Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa stormed to a flag-to-flag victory in the U.S. Grand Prix before a sun-drenched crowd of nearly of over 46,000 on the challenging Laguna Seca circuit within sight of the Pacific Ocean in Monterey, California.

Starting fourth on the grid, the Spaniard jetted into the lead over the turn one crest and into the turn two left hand hairpin. Then he was gone. Pedrosa set one fast lap after another to pull away to what seemed a certain victory. But on the final lap Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) made a robust challenge to Pedrosa, closing onto his rear tire in the final turn. Pedrosa, however, was resolute, and used the power of the Honda RC212V to cross the line with a gap of .344s. Rossi was second and his teammate Jorge Lorenzo was third.

The victory, Pedrosa’s seventh in MotoGP and 30th career, was his first since the Catalunya Grand Prix on June 8, 2008. He was also able to solidify fourth in the championship after eight of 17 rounds.

What made the victory especially sweet, was that it showed he’d reverted to the form that can take him to victory after a very difficult set of races. Pedrosa injured his right hip in a crash in Mugello and for the following two races he couldn’t ride as he wanted. Today he was under no physical restrictions and showed what a powerful package he and the Honda RC212V can be.

Attrition took its toll on the field as they tried to complete 32 laps of the demanding 3.61k track. Only 12 made it to the finish, but four of the top eleven were Honda-mounted. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Toni Elias finished a season best sixth and within .4 secs. of fifth placed Nicky Hayden (Ducati), who he chased to the checkered flag.

Randy De Puniet (LCR Honda) finished ninth, two spots in front of Alex De Angelis on the second San Carlo Honda Gresini machine. De Puniet had difficulty with traffic in the early laps before breaking clear. His fastest lap was the 18th of 32, by which time he was securely in ninth. De Angelis also found the early part of the race more difficult than the latter part. His fast lap was also on the 18th. And though he pressured Marco Melandri (Kawasaki), he couldn’t find a way past and was frustrated to miss out on a top ten finish by under a second.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) was among the unlucky. The Italian was in a secure fifth place and on the tail of the lead quartet when his front end slid away in the left hand turn five on the seventh lap. Earlier he’d had problems with engine braking after inadvertently hitting his clutch lever on one of the plastic stanchions separating the pit lane exit from the track. But he took full responsibility for the crash, which happened after repeated warnings.

Earlier, Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) had crashed out on the fourth lap. It was his first race crash in his third MotoGP race, and on his first visit to Laguna Seca.

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1st, said:
“This is a fantastic win for us and it’s a great feeling after such a long time without a victory. The start to the season has been really difficult and actually it’s been tough since Sachsenring last year because I’ve had a lot of injuries and I haven’t been able to ride at 100 per cent for a long time, or train properly. But my team and Honda never gave up and I’d like to thank everyone who’s been working really hard to help me get back to this position. I’d also like to thank the doctors who have treated me because there have been quite a few of them! I got a good start, I was able to get into a good rhythm straight away and my pace was a little better than in practice. Perhaps my only mistake here was to slow down too much on the last lap because I didn’t realize how close Valentino was. Anyway, it was a great race, a great day and it’s a great feeling. Now I just want to focus on each race and get the best results possible. There’s a long way to go in the championship but there’s also a big gap to the leaders so I’m just going to take it one race at a time.”

Toni Elias, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 6th, said:
“It is not a bad result and we couldn’t have done much more than that because my race pace was exactly the same as in practice. I was able to go quicker for a lap or two in practice but generally we knew this was what we would be capable of today in terms of my own performance. To be honest I was hoping the front guys would be a little slower than that and allow us to challenge them but the pace was very quick so compliments to them. In general this weekend has been much better than previous races and so was the result, but we always want more.”

Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 9th, said:
“I am quite satisfied as it was hard to expect a better result starting from the fourth row on this “up-and-down” track. I struggled with grip problems since Friday and we tried to adjust our issues but at the end the bike was not at 100%. My start was not brilliant and found some traffic in the first laps but after that my rhythm was good enough to pass a few riders. We decided to go for a softer rear tire which was a good choice for the beginning of the race but grip from the rear tire dropped at ten laps to go. This is another productive result for me and the Team as I am holding the 9th place in the championship”

Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 11th, said:
“We made some changes to the bike for today but with the conditions being so much cooler for the warm-up this morning than they were for the race in the afternoon, we hadn’t really tested them. I was really struggling over the first few laps and the bike was moving around a lot but the problem eased in the second half of the race and I was able to push harder. I honestly thought I could run with Vermeulen today and that would have been a battle for eighth place so it’s a shame we suffered this setback. Anyway, at least we picked up a few points.”

Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: DNF, said:
“We were in good shape, I’d got into a fast rhythm and I’m sure we could have had good result today, so I’m very disappointed. Unfortunately I made a mistake and I have spoiled this opportunity. During the first laps, I was behind Valentino, I wanted to overtake him and I was very close at the end of the straight. It’s a blind point and I was so close that I didn’t see the plastic poles that separate the track from the pit lane. I hit a few of them and in the impact the clutch lever bent, and from that moment on I couldn’t control the engine braking. It was my mistake as my line was too far to the left but after that it was tough to ride and change gear properly. Nevertheless, I tried to stay up with the leaders. Then I lost the front and crashed after having had a couple of warnings. I’m really disappointed because we are getting closer to front-running pace at every race and here we could have done well. Still, I believe in myself, in the machine and in my team, and I really hope to get a good result soon.”

