Sachsenring, Sun 17th Jul 2011: Dani Pedrosa emerged victorious from a three-man race-long battle for first place at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, with Jorge Lorenzo wrestling second from Casey Stoner on the final corner of a thrilling Round 9 race.
Repsol Honda’s Pedrosa had his usual great start, taking the hole shot ahead of Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) and Stoner (Repsol Honda) when the lights went out for a race which was to be a 30-lap fight to the finish at Sachsenring. The Spaniard’s win is his fifth Grand Prix victory at the Sachsenring circuit, and came in only his second race after returning from a three-race absence through injury.
Three way scrap proved Pedrosa is back on top form
At the end of lap one, Lorenzo was in the lead ahead of the three Repsol Hondas of Pedrosa, Stoner and Dovizioso, who fought amongst each other for second until the Australian made his attack on lap five to take the lead, only to have Lorenzo regain the lead status a few laps later. The Mallorcan then tried desperately to defend his line, until lap 21 when Pedrosa got a huge drive out of the last corner to launch himself into the lead for the last time.
Danny Pedrosa “It’s an incredible feeling to be back and win a race so early; I didn’t expect it, but this circuit has been always very good for me and I made it happen. I was already surprised yesterday with second position in qualifying and to finish the weekend in this way is amazing, a huge relief for me after a very hard time with injuries. Here I suffered less than in Mugello because of the layout, but in the race today I had a strange feeling, something I’ve never had before. At the beginning of the race I wasn’t feeling great on the bike, I was fourth but I didn’t get nervous or worried because I’m still not mathematically out of the Championship battle, but I know it’s almost impossible. So, I just let the laps pass and in the middle of the race, with less fuel in the tank and when the tyres started sliding, I decided to step it up a little and it worked perfectly. I’m very happy with this victory, I’ve been suffering a lot even though this race track is not physically demanding, because I’m still weak. A big thanks to my family and doctors that helped me to be back here because they all know how hard it has been. Also to my team and to all my fans that never gave up, they deserve it also”.
Meanwhile a three-rider battle for fourth ensued behind the leaders between Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing), out of which Italian Dovizioso crossed the line first, two-tenths of a second in front of American rider Spies and four-tenths ahead of fellow countryman Simoncelli.
Another intense fight starred Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) and the two Ducati Team riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi. Bautista crossed the line seventh with Hayden less than a tenth of a second behind the Spaniard and Rossi just six-thousands behind the American, with Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha Monster) following the trio in tenth.
Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) had an off-track excursion in the early stages of the race, but then staged a great comeback from the back of the pack to finish eleventh, in front of Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing). Stoner continues to top the Championship, and now has 168 points which leaves him 15 points ahead of defending World Champion Lorenzo.
Casey Stoner– “We knew today would be a hard race, we found a good set up yesterday in qualifying but we had an issue with the rear tyre and the temperatures getting too high, with it spinning too much. We took it easy in the early part of the race and thought we’d try to preserve the tyre and warm it up slower than we did in Mugello. After a few laps I decided to make a move to the front to see what we could do and we were able to pull a small advantage, but too small compared to the effort we were putting in so I backed off on my pace a little and tried to stay as smooth as possible and see what happens. They came past me and Dani was riding so strong and was able to get past Jorge before I got there, he built a small advantage and by the time I got past Jorge and I struggled to chase him down. I made a few small mistakes and that left just Jorge and I for the last few laps. I tried everything I could, riding the cleanest lap possible and trying to block my line, but Jorge came up on the dirty part of the track and I thought it would be too high a risk but he made it stick and I have to settle for third place. I’m still leading the Championship and I’m thankful for the points here today”.
