Sunday, 1 May 2011
It was a successful weekend for Repsol Honda at the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal, with Dani Pedrosa taking victory and Casey Stoner joining him on the rostrum in third. Andrea Dovizioso pipped Valentino Rossi on the last lap to claim fourth place.
Pedrosa enjoyed a race long battle with his old sparring partner, Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) and after tailing the Current MotoGP World Champion from the start, the Repsol Honda rider produced a pass on the start/finish line, with four laps remaining, to seal 25 points. This was Pedrosa’s 13th career victory, on a circuit he had previously never managed the top step at, in any class of GP racing. The Spaniard was pleased with his physical condition on the bike following his recent surgery.
Stoner didn’t enjoy the best of start’s to his Estoril race after having a small highside and losing time due to Marco Simoncelli’s (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) accident. The Australian then suffered from a twinge in his back which affected his movement for a small portion of the race, so the former World Champion was relieved to be able to finish the race, especially in a rostrum position.
Dovizioso spent his race glued to the back of Valentino Rossi’s (Ducati Team) bike. After gaining the tow on the final exit, Dovizioso achieved fourth place by snatching the position on the line, as they passed the chequered flag.
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda
"I'm very happy for today's win, but more than the win, I'm happy for my condition and it seems that my surgery was finally successful. I was trying to rest my arm at times as it was cramping with 15 laps to go. I was riding behind Lorenzo and waiting for the numbness to come together with the loss of power, but it didn't come! I'm just so happy to see that the surgery has worked, it's been around six months with this and it's a big relief. For the race, I was riding at my best, Lorenzo is amazing here, always riding so smooth and fast and I was trying to stay with him. In the end, I felt comfortable and tried to make a move and I was successful. I'm very happy to win here, it's my first win on this track and thanks to all the doctors, my physio and trainer because it's been hard work and finally we got a win.”
Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda
"We had a pretty good start to the race but Pedrosa moved across me and I had to hit the brakes and back off. After that, I was challenging Marco Simoncelli for 3rd position in the first turn and he cut me off which I'm not so happy about. Then in turn 4 he crashed and I lost the tow to Pedrosa and Lorenzo. I didn't really have a lot of confidence in the first laps with the rear tyre, it didn't seem to want to work so well, especially on the left side, I nearly crashed a few times so I slowed down a little. Then during the race at some point, I felt my back completely lock up on me and I couldn't move for three or four corners. I was struggling to do anything and had no breath. I thought I had to go back to the garage, but thankfully within half a lap it eased up a little, got better and we managed to finish, so I'm very happy to stay in 3rd place today.”
Andrea Dovizioso, Respol Honda
“After a difficult weekend we had a good race, with the best lap at the end and a good strategy to overtake Valentino Rossi. I was riding at the limit during the whole race and Rossi was stronger in 2-3 points, so it was difficult to overtake him. I pushed hard to keep contact with the Ducati and at the very last lap, I tried to overtake him at turn 10, even though I knew that it’s a difficult corner to overtake. Then at the very long last corner, I tried to pass him on the inside, Rossi closed the door, so I tried to exit faster than him. I made it and I passed him on the straight with the tow. I’m happy with this result but we are still too far from the first rider. We need to be competitive from the first day if we want to fight with Pedrosa, Stoner and Lorenzo, so it’s good to have a test tomorrow where we can work on set up and electronic system.”
Stoner didn’t enjoy the best of start’s to his Estoril race after having a small highside and losing time due to Marco Simoncelli’s (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) accident. The Australian then suffered from a twinge in his back which affected his movement for a small portion of the race, so the former World Champion was relieved to be able to finish the race, especially in a rostrum position.
Dovizioso spent his race glued to the back of Valentino Rossi’s (Ducati Team) bike. After gaining the tow on the final exit, Dovizioso achieved fourth place by snatching the position on the line, as they passed the chequered flag.
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda
"I'm very happy for today's win, but more than the win, I'm happy for my condition and it seems that my surgery was finally successful. I was trying to rest my arm at times as it was cramping with 15 laps to go. I was riding behind Lorenzo and waiting for the numbness to come together with the loss of power, but it didn't come! I'm just so happy to see that the surgery has worked, it's been around six months with this and it's a big relief. For the race, I was riding at my best, Lorenzo is amazing here, always riding so smooth and fast and I was trying to stay with him. In the end, I felt comfortable and tried to make a move and I was successful. I'm very happy to win here, it's my first win on this track and thanks to all the doctors, my physio and trainer because it's been hard work and finally we got a win.”
Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda
"We had a pretty good start to the race but Pedrosa moved across me and I had to hit the brakes and back off. After that, I was challenging Marco Simoncelli for 3rd position in the first turn and he cut me off which I'm not so happy about. Then in turn 4 he crashed and I lost the tow to Pedrosa and Lorenzo. I didn't really have a lot of confidence in the first laps with the rear tyre, it didn't seem to want to work so well, especially on the left side, I nearly crashed a few times so I slowed down a little. Then during the race at some point, I felt my back completely lock up on me and I couldn't move for three or four corners. I was struggling to do anything and had no breath. I thought I had to go back to the garage, but thankfully within half a lap it eased up a little, got better and we managed to finish, so I'm very happy to stay in 3rd place today.”
Andrea Dovizioso, Respol Honda
“After a difficult weekend we had a good race, with the best lap at the end and a good strategy to overtake Valentino Rossi. I was riding at the limit during the whole race and Rossi was stronger in 2-3 points, so it was difficult to overtake him. I pushed hard to keep contact with the Ducati and at the very last lap, I tried to overtake him at turn 10, even though I knew that it’s a difficult corner to overtake. Then at the very long last corner, I tried to pass him on the inside, Rossi closed the door, so I tried to exit faster than him. I made it and I passed him on the straight with the tow. I’m happy with this result but we are still too far from the first rider. We need to be competitive from the first day if we want to fight with Pedrosa, Stoner and Lorenzo, so it’s good to have a test tomorrow where we can work on set up and electronic system.”
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