Gabor Talmacsi, Scot Honda: DNF said:
“I had a very good feeling with the bike, and a good start. Then suddenly, when I was 15th, I lost the front. I cannot say why. I’m fine, but it is really a pity because I was in a condition to get a good result. I stay confident for the next race.”

Honesty check; who had anything like this on their score card. Results from the rain soaked melee that was the MotoGP Race at LaMans 2009.

Pos. Pts. # Rider, Team – bike – Time

1 25 99 Jorge LORENZO, Fiat Yamaha Team – YAMAHA – 7’52.678
2 20 33 Marco MELANDRI, Hayate Racing Team – KAWASAKI – 48’10.388
3 16 3 Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team – HONDA – 48’12.571
4 13 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Repsol Honda Team – HONDA – 48’13.133
5 11 27 Casey STONER, Ducati Marlboro Team – DUCATI – 48’23.217
6 10 7 Chris VERMEULEN, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – SUZUKI – 48’30.140
7 9 5 Colin EDWARDS, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – YAMAHA – 48’32.869
8 8 65 Loris CAPIROSSI, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – SUZUKI – 48’38.099
9 7 52 James TOSELAND, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – YAMAHA – 48’42.985
10 6 24 Toni ELIAS, San Carlo Honda Gresini – HONDA – 48’45.896
11 5 15 Alex DE ANGELIS, San Carlo Honda Gresini – HONDA – 48’46.228
12 4 69 Nicky HAYDEN, Ducati Marlboro Team – DUCATI – 48’49.325
13 3 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI, Scot Racing Team MotoGP – HONDA – 48’49.366
14 2 14 Randy DE PUNIET, LCR Honda MotoGP – HONDA – 49’03.977
15 1 88 Niccolo CANEPA, Pramac Racing – DUCATI – 49’08.063
16 46 Valentino ROSSI, Fiat Yamaha Team – YAMAHA – 49’28.685
Not Classified
36 Mika KALLIO, Pramac Racing – DUCATI – 20’47.302

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) rode to his factory RC212V to a brilliant pole position at Le Mans this afternoon, marking himself down as a favourite for tomorrow’s French Grand Prix, round four of this year’s 17 race MotoGP World Championship. The Spaniard timed his final charge to perfection, moving ahead of his rivals in the final seconds of the session, leaving them no time to counter-attack. His final and fastest lap outpaced Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) by five thousandths of a second and third fastest Casey Stoner (Ducati) by seven hundredths of a second. This is the second year in a row that Pedrosa has scored pole at Le Mans.

Conditions were cool and cloudy for the afternoon qualifier, the best they have been all weekend, with the previous two practice outings spoiled by squalls of rain and drizzle that had track conditions changing throughout.

Pedrosa’s first pole of the year (he was second on the grid in Spain two weeks ago) continues an impressive run by the Spaniard who started the season injured and is still far from fully fit because his still-healing left knee prevents him from undertaking his usual training regime. Despite those difficulties the 23 year-old finished third in last month’s Japanese GP and second at Jerez, so he will be aiming to continue that progression tomorrow.

Team-mate Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) was often the fastest man on track in the two free practice sessions and scored a solid second-row start in qualifying. Just three tenths off pole, the Italian didn’t manage to get the maximum out of his final run on soft tires but is nonetheless confident of a good race tomorrow. With conditions changing constantly here at Le Mans, Dovizioso will leave his decision on tire choice until the last moment before the race.

Local hero Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) gave himself some work to do this afternoon by falling in the early stages when he touched a still-damp white line while braking for the Chemin aux Boeufs chicane. The Frenchman had to ride the rest of the session on his number two bike, though that machine was still fast enough to clock the second highest top speed of the session, at 290.3km/h. De Puniet ended up tenth fastest, putting him at the front of the fourth row.

Thirty stitches in his right arm didn’t stop Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) from putting in a typically determined effort in qualifying. Following the Jerez GP the Spaniard underwent surgery on his right arm to cure an arm-pump problem and is still recovering from the operation which aggravated a tendon in the arm. Not surprisingly, Elias is struggling with his physical endurance here and he knows that tomorrow’s 28 lap race will be one of the toughest of his career.

MotoGP rookie Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda) had his best result of the year so far at Jerez and was looking forward to getting back to action here so he could work on improving his front suspension set-up, which is currently holding him back. The ever-changing weather conditions didn’t help Takahashi here but his crew did make improvements during qualifying, which he ended in 15th.

Unaccustomed to starting from the back row of the grid, Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and his team are planning a radical change to the set-up of his RC212V for the race here. The San Marino rider was 16th fastest in qualifying, leaving him with plenty of work to do both in the morning warm-up and in the first few laps of the race.

Jerez 250 winner and World Championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) qualified a close third fastest here. Aoyama has high hopes of running at the front tomorrow, using his RS250RW’s nimble handling characteristics through Le Mans’ many tight turns and changes of direction. Team-mate Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) improved his front-end set-up on his way to seventh in qualifying.

