MotoGP World Championship. China GP. Races
 DANI
PEDROSA, SECOND IN CHINA, STANDS OUT IN THE LEAD OF THE GENERAL
CLASSIFICATION
The Repsol Honda Team rider takes his fourth consecutive
podium at the Chinese Grand Prix. Nicky Hayden was sixth in
a difficult race for the American
Repsol rider Dani Pedrosa ran another superb race at the China
Grand Prix, fourth test for points in the 2008 World Motorcycling
Championship. Pedrosa, who arrived in China sharing the lead
of the general classification with fellow countryman Lorenzo,
left the Shanghai track today with an advantage of 7 points,
after he took his fourth consecutive podium in the top category.
Today's second position almost tasted of victory, bearing
in mind that the day kicked off under intense rain, and where
the 125cc and 250cc races were disputed under the downpour.
Though Dani is not an expert at riding under wet conditions,
today, during the warm-up, Pedrosa showed an impressive improvement
on the wet surface of the Shanghai Circuit, running the third
fastest time this morning. The Repsol Honda Team rider was
ready to face today's race under the rain with hopes of taking
the victory. Fortunately, he did not need to demonstrate his
abilities under these conditions as halfway through the 250cc
race, the rain stopped and the track dried out in time for
the MotoGP race.
The race started with Edwards in the lead, Stoner in second
position, Rossi third, and Pedrosa fourth, though by the end
of the first lap, the Repsol Honda Team rider took control
of the race after overtaking Stoner and Edwards, taking a
solitary lead. After managing an advantage of a second over
his rivals, Rossi detached himself from the pack he was leading
and went after the Spaniard. The rest of the race was a duel
between Pedrosa and Rossi. The Italian took first position
before the race was halfway through, and held his place until
the end of the race. Pedrosa stayed behind the Italian's wheel
almost until the end of the race, but 6 laps from the end
he decided to make do with the 20 points awarded to the second
classified, and reduced his pace in order to preserve the
engine of his bike when he realised it was revving too high
due to the wind blowing from behind at some points of the
circuit.
Nicky Hayden, who started off from the fourth row of the
starting grid after yesterday's tenth fastest lap time, took
off at lightning speed and by the end of the first lap was
already in sixth position. The American looked set to catch
up with the leading pack, but after a few more laps he started
to slow down his pace, while a number of rivals overtook him.
The setup of his bike was not the ideal today, and the Repsol
Honda Team rider finished in sixth position after recovering
a few positions during the race.
In the 250cc category, what could have been a good race for
Julián Simón ended up in zero points in his
chart. A fault in the engine of his KTM FRR 250 prevented
the Repsol rider from giving a good performance. Simón
got off to a good start and maintained his fourth position
on the starting grid during the first few bends, finishing
his first lap in third place. Running the first laps in the
leading pack alongside Bautista, Kallio, Simoncelli and Barbera,
his engine collapsed during the fifth lap and the Repsol KTM
rider was forced to head for boxes, desolate. A special mention
for the double victory of the two KTM riders with technical
support from Repsol, Mika Kallio and Hiroshi Aoyama. The Finnish
rider won the race and the Japanese rider completed a fine
weekend for KTM by taking the second step on the podium.
In the 125cc category, an important day for young Marc Màrquez,
who in the second Grand Prix of his life, at only 15 years
of age, has become a member of the club of the youngest riders
to have scored points in a World Motorcycling Championship.
Today Màrquez ran a superb race under the intense rain
pouring down on the Chinese track. Warned by his team of the
possible falls and of the many errors of his rivals under
these conditions, the young Repsol KTM Team 125cc rider chose
not to take too many risks and waited to see how things developed.
Finally, and after a duel with teammate Esteve Rabat, Márquez
finished in a well-deserved twelfth position, taking his first
four points in the World Motorcycling Championship. Teammate
Esteve Rabat, in a weekend he will want to forget, also won
some valuable points -5-, after finishing in eleventh position.
Rabat tried to recover positions throughout the race, but
the limitations of his bike forced him to take many risks,
with the result that he skidded off the track on a couple
of occasions. A final eleventh position Rabat and twelfth
place for Márquez in this fourth Grand Prix of the
2008 season.
Quotes
MotoGP
Dani Pedrosa >> finished 2nd, World Championship leader
“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
“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.”
250cc
Julián Simón >> withdrawn
“I think that this weekend we did a very good job and
managed to find some very good adjustments. I'm grateful to
the team and the mechanics for their help, they've supported
me at all times and thanks to them I enjoyed the first laps
of the race. We broke the engine, these things happen during
races.
Now we have to concentrate on France and learn as much as
we can from what happened here, which was quite a lot. The
weekend didn't end well, but we have all the good work we
did during those first few laps. It's a shame. As for me,
the problem in my arm has also been solved, so I think that
by the time we reach France it will be OK. And we'll continue
to work on trying to get a good result as soon as possible.”
125cc
Esteve Rabat >> 11º at 41.139 secs.
“We've had a lot of problems with the bike throughout
the weekend, and it broke down quite often. The truth is that
it's not as fast as we hoped. But it's what we've got, we
have to fight with it, try to get ahead, and we'll see if
KTM can help us out a bit more. The race was very complicated.
I got off to a bad start, way back, though I did very well
during the first lap. But at the end of the long straightaway
I made a mistake, and it happened again during the second
lap. I recovered positions, and I made yet another mistake.
Near the end, Aegerter fell right in front of me -I almost
ran over him-, and I had to ride off the track. Let's hope
we do better in the next race. I finally managed an eleventh
position, it's five points, which are very welcome.”
Marc Márquez >> 12º at 43.677 secs.
“This was my second race and I managed to win points,
so to tell the truth it was a complete success for me. I know
very few riders have managed that, though now what we have
to do is concentrate on the next race and continue improving.
The race was quite difficult due to the rain.
The team asked me not to make any mistakes, to just try and
finish the race, as the rest of the riders were sure to make
mistakes. In the end that was my tactic, and it worked well
for me. I've seen how aggressive a World Championship can
be, as I was struggling to maintain my position and was brushed
by a couple of riders. But I know that's what the World Championship
is about, and I need to be more aggressive. I gained a lot
of experience today and learned a lot.”
Official Results
MotoGP
1. Valentino ROSSI (YAMAHA) 44:08.061
2. Dani PEDROSA (REPSOL HONDA) at 3.890
3. Casey STONER (DUCATI) at 15.928
4. Jorge LORENZO (YAMAHA) at 22.494
5. Marco MELANDRI (DUCATI) at 26.957
6. Nicky HAYDEN (REPSOL HONDA) at 28.369
250cc
1. Mika KALLIO (KTM) 48:12.217
2. Hiroshi AOYAMA (KTM) at 3.238
3. Mattia PASINI (APRILIA) at 13.811
4. Marco SIMONCELLI (GILERA) at 18.474
5. Alex DEBÓN (APRILIA) at 21.066
NC. Julián SIMÓN (REPSOL KTM)
125cc
1. Andrea IANNONE (APRILIA) 46:02.275
2. Mike DI MEGLIO (DERBI) at 3.355
3. Gabor TALMACSI (APRILIA) at 3.451
4. Pol ESPARGARO (DERBI) at 14.028
5. Stefan BRADL (APRILIA) at 23.853
11. Esteve RABAT (REPSOL KTM) at 41.139
12. Marc MÁRQUEZ (REPSOL KTM) at 43.677
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