MotoGP RACE REPORT: GRAND PRIX OF GREAT BRITAIN Dovizioso prevails for first win; American Edwards second to equal career best INDIANAPOLIS Andrea Dovizioso was the last leader standing at Donington Park, taking his inaugural MotoGP victory July 26 in a wet, wild British Grand Prix. Dovizioso took the lead on his Repsol Honda machine when six-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi slid out on Lap 20 of the 30-lap race, and he held off a charging American Colin Edwards to win by 1.360 seconds. Edwards tied his career-best finish, as he rode his Yamaha Tech 3 machine past Randy De Puniet’s LCR Honda on the final lap to clinch second. “When he fell, it was clear from his crash that the tires were very cold, and this was scary because now I had to set the pace,” Dovizioso said of Rossi’s crash. “It’s a fantastic feeling to win my first MotoGP race because this is the top series in the world with the best riders, and so to win is a fantastic emotion. I’m very pleased with my performance today as the conditions were so difficult. It was like three different races: Riding hard at the start when it was nearly dry, following Valentino as it got wetter and then judging the pace once I was in front.” The race started in damp conditions, and Jorge Lorenzo passed the surprising Toni Elias for the lead on Lap 5. Reigning Red Bull Indianapolis GP Rossi dropped to fourth in the early laps before riding up to second behind teammate and championship rival Lorenzo. Rossi inherited the lead when Lorenzo fell on Lap 9 during increasing rain. Rossi and Dovizioso then stayed glued to each other, nearly 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Then Rossi fell on Lap 20, giving Dovizioso a lead he would not surrender. But winning didn’t come easily for Dovizioso. Edwards made a big charge through the field after a sluggish start from the sixth spot on the grid dropped him to 15th in the early laps. He only managed to climb to 13th after seven laps when his stirring climb began. Edwards jumped to fifth by Lap 20 in mixed conditions, and he passed Dani Pedrosa for third on Lap 23. He completed his conquest by passing De Puniet who was 10 seconds ahead of Edwards on Lap 15 on the final lap. “Once I got some momentum going and I started to understand how the front tire was feeling, I started pushing my way through,” Edwards said. “I’m really happy.” Fellow American Nicky Hayden finished a disappointing 15th on his Ducati. Both Hayden and teammate Casey Stoner gambled by starting the race on wet tires, and rain never fell hard enough to give them an advantage over the rest of the field on slicks. Stoner finished 14th. The next race is the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic on Sunday, Aug. 16 at Brno. The second annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP is Sunday, Aug. 30 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. *** RESULTS CASTLE DONINGTON, Great Britain Results of the 30-lap Grand Prix of Great Britain MotoGP race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle, time behind winner. All riders on Bridgestone tires: 1. Andrea Dovizioso Italy Honda 2. Colin Edwards United States Yamaha +1.360 3. Randy de Puniet France Honda +1.600 4. Alex de Angelis San Marino Honda +8.958 5. Valentino Rossi Italy Yamaha +21.622 6. James Toseland Great Britain Yamaha +22.465 7. Marco Melandri Italy Kawasaki +35.284 8. Niccolo Canepa Italy Ducati +38.769 9. Dani Pedrosa Spain Honda +42.112 10. Mika Kallio Finland Ducati +45.845 11. Loris Capirossi Italy Suzuki +53.190 12. Gabor Talmacsi Hungary Honda +1:12.315 13. Chris Vermeulen Australia Suzuki +1:20.398 14. Casey Stoner Australia Ducati +1 lap 15. Nicky Hayden United States Ducati +1 lap NC Jorge Lorenzo Spain Yamaha +22 laps NC Toni Elias Spain Honda +23 laps NC Not classified Fastest lap: Lorenzo, 1:31.554, Lap 5 Pole lap: Rossi, 1:28.116 *** POINTS Riders: Rossi 187, Lorenzo 162, Stoner 150, Pedrosa 115, Edwards 103, Dovizioso 94, Melandri 79, de Puniet 74, Vermeulen 67, Capirossi 66, de Angelis 60, Toseland 55, Hayden 47, Elias 47, Kallio 34, Canepa 28, Sete Gibernau 12, Yuki Takahashi 9, Talmacsi 5. Manufacturers: Yamaha 230, Honda 164, Ducati 156, Suzuki 89, Kawasaki 79. *** PODIUM QUOTES ANDREA DOVIZIOSO (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Bridgestone, first): “It’s a fantastic feeling to win my first MotoGP race because this is the top series in the world with the best riders, and so to win is a fantastic emotion. I’m very pleased with my performance today as the conditions were so difficult. It was like three different races: Riding hard at the start when it was nearly dry, following Valentino as it got wetter and then judging the pace once I was in front. I rode well in every section and managed the very tricky situation, so it’s really satisfying. This is also important for my confidence after the last three races. Colin and Randy closed the gap quickly in the last five laps, and at this point I was being careful and wasn’t pushing to the limit, but in the final two laps I pushed as hard as I could, and they weren’t able to get close enough to try and pass.” COLIN EDWARDS (Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Bridgestone, second): “That was a pretty intense 48 minutes, but at the start there was no way I thought I was going to be on the podium. I’m not sure what happened at the start, but I just had guys coming by everywhere. I was using a front tire I’d not used all weekend, and it took me a while to get a feel for it. Once I got some momentum going and I started to understand how the front tire was feeling, I started pushing my way through. But with about seven or eight laps to go, I started having some big moments because it was hard to know where it was raining and where it wasn’t. And all the time you’re trying to figure out where there’s grip and where there isn’t. It was easy to make a mistake, and