Stop And Go team-mates Hector Faubel (Valencia CF – Honda SAG) and Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) were tenth and 12th quickest in 250 qualifying. Faubel may have got closer to the front if he hadn’t been slowed by traffic at a crucial stage of the session. Wilairot had a challenging two days trying to adapt his technique to ride round a hand injury, sustained at home last week.

Japanese rookie Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda) had a tough practice and qualifying period, sliding off yesterday in his first session at Le Mans and losing time this morning to a minor technical problem. Still not fully accustomed to the tight French circuit, he did well to qualifying 17th quickest.

Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda) kept moving forward throughout the three sessions, but is still struggling to find the rear-end traction he needs to effectively lay down the power on the corner exits. The Swiss teenager qualified 23rd fastest.

MotoGP Riders Quotes:

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), pole position at 1m 33.974s, said:
“Obviously I’m really happy with pole today and it was a very close battle for the front row. Right at the end we were able to set the fastest lap and I’m really pleased for the team as well as for myself. Being on the front row is important, and it’s also lucky that we had good weather for this afternoon and for most of the morning session because this allowed us to test a few set-up options and learn more about the machine at this track. We still have work to do before the race though, so we’re not going to relax at all. It’s a long race tomorrow and there are some improvements I’d like to make to the machine settings to give us a good chance. And of course the weather can play a big part at this circuit as we’ve seen many times before. We have to prepare for many conditions, so we’re staying focused.”

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), fifth fastest at 1m 34.300s, said:
“Starting from the second row is okay and I feel I could have gone quicker still if I’d managed to get the maximum from the soft tire. I’m happy though, because I had a good rhythm and was able to maintain a fast pace on both the soft and hard Bridgestone tire options during the practice sessions. We will have to take a lot of care with the tire selection because, with the changeable weather situation and temperature here, the choice of tires for the race will be crucial. It’s likely that we won’t know which ones to use until just before the race when we’ll have the best idea of the conditions. Tonight we’ll study a few more setting adjustments and aim to finalise things in the warm-up. I like this track and I’m looking forward to the race.”

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), tenth fastest at 1m 35.399s, said:
“I am not satisfied about my qualifying because I made a mistake at the beginning of the session and lost some track time. I probably braked on the white line and the surface was still damp. We have been doing a good job and the machine was on a good technical level. After the crash I rode my number two bike, but I could not do a perfect lap time especially on my last run because of the traffic. However, we have got the right race set-up and I must take a good start tomorrow so I can ride at the front. The first six riders are very fast and I have to do my best to finish just behind them.”

Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini), 11th fastest at 1m 35.431s, said:
“I’m really suffering here because I have no strength at all in my right arm and no matter how much I try I simply can’t push the bike any harder. I’ve been trying to get behind other riders for a tow and it helps but it’s so hard. This morning was particularly bad but we were at least able to improve the bike in the afternoon and the lap times came down significantly. I was able to hold my position from yesterday and I’m pleased with that. I’m doing everything I can, so are the team, and tomorrow we’ll just try to get through the race and pick up as many points as we can.”

Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda), 15th fastest at 1m 35.774s, said::
“Since Jerez I’ve had a few issues with the front suspension of my machine. To fix it what we need is lost of good weather and dry track time, which we haven’t had here. Nevertheless, we have been able to make a step forward with the fork setting during this afternoon’s qualifying session. For tomorrow, we’ll see – everything depends on the weather.”

Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini), 16th fastest at 1m 35.785s, said:
“We definitely improved the bike today on race tires but when we put the softer compound in to push for a fast lap we ran into a lot of problems that we didn’t expect. We’re looking at the telemetry now, we can clearly see where the problems are and we have a radical idea to try tomorrow that we hope works. It is going to be difficult starting from so far back but we don’t have much to lose by taking a big gamble on the setting so it will be interesting to see how it turns out.”

250cc Rider Quotes:

Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda), third fastest at 1m 38.682s, said:.
“Tomorrow I will start the race from the front row, and this is very important. I think it’s as important to have a good start here as it is to have a good race pace. It’s difficult to evaluate the performance of my rivals here because of the weather which has changed every session, so it’s not easy to say how I will go. The weather will also have an important say in what happens tomorrow – I just hope it will be consistent so we can have a good race.”

Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda), seventh fastest at 1m 39.367s, said:
“s a newcomer to the 250 class I always have to spend the beginning of every weekend adapting myself to riding a 250 round each new circuit. We changed a few things with the set-up here and I have found a better feeling with the front tire, which is great news. We also did a good job with the rear end of the machine. During qualifying I found myself competing in the usual group of old friends, which was fun. For tomorrow, I have no real preference – sun or rain is the same for me.”

Hector Faubel (Valencia CF – Honda SAG), tenth fastest at 1m 39.517s, said:
“oday I feel very good on the bike. I’m tenth and the time covering the first positions is very tight. During the last ten minutes I used a soft tire which was really good but there was a lot of traffic and I couldn’t improve my lap times by the few tenths of a second I needed to get a really good position on the grid. I’m hoping that we get no rain tomorrow, even though this morning in the wet I was fifth fastest. I feel very positive here.”

Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG), 12th fastest at 1m 39.667s, said:
“The pain from my right hand is still bad like yesterday but I now have a better feeling with the throttle and the brake. I have used all the practice sessions here to adapt my style of riding to the injury – now I am using only one finger to brake – the third finger. I need to do some special therapy on the hand and arm because tomorrow I will need to brake harder than I did today in order to get a good finish in the race.”

Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda), 17th fastest at 1m 40.661s, said:
“This weekend has been a little bit hard for me so far, but I get very good support from my team, so I am feeling good about the race and I never give up. The machine is not so bad, but I am still learning the track. I will push harder in the race and try to get some more points.”

Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda), 23rd fastest at 1m 43.342s, said:
“I’m quite happy because this afternoon we took a second off my previous best lap time here at Le Mans. However, we are still facing the same problem that has been troubling us all year – not enough grip on corner exits. We have some more ideas to try which may hopefully cure the problem for tomorrow.”

Pedrosa Just 0.051 Seconds From Pole at Jerez. The sun-blessed Spanish crowd got what they came for at Jerez today – Spaniards first and second fastest for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix, round three of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) led much of the 45-minute session and was happy enough with his final position – second quickest, just 0.051 seconds off compatriot Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha).

Conditions were warm but very blustery this afternoon, Pedrosa nonetheless building on a successful morning session during which he completed an ultra-quick run which gave him the fastest free practice time. Pedrosa wasn’t the only Honda rider to feature well in the qualifying outing. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) also spent much of the session close to the front, ending the 45 minutes fifth overall. Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) went well too, but struggled in the wind and had to be happy with a third row start, alongside Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V).

Pedrosa made crucial overnight improvements to his RC212V set-up and his speed throughout today’s sessions suggests he will be at the sharp end of the action tomorrow. Pedrosa’s Jerez MotoGP record is impressive – runner-up in 2006 and 2007 and a dominant winner last year. Despite suffering knee and wrist injuries during testing in March, Honda’s former 125 and 250 World Champion kickstarted his 2009 season with an impressive third-place finish in last Sunday’s Japanese GP.

De Puniet rode superbly throughout the afternoon session, running a strong race pace on harder-compound race tires after fine tuning his RC212V’s power delivery. On softer tires at the end of the 45 minutes he went fifth fastest. The Frenchman believes he can make the top six tomorrow.

Dovizioso had high hopes of a great qualifying performance but the windy conditions hampered his efforts to refine the set-up of his RC212V. Like many riders the Italian sometimes had to fight to stay in control when gusts of winds threatened to cause him to crash, most notably at the very end of the session when he was going for a fast time through the fast corners at the end of the lap. Dovizioso’s aim for tomorrow is straightforward – to improve on the fifth-place finishes he achieved in the opening two races in Qatar and Japan.

Elias has had a challenging start to his 2009 season but the local star is confident that he has now found a good direction with his factory-spec RC212V. The Spaniard has got his RCV working well here, his best lap this afternoon just four tenths slower than fourth-placed reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha).

The wind may have disturbed many riders today but Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda) preferred to look on the bright side – at least conditions were better than they were in Japan, where torrential rain forced the cancellation of qualifying. Rookie Takahashi needs all the dry time he can get to keep moving forward aboard his RC212V.

Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) had a difficult day, the San Marino rider falling victim to the blustery winds. De Angelis fell when a strong gust of wind knocked him off line as he attacked a fast corner. Battered and bruised, he ended the session in 15th spot and will probably need painkilling therapy for a leg injury before tomorrow’s race.

The 250 qualifying session was even more frantic than the MotoGP qualifier, with the windy conditions causing bigger problems for the lightweight machines. There were several fallers, including Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG). Reigning World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) also fell, his second tumble of the day.

Following his brilliant ride to second at Motegi last Sunday, Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) led the early stages of the session but struggled to maintain position in the blowy conditions. He will start from sixth on the grid, three places in front of Hector Faubel (Valencia CF – Honda SAG) who missed the second row by just 0.027 seconds. Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) was 12th, one place ahead of Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) who was taken to the Clinica Mobile after a fall at the hairpin.

MotoGP:

Second fastest Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) said:
“I’m happy because we’ve improved a lot from yesterday and we’re starting from the front row. This is always important – but especially at my home race. It was very windy this afternoon which made it quite difficult to ride with a consistent line and keep the rhythm, but still, my pace was good and I’ll go into the race with a lot of confidence. We still have some work to do to improve our set-up but I’m happy with how we’ve progressed so far this weekend. Tomorrow is the important day though. There will be a lot of fans out there supporting me and the team and I really hope I can get a good result for them. If I get a start like I did at Motegi then that will help!”

Fifth fastest Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) said:
“At the beginning of the session we ran with our race set-up and I am happy with that because we improved the engine mapping for better power delivery. Then, for the last few runs, we lapped on softer tires to improve our grid position, but that was difficult due to the strong winds. It was not easy to do one perfect lap and I made a few small mistakes as the wind pushed me outside and inside, but this second row makes me very happy. The team did a good job and we improved the bike step by step. Honestly, I aim to get a top-six finish tomorrow. We have a good chance to do it because we start from the second row and our package is pretty competitive.”

Eighth fastest Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) said:
“It has been a tricky session for everybody because it was really windy and this meant we couldn’t confirm some set-up improvements that we were testing. This morning we made some adjustments that gave us some positive feedback, and we wanted to keep working on them, but we couldn’t test properly this afternoon because of the strong wind. Still, we improved our race pace which is very important, it’s just a pity that we will start from the third row. I think I could have been on the second row but during my best lap I lost the front in T4 and I almost crashed. Tomorrow morning we will work on further improving the feeling of mid-corner stability at the front. For the race I’ll have to make a good start because we cannot afford to lose contact with the guys in front.”

