Repsol Portuguese Grand Prix, Estoril
Race day, Sunday April 13 2008
REPDOL HONDA’S PEDROSA SECOND IN TRICKY RACE,
HAYDEN’S CHARGE ENDS IN GRAVEL
Total Weekend Attendance: 72.383, Race Day Attendance: 41.840
Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa had a hard-fought ride to
second place in tricky conditions at Estoril today while team-mate
Nicky Hayden tumbled out of fourth place while sneaking up
on the leading trio. The opening laps of the race were especially
tricky because light rain showers had dampened several sections
of the circuit.
Pedrosa’s third successive podium finish from the first
three races – third in Qatar, winner in Spain and second
here in Portugal – makes him the equal points leader
with today’s race winner Jorge Lorenzo. Pedrosa was
in the thick of the three-way battle for victory throughout
this afternoon’s race, moving into third place on lap
three, then duking it out with Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.
He got the better of Rossi on lap 15 and worked hard to close
the gap on leader Lorenzo, eventually finishing the 28 laps
just 1.8 seconds down.
Gallant Hayden was also charging hard, moving through the
pack from seventh place on the first place, picking off rivals
here and there until he found himself in fourth place just
after half way. The American had been chipping away at the
leading group, closing a few tenths every lap, until he lost
the front and fell going into turn seven on lap 17. His pace
had been impressive, good enough for the third fastest lap
of the race.
Dani Pedrosa
finished second, equal World Championship leader
Front tyre: 16" Michelin slick medium Rear tyre: 16.5"
Michelin slick hard
“After our difficult preseason it’s good to be
in this position now, so we are very happy. Today was a good
race, the beginning was quite fun, but also a little dangerous
because it was raining a bit and there were a few passing
manoeuvres. When the rain stopped, the pace got faster and
faster, so we had to concentrate very hard to maintain tyre
grip all the time. Eventually we finished second and we’re
happy. We always expected a tough race, so this result is
very important for us. When Lorenzo started pulling away I
still had to pass Rossi, then when I did pass Rossi, Lorenzo
already had a gap. I tried to close the gap, or at least maintain
it, and the gap stayed the same more or less for the remainder
of the race. Finally we got second and it’s a good result.
Nicky Hayden
DNF, tenth in World Championship
Front tyre: 16" Michelin slick medium Rear tyre: 16.5"
Michelin slick hard
“The first few laps were certainly not easy, some parts
of the track were a little wetter than others and I had on
a pretty hard tyre. I had been choosing between that tyre
and another a little bit softer, but with the way the weather’s
been this weekend we really hadn’t got to do a lot of
endurance on the harder one. I got settled in, and the warmer
I was getting the tyres the better they were working and I
was able to start moving up, so things were feeling pretty
good. I made a few passes, I’d just got into fourth,
felt like I wanted to close the gap on the guys in front of
me. You know, I got fourth place at Jerez and I certainly
didn’t want to settle in there and ride around, so I
had to push hard and you know when you push hard you make
mistakes. It’s not a parade you can’t just cruise
around. The bike was working good, the tyres were working
good, I felt pretty comfortable, so I was pushing. Turn seven’s
downhill, certainly a trick corner, the front let go pretty
early and down I went. It’s unfortunate because the
bike was working good and we were hungry for a good result,
so my own mistake. We just have to step it up a bit."
Kazuhiko Yamano - Team Manager
“Dani did a very good job for the championship. The
conditions were very difficult, with some rain falling at
the start of the race, so Dani did a very good job controlling
that situation and racing with the front pack. Nicky was also
very fast, he was running a great pace and looking very strong,
but it seems he was unlucky. We stay here to test tomorrow,
when we will be testing tyres and chassis settings.”
Race Results
1 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 45'53.089
2 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 45'54.906
3 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 46'05.812
4 Colin EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 46'10.312
5 John HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 46'16.841
6 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 46'19.777
7 James TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 46'25.720
8 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 46'29.471
2
9 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 46'31.357
10 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 46'32.565
11 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 46'54.395
12 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team DUCATI 46'56.956
13 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 47'02.614
14 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team DUCATI 47'02.723
15 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 47'04.631
16 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 47'16.718
Not Classified
69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA
Circuit Lenght: 4182 m
Fastest Lap (new record) 2008: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1'37"715
Circuit best lap 2008: 1.35.715 J.Lorenzo (Yamaha)
Race conditions
18°C dry 21°c 53%
World champioship classification
Rider
1 LORENZO Jorge SPA 61
2 PEDROSA Dani SPA 61
3 ROSSI Valentino ITA 47
4 STONER Casey AUS 40
5 TOSELAND James GBR 29
6 CAPIROSSI Loris ITA 26
7 HOPKINS John USA 24
8 EDWARDS Colin USA 22
9 DOVIZIOSO Andrea ITA 21
10 HAYDEN Nicky USA 19
11 NAKANO Shinya JPN 16
12 VERMEULEN Chris AUS 14
13 MELANDRI Marco ITA 12
14 DE PUNIET Randy FRA 8
15 DE ANGELIS Alex RSM 7
16 ELIAS Toni SPA 7
17 WEST Anthony AUS 3
18 GUINTOLI Sylvain FRA 3
Constructor Points
1 YAMAHA 65
2 HONDA 61
3 DUCATI 40
4 SUZUKI 27
Team Points
1 FIAT YAMAHA TEAM 108
2 REPSOL HONDA TEAM 80
3 DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM 52
4 TECH 3 YAMAHA 51
5 RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP 40
6 KAWASAKI RACING TEAM 27
7 SAN CARLO HONDA GRESI 23
8 JIR TEAM SCOT MOTOGP 21
9 ALICE TEAM 10
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