RACE REPORT – CHINESE GRAND PRIX - SHANGHAI
EDWARDS MAKES PODIUM RETURN IN GRUELLING SHANGHAI
AFFAIR
Camel Yamaha Team rider Colin Edwards charged from the front
row of the grid to the podium today with a determined performance
in the Grand Prix of China. Whilst his team-mate Valentino
Rossi was denied the chance to challenge for a top three spot
after pulling in with a tyre problem on the sixteenth lap,
Edwards reaped the rewards of a blistering start to the race,
when he snatched the hole-shot and led the field over the
opening stages. In sunny and warm conditions Edwards
set a scorching pace that only a handful of riders were able
to follow, but finally succumbed to pressure from Dani Pedrosa
(Honda) on lap ten, the young Spaniard forcing his way past
and taking his team-mate Nicky Hayden along for company. Rossi,
meanwhile, had been making positive progress through the field,
working his way up from thirteenth on the grid to fifth place
in the race before bad luck struck once again. The
Italian began to feel that there was something wrong with
his bike and initially thought it was being caused by the
rear tyre. After a swift change he attempted to rejoin the
race, only to return to the pits next time around after realising
the problem was coming from the front tyre. Edwards consolidated
third place for his first podium appearance of the season
as Pedrosa held off the challenge of Hayden to clinch his
maiden MotoGP win.
COLIN EDWARDS (3rd; + 14.634) “I got
a really good start and just decided to go as fast as I could
over the opening laps. I was close to losing control on a
couple of occasions but I decided that I’d rather crash
out of the lead today than miss my chance of finishing on
the podium, which meant I just couldn’t back off. I
had some chatter and I could only push the bike so hard; if
I went any faster than 2’00.7 then the chatter forced
me to slow down, so I didn’t have much choice but to
hang in there! The freight train came past with Dani and Nicky
but I couldn’t hang on to the back, they were both just
too fast. We’ve had some problems this weekend and I
didn’t expect to be on the podium but I can’t
thank my team, Yamaha and Michelin enough for the way they
worked to put me in a competitive position. I think I scored
my first podium in round four last season too, so hopefully
this can be a sign to kick on from here.”
VALENTINO ROSSI (DNF) “I didn’t
get a bad start to the race and I passed a lot of riders but
I had a battle with Marco Melandri that cost me some time.
Some of his moves were quite strong, which I could understand
if we were fighting for the win on the last lap but not for
eighth place at that stage of the race. Anyway, the bike felt
good but just as I got my pace to 2’00.1 it suddenly
started to feel wrong and I thought I had a problem with the
rear tyre. I came in to change it but as I went back out I
realised it was actually the front tyre, so that was the end
of the race for me. I’m really disappointed because
I felt in the race that I had the pace to at least pass Hopkins
and Edwards, so as far as I am concerned we have lost 16 points
and a podium, which would have been a good result after the
problems we’ve had this weekend. We’ve lost some
ground in the championship so I am feeling very disappointed
right now but there is a long way to go yet.”
DAVIDE BRIVIO – CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
“First of all my congratulations to Colin and all his
crew – they have kept going after a difficult start
to the season and today they got their reward. Third place
is good and I hope it can be the start of much better things
from him for the rest of the season. Valentino had a bad day,
and even if we had changed the front tyre the first time he
came in, it would have taken too long and the race would have
already been lost. He has been very unlucky this year
– firstly with the incident in the first corner at Jerez
and now this time with the tyre. It’s always upsetting
when your results are decided by things that are out of your
control but there is nothing he can do about it, only look
forward to making up for lost ground over an important run
of races in the next few weeks.”
Results
1.Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 44’07.734
2.Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, +1.505
3.COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, +14.634
4.John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, +19.265
5.Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda LCR, +23.061
6.Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, +23.879
7.Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, +24.101
8.Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, +24.467
9.Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, +28.358
10.Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, +33.815
DNF: VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, Lap 18
Championship Standings
1.Nicky Hayden (USA) 72
2.Loris Capirossi (ITA) 59
3.Dani Pedrosa (SPA) 57
4.Marco Melandri (ITA) 54
5.Casey Stoner (AUS) 52
6.VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) 40
7.Toni Elias (SPA) 37
8.COLIN EDWARDS (USA) 35
9.Shinya Nakano (JPN) 28
10.Sete Gibernau (SPA) 25
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