Ninth fastest Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) said:
“I think tomorrow could be a good race for me and I’m really looking forward to it. We’ve improved, not as much as we’d like yet but at least this small step allows me to dream of getting involved in the fight with a faster group or riders, closer to the front. I got a bad start to the races in Qatar and Japan so we’ve worked on that today because I think it could be the key to a good result tomorrow. I’m going to have to ride on the limit if I want to make up positions like I have done in past races here but the closer you are to the limit the higher the risk of a mistake, which would be expensive. Hopefully I won’t make any because I really want a good result here – for myself, for the team and especially for the fans because they give us so much here and it would be nice to be able to pay them back somehow.”

13th fastest Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda) said:
“I’m quite happy. Good weather all the two days – great. It was windy, but wind is not such a problem as rain is. This morning I found a good setting, and we modified it just slightly in the afternoon. There was not enough time to do a long run, but I did my best lap running alone, and this means that that is a realistic pace.”

15th fastest Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) said:
“I’m disappointed with the crash and with the grid position. I just didn’t feel confident from the start of the session this afternoon after having made decent progress this morning and we need to study the telemetry to understand why. I’m struggling on the softer tire and I’m actually in better shape in race trim. I was coming through one of the fast corners towards the end of the lap when I was hit by a huge gust of wind. I tried to lean the bike over more to counter it but the front folded and I went down. It was quite a heavy fall and I’m not feeling too great right now. I also took a blow to my leg but it’s nothing a painkiller can’t solve.”

250cc:

Sixth fastest Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) said.
“We worked very hard, but for some reason it did not pay off today. Other riders have been able to adapt better to the conditions. The wind was strong and it disturbed me a lot.”

Ninth fastest Hector Faubel (Valencia CF – Honda SAG) said:
“The bike is really good here – the engine is perfect, the rear end if perfect, it’s just the front end we need to work on, but I think much of our front-end problems come from the wind. The wind gets under the bike going into corners and I keep tucking the front. Despite this I am sure we can stay in front, fighting with the top guys. I need a good start and must not lose touch with the front group.”

12th fastest Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) said:
“At the end, with new tires, I could ride faster better, but I had to brake and slow down because I ran into some heavy traffic. We still need to improve our set-up to make the bike better with used tires because in this condition, we are not as good as we should be. Today it was very windy, especially in a couple of places, it made difficult to race at the maximum.”

13th fastest Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) said:
“I was riding very well behind Simoncelli, and I thought I could do a 1m 43.5s when something happened to the bike in one of the corners. The back end came around, I let go of the bike and landed on my left foot. The ankle is badly bruised and it hurts a lot, but hopefully there is nothing broken and I can go out tomorrow to race.”

17th fastest Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda) said:
“There was too much wind out there today! This track is already quite narrow, but with the wind it seemed even narrower, it was not easy to keep your line. We made a few minor suspension changes today and the bike is coming better. It is not easy for us in these kind of conditions, because this is only my second visit here, so we don’t have a lot of data to use for the race.”

22th fastest Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda) said:
“This morning’s free practice and then the qualifying session went better than yesterday. But I still have the same problem with not so good rear tire grip, mainly when I accelerate. Today I was able to go one second faster, but I still have to work hard. Tomorrow I will try to find a new line on the track to win more time.”

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) celebrated 50 years of Honda excellence in the World Championships by taking a hard-fought third place, from eleventh on the grid, in the company’s home race on the Twin Ring Motegi circuit, while Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) held off teammate Valentino Rossi for the victory. Pedrosa’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso battled for a podium spot until the final few laps when he fell back to finish a close fifth to the fourth place finisher, Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro).

The race may prove to be one of the most difficult of the season for the riders, who went into the second grand prix of the season with a number of questions. The only dry session was Friday, when the temperature was 10C colder than on race day. Saturday’s practice was held in a steady rain and qualifying was rained out. Which meant the teams had to make educated guesses on everything from suspension to tires, and some of those guesses were proven wrong.

Rossi was away at the start, with Pedrosa in hot pursuit after making a bullet start from 11th on the grid. The Spaniard forced the action in the early going, despite still having limited mobility in his left knee.

On the third lap Rossi’s teammate Lorenzo came past, while Dovizioso chased Pedrosa.

Now came the heart of the race, with the Yamaha riders being chased by the Honda riders and both teams fighting among themselves for bragging rights. Lorenzo made a pass of Rossi on the ninth lap, but wasn’t able to break away. It was only when Rossi had a slight problem just past the mid-point in the 24-lap race that Lorenzo was able to put a second on his teammate.

A few laps later and it was Pedrosa Rossi had to contend with. The world champion hung tough until the 15th lap when Rossi made a mistake that cost him a second and dropped him closer to the clutches of Pedrosa.

Pedrosa made his first move up in the inside in turn one on lap 17, but Rossi immediately struck back. Pedrosa tried him again in turn five, but couldn’t make a clean pass. It was on the run down the back straight that Pedrosa snuck by into the 90 degree right that leads into the tunnel.

