda Gresini back on the pace is a testament to our ongoing co-operation. The atmosphere in Mugello is always very special but Valentino and Casey made it extra special for me today.”
Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development“I am very pleased with the performance of our tyres here in Mugello, which has historically not been one of our best circuits. We have never seen a rider on Bridgestone tyres take Mugello victory, so it is fantastic to see Valentino’s result this afternoon. Casey also challenged very hard all race and his second place was a great result. We have continued to work hard to improve the grip and performance of our tyres, but the bad weather this weekend has made life quite difficult. With such little dry running, we were not able to assess the performance of our latest specification tyres over longer runs, so the durability over the full race distance was encouraging. I’d like to thank all our teams for their support this weekend.”
Valentino Rossi – Fiat Yamaha Team – Race Winner and Championship Leader”This win is a great feeling. I tried to push hard and my Yamaha and Bridgestone tyres worked very well from the start right to the end. I wanted to slow down a bit towards the end because of the heat but Casey was strong all the way, so I was forced to push.It’s wonderful to be on the podium with two very strong riders. We arrived to find the right set-up for the bike and the right tyre for these temperatures. It's been a great race that I want to dedicate to everyone that came here today, it's always very emotional.”
Bridgestone-shod Riders’ Race Results and Tyre Choices at Race Start:Pos. - Rider - Team - Race Time - Gap - Front Tyre (all 16.5’’) - Rear Tyre (all 16.5’’)P1. Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha Team 42m31.153s WINNER Slick-Medium - Slick-Hard
P2. Casey Stoner - Ducati Corse 42m33.354s +2.201s Slick-Medium - Slick-Hard
P4. Alex de Angelis - San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m37.466s +6.313s Slick-Medium - HardSlick-Hard
P7. Loris Capirossi - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 42m 45.600s +14.447s Slick-Medium - Slick-Hard
P9. Shinya Nakano - San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m46.480s +15.327s Slick-Medium - HardSlick-Hard
P10. Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 43m01.938s +30.785s Slick-Hard - Slick-Hard
P11. Sylvain Guintoli - Alice Team 43m10.774s +39.621s Slick-Medium - Slick-Hard
P12. Toni Elias - Alice Team 43m21.174s +50.021s Slick-Medium - Slick-Medium
P15. Anthony West - Kawasaki Racing Team 43m31.889s +1m00.736s Slick-Medium - Slick-Hard
DNF:John Hopkins - Kawasaki Racing Team 11m17.629s +17 laps Slick-Medium/Slick-Hard
Marco Melandri - Ducati Corse 9m26.358s +18 laps Slick-Medium/Slick-Hard
Weather: Dry – Air 30°C, Track 50°C ( Bridgestone measurement)