Rossi fought back on the 19th lap, taking Pedrosa in turn five before the first tunnel. From there he was able to hold onto second, but finished 1.304 secs. back of Lorenzo, who won by 1.304s.

Dovizioso chased Pedrosa closely in the first half before his pace slowed slightly in the second half. It was then that Stoner made a run after struggling with front brake problems in the beginning. Stoner passed Dovizioso for fourth in turn three on the 23rd of 24 laps.

LCR Honda’s Randy De Puniet finished 11th in the midst of a four-rider battle for ninth that went to James Toseland (Monster Energy Yamaha Tech 3).

San Carlo Honda Gresini’s De Angelis, starting his 150th GP, finished two spots behind in 13th . More than most riders, De Angelis was handicapped by the lack of dry practice. The settings he chose for the race clearly didn’t work and he did his best to keep the group in front of him in sight, only to fade at the end.

Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) had worked his way up to eighth place before what he described as a “stupid crash” put him to the back of the field. Despite losing valuable time, the Spaniard remounted to score the final point in 15th place.

Scot Racing Team MotoGP’s Yuki Takahashi failed to finish his home race. The Japanese rider crashed among a tight pack of riders in turn five on the first lap.

It was 50 years ago this June that Naomi Taniguchi scored Honda’s first World Championship point at the Isle of Man. Naomi Taniguchi, a spry and lively 73, paraded a replica of his RC142 prior to the MotoGP race. He was joined by Kunimitsu Takahashi, 69, the first Japanese rider to win a World Championship Grand Prix on a Honda. Takahashi rode the RC164 that Jim Redman rode to the 1963 250cc World Championship. Freddie Spencer, a three-time world champion for Honda, rode the radical 1984 NSR500 that featured the famous “upside-down” design, with the exhaust chamber above the engine and the fuel tank below it.

250cc Grand Prix

Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team 250cc) came close to winning his home grand prix for the third time, but in the end had to settle for second place.
Aoyama, the winner in 2005 and 2006, took the lead from world champion Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera) on the ninth of 23 laps. Soon he was joined by Alvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar Team), who gave him no quarter.

Five laps from the end Bautista outbraked Aoyama into the 90 degree right-hander at the end of the back straight and quickly opened a gap, while Aoyama secured his podium position.

Mattia Pasini (Team Toth Aprilia) was a distant third place.

Wild card Shuhei Aoyama, Hiroshi’s brother, rode his Harc-Pro Honda to sixth place in his return to grand prix racing.

The most improved rider on the weekend was Shoya Tomizawa (CIP Moto – GP250). Tomizawa was 25th on the grid, after encountering problems in the free practice session that set the grid positions, but sped through the field to finish tenth, his best yet.

Scot Racing Team 250cc’s Raffaele De Rosa had to serve a stop-and-go penalty for jumping the start, but still scored four points by finishing 12th.

Just out of the points was Racing Team Germany’s Bastien Chesaux in 16th.

Neither Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG), nor Valencia CF – Honda SAG’s Hector Faubel finished the race. Both raced with settings they hadn’t been able to test on Saturday, when rain lashed practice and washed out qualifying. Uncomfortable from the start, both riders crash, though, luckily, unhurt.

Honda Rider Quotes….

MotoGP:

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 3rd.
“I’m very happy with this result. I’ve had injury problems for a long time – since last October – and so to be on the podium in the second race of the season is fantastic for me, and really we didn’t expect this so soon. I got a good start – the start was really the key part of my race – and I was able to get away with the front group. I couldn’t really believe it when I stayed with them because I was expecting to drop back after maybe one or two laps. But then it was lap five or six and I was still there and I was thinking, ‘this is unbelievable’. In the end I was near the front for the whole race, had a good battle for second, and finished on the podium so this is great. We still have to sort out some issues on the machine, but it’s a very positive result going in to the Jerez, and I’d like to say big thanks to the team and the fans.”

Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 5th.
“I’m pretty happy after this race because, considering that we struggled a lot during all the practice sessions, we were able to stay near the front for 24 laps. I was pushing really hard for a podium finish for the whole race but in the end I couldn’t make it. It was a tough race and this is a very demanding track, with many hard braking zones so we struggled a lot physically to achieve this result. I think me and Dani just gritted our teeth and got on with it today. It’s promising because we’ve reduced the gap to the guys in the front. I was 27 seconds behind the winner in Qatar and only 9 seconds behind here, so this is a good step forward. But we must keep on working hard. I have to give my compliments to Dani – he did a great race. I made a good start and was able to maintain a good pace during the race, but we still have to fine-tune the machine so that we can be really competitive.”

Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 11th:
“It was a very hard race starting from the last row and I lost some time behind Sete (Gibernau). After six laps I finally passed him and started to set my pace getting the 9th place. At that time (Mika) Kallio was behind me but he overtook me on lap 14th. After that I tried to catch (James) Toseland but my rear traction was not very good as we had only 18 laps in the dry on Friday and the machine was not as we expected. I struggled in the left corners entries and I probably made a small mistake changing gear in the two last laps and (Chris) Vermeulen easily passed me. It’s a pretty positive result considering my position on the grid and I am looking forward to racing in Jerez to improve my machine set up in the dry”.

Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 13th.
“We had some problems on Friday and missed our only opportunity to get the bike set up for dry conditions, which was an unfortunate circumstance that we paid the price for today. I went for a hard front and rear tire but it clearly didn’t work with the set-up we had and I had no feeling from the tires or the suspension today. There was a group of four riders fighting in front of me and I was desperate to get involved in the battle but I lost the rear a couple of times so finally decided to give up the chase. Three points isn’t much but it’s better than nothing.”

Toni Elias, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 15th.
“I’m very disappointed. I was struggling a little over the opening couple of laps but by lap three I started to feel good and I was able to start making up positions. I caught the group that Melandri and Vermeulen were in but just when I had done all the hard work I had a stupid crash. I got on the dirty part on the outside of the track and lost grip on the front and rear under braking. That’s the most disappointing thing because I had the opportunity to pick up some important points and I threw it away. Looking at the positives, I finished the race and picked up a point, which is something, and we have improved the bike here, which should help us in future races.”

Yuki Takahashi, Scot Racing Team MotoGP: DNF:
“Out at the very beginning of the race… what a pity. Not only for the race itself, but especially because I need making laps to learn and improve. The crash occurred at the turn number five: I was in a group of drivers, more or less all of us at the same speed, then the collision under braking. I’m really sorry.”

250cc:

Hiroshi Aoyama, Scot Racing Team 250cc: 2nd. :
“At the beginning, when I was second behind (Marco) Simoncelli, I did a few mistakes. So, I told to myself, ‘Stay calm. Cool down.’ When Marco made a mistake, I was able to take advantage of it. Mid-race, the wind began to blow stronger. I saw (Alvaro) Bautista getting closer and closer. He was fast, and I could not prevent him from overtaking me. It is his day, I thought. And I settled for second, which was great, in my home race.”

Shoya Tomizawa, CIP Moto – GP250: 10th.
“Yes, a good race for me and for the team. And my grid position is 25th and no pressure and I got a good start. The first part of the race, I pushed and pushed and I tried to pass as many riders as possible and that was easy because I had a very good motorcycle. Halfway into the race, my physical energy was a little bit down and I know I have to train a little harder for the next race. The weather was hotter today than all weekend and I didn’t learn about the weather in the first session and Gilles (Bigot) thought very hard about the settings and tires and he put in new settings and my Honda came better.”

Raffaele De Rosa: 12th.
“A silly jump start. It never occurred to me before in all my career. The red light lasted a lot, and I let the clutch slip just a fraction. What a pity, the bike was good, I could feel it. But when you are not in the position that you deserve, everything is more difficult.”

Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT SAG: DNF.
“Today I nearly crashed too many times and the time that I did crash in the fast corner I could not stop it. With both the front and rear there was too much sliding. I think it’s the same problem for everyone. Today we did a good start and then we went with the top group and the bike was OK. It was difficult because of the weather. Nobody had a good setting because of the heat. Even before I crashed, when I was braking for the turns, the front was closing and when I opened the gas the rear was sliding. It’s the same for everyone, but I think in the front tire is too soft. But the rear, everybody was on the same tire.”

Hector Faubel, Valencia CF – Honda SAG: DNF.
“Today I had a good start, but my race was only six laps. For me the race started good. I was up to sixth position after being ninth position in the first corner. Then I went into the firs corner and the front tucked and it was impossible to save and finish the race. I had too many problems all weekend. In the first training on Friday it wasn’t possible to do many laps, only six laps because I had problems with my engine. So I started the race without knowing anything. It was all a guess and it was difficult because the weather was hot and we didn’t have settings for the machine or the tires. Now we go to Jerez where I’ll be at my maximum to go to the front of the pack.”

Dani Pedrosa’s hopes of participating in the MotoGP World Championship opener in Qatar have been thrown into doubt. The Spaniard has had two operations on his left knee and arm, involving a skin graft, after crashing in testing. Surgery on the Repsol Honda rider’s arm was carried out by Dr Xavier Mir, who fears he may miss the 12 April race.

“Turning to the recovery times, we are optimistic, although we cannot commit ourselves to being ready for the first race,” said Dr Mir.

“We will take all the relevant steps to speed his recovery, and even though we cannot say whether he will be ready for the first race we do not rule anything out.”

Pedrosa was released from the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus hospital after 72 hours on Saturday, and he is still hopeful of being on the grid for the Qatar season-opener.

“We are planning to work hard and so be ready for the first race in Qatar, but when the day arrives we will have to see whether I am really in perfect shape to get on the bike,” said Pedrosa.

The soonest the Spaniard will be able to bend his knee properly will be in a month, ruling the former world championship runner-up out of the final pre-season test at Jerez on 28 March. The Spaniard also required knee surgery at the end of 2008, and as a result has only managed three complete days of testing so far this year. This will be the second year running that Pedrosa’s pre-season has been upset by injury. Last year he needed a titanium plate inserted into his hand after crashing in Malaysia.

His absence from testing meant the task of developing the Honda RC212V fell to then-teammate Nicky Hayden; this year, it will be new partner Andrea Dovizioso’s job to get the bike ready for the new season.

Pedrosa out for three to four weeks after Qatar crash

The Repsol Honda Team rider had an operation on Wednesday afternoon to correct the injuries to his left arm and knee. After the diagnosis made on Tuesday night at the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus in Barcelona upon his return from the Circuit of Losail (Qatar), Dani Pedrosa was operated on Wednesday to correct his injured left knee and arm.

He entered the operating theatre at 19:30 to be operated on by Doctors Bartolomé Ferreira, specialist in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and Dr. Xavier Mir, Head of the Hand Surgery Microsurgery Unit at the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus.

Dani Pedrosa was diagnosed as suffering from a loss of internal matter on his left knee and a fractured left distal radius that was affecting the wrist joint on his left arm. The two doctors carried out the three hour operation at the same time. The longer one being the surgery to the left knee.

According to Dr. Ferreira, a specialist in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery “Dani Pedrosa received a graft on the open wound using a rotation graft (a graft of skin and fat taken from the inside of his left thigh) to cover the affected area. We must now wait for scar tissue to form; the patient will be able to start moving a little within three weeks and within a minimum of four he can begin to bend the leg.”

Dr. Xavier Mir carried out an arthroscopy on Pedrosa at the same time “with this the fracture on the left distal radius, which was affecting the joint, has been repaired, it was then fixed with a titanium screw. The functioning of the affected zone will begin within ten days, in the meantime Dani Pedrosa will stay in hospital for the next 72 hours.”

Back in Barcelona following his Qatar test crash, Dani Pedrosa will need an operation on his left arm on Wednesday to fit a screw in a fractured radius bone, with his injured left knee also in need of surgery. Having had a full medical assessment at the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus clinic in his native Barcelona on Tuesday, as a result of his Monday night Qatar test crash, Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa has been diagnosed with a fractured left radius (one of the bones in the forearm) and a severely cut and bruised left knee.

Pedrosa flew back to Spain on Tuesday and went straight to his trusted surgeon Doctor Mir’s clinic, where he was also operated on in December having originally injured his left knee last season in Australia. The knee has been further damaged and will require skin graft surgery.

His left arm, meanwhile, requires a supportive screw insertion in order to heal the fractured radius bone more rapidly than if left unsupported.

Pedrosa did not stay at the clinic overnight and will therefore return on Wednesday to go under the surgeon’s knife again. It is unclear as yet how this will affect his preseason preparations with just over a month to go before the first race of the year.

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Pedrosa was stretchered away from the scene of the crash and transferred to the circuit hospital where initial scans showed no immediate signs of broken bones but revealed a possible crack to a bone in his left hand. He has also reopened an injury in his left knee which he hurt at Phillip Island late last season and had surgery on in December.

The rider will need to wait 24 hours for another scan to confirm 100% whether or not he has sustained any fractures. Those checks will take place in Barcelona, as Pedrosa will fly home from Qatar on Tuesday.

Update:

Pedrosa fractures not expected by Clinica Mobile

Doctor Claudio Macchiagodena’s initial examination on Spaniard reveals only bruising and swelling. One of the first to attend to Dani Pedrosa after his crash in Qatar, Clinica Mobile’s Doctor Claudio Macchiagodena has eased fears over the Spaniard’s condition. The experienced paddock medic performed the initial examination on Pedrosa’s left hand and knee, and his early findings were limited to bruising and swelling.

“Pedrosa’s crash has left him with trauma in the left knee and arm, of which the knee damage seems to be the most serious because of the previous injury (suffered at Phillip Island last year and subsequently treated with surgery). There is no evidence of any fracture and it will simply require re-bandaging,” said Macchiagodena on Monday night.

“There was a suspicion that perhaps a bone had been fractured in his hand, but the first examination has ruled this out. We will have to wait for 24 hours for the swelling to go down and be able to definitively eliminate the possibility of muscle or bone damage.”

Dani Pedrosa speaks frankly about his bike, his tires and his take on his performance at the first MotoGP test this year, Sepang.

“There is no difference really between the bike I finished last season with and the bike I have now,” confirmed the Catalan. “I didn’t ask Honda for anything new as such; there were just some items that we wanted to improve such as braking, because we can see that our rivals are very strong in braking now.”

And what are the current strengths and weakness of his factory RC212V?

“The best part of this bike at the moment is that it has a powerful engine,” replied Dani, the only Honda rider to win an 800cc race. “The chassis I’d like to improve because with the Bridgestone tires it’s kind of difficult to ride it – with the Michelin it was a little smoother – but the grip performance is better now.”

Although only eighth during day one of testing, Pedrosa lowered his lap time by 1.452sec to sit fourth by the end of day two – making him the fastest Honda rider.

“We did a good job today, always working on chassis and suspension,” he said. “This track is good to set-up the bike because it has hard braking, hard acceleration, fast corners and is very demanding because it is so hot. At other tracks it is not so difficult to get a good lap time and, maybe you feel better, but you are not working correctly.”

“I’ve tested everything, I only needed to do a race simulation [on day three] but I cannot do more than 5-6 laps at a time,” he explained before leaving for the nearby airport. “I will rest my knee now and try to be fit for the Qatar test [March 1-3].”

So far in MotoGP, Pedrosa has won two races a year and amassed 27 podium finishes, but is yet to prove he can deliver a season-long title attack and reigning champion Valentino Rossi considers Casey Stoner and Ducati to be a bigger threat. Pedrosa will hope that consistent machinery can change that perception in 2009.

Eurosport