the left side of the rear tire was pretty cold, and that just helped make it even more mentally draining because you need to concentrate so hard. I could see I was catching Randy really quick, and we got into a good battle. He was faster than me in some parts, and I was better in others, but luckily I passed him on the last lap and made it stick. By that time, though, Andrea was too far ahead to think about pushing on for that first win, but second is a great way to finish at Donington. I’ve got to say a big thanks to my guys at Tech 3 because they always give me great support. Yamaha and Bridgestone, too, were just awesome today, so I’m really happy.” RANDY DE PUNIET (LCR Honda MotoGP Honda/Bridgestone, third): “It’s like a dream for me and the team. It has been a very stressful race, and I was very nervous on the grid as the conditions were pretty bad. I took a good start on slick tires and was very aggressive in the first laps. I got the sixth place but the gap on the front riders was too wide and thought to keep my pace without taking any risk. Elias crashed in front of me and Pedrosa did not seem very confident on his machine. When he started to loose time I took my chance to pass him and we battled for several laps. I could overtake him as my machine was a bit faster and suddenly realized that I was holding the third position. After Rossi’s crash I took the second one remaining focused as the surface was very slippery. Then Edwards came up quickly giving me the chance to reduce the gap on Dovizioso but it was too late and too dangerous so I kept my position and we battled for the second place until the last corner. I am so happy for this result and want to thank everybody especially Lucio. We are sharing an amazing moment together!” *** OTHER AMERICAN RIDER QUOTE NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Team Ducati/Bridgestone, 15th): “We took a big gamble. It backfired, and it’s frustrating because we made a big change to the bike for warm-up this morning, and I had a great feeling with it in the wet. The track was damp for the sighting lap, and it was spitting with rain on the grid, and since my pace on slicks hasn’t been great all weekend, we took a big gamble. I had nothing to lose, so we rolled the dice. The odds were against me, but it was so close to paying off. It rained throughout the race, but the track was so warm the moisture wasn’t accumulating on the ground and unfortunately that spelled disaster for us. I take full responsibility for the decision. We agreed on it together with the team, but it was my shout. I thought, ‘Let’s try and be a hero here!’ The tire was pretty much destroyed after seven or eight laps, but there was no point coming in to pit, and it came apart five laps from the end. To be honest, it’s amazing how it held together for that long! I don’t want to say it was a mistake; it was just a gamble that didn’t pay off, and we’ll learn from it.” *** MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS 250cc: Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Scot Racing Team 250cc Honda. 125cc: Julian Simon, Spain, Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc Aprilia. American Cameron Beaubier did not finish on the Red Bull KTM Moto Sport KTM and is tied for 26th in the World Championship standings. Red Bull Rookies Cup: American Jacob Gagne finished fifth. Gagne, from Ramona, Calif., won the Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup race last September during the Red Bull Indianapolis GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. *** NEXT RACE Grand Prix of Czech Republic, Brno, Aug. 16. Round 11 of 17. *** 2009 IMS tickets: Established in 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has long prevailed as an icon of motorsports excellence. Beginning in 2009, the Speedway celebrates its Centennial Era, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the facility in 2009 and the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 2011. Tickets for the final event of 2009 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 28-30 can be purchased online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time. Tickets for groups of 20 or more also are on sale. Contact the IMS Group Sales Department at (866) 221-8775 for more information. More, from a press release issued by Ryan Farquhar’s publicist: Four more wins for Farquhar at Faugheen For the third meeting in a row Ryan Farquhar recorded four wins as the Dungannon ace dominated proceedings at the Faugheen 50 road races on Sunday. The KMR Kawasaki rider was never headed throughout the day and took the chequered flag in the Open, Grand Final, Supersport 600cc and Super Twins races to make it 45 wins for the season. Conditions at the County Tipperrary circuit were mixed all weekend with regular rain showers interspersed with bright skies but it stayed dry for most of race day and Ryan opened his account with a comfortable win in the Supertwins race, also setting a new lap record on his Kawasaki ER6 650. Rain caused the Open race to be red flagged after one lap and on the re-start, only 3 were completed when the race was stopped again, this time due to a crash. Ryan was leading at the time and with the race declared a result, he took his second win of the day by 6.3secs. Ryan’s third race victory came in the Supersport 600cc where he set a new lap record in order to see off the fierce competition of the Dunlop brothers on his way to completing his hat trick. That left just the Grand Final and Ryan was in no mood to relinquish his 100% record. Sure enough, he ran out victor, this time by 5.2secs, to make it four for the day and 16 in total at Faugheen, the highest recorded at the 2.2-mile venue. He also set a new outright lap record of 105.850mph and was declared Man of the Meeting. Speaking afterwards, a delighted Ryan said: “It’s been another grand weekend and everything’s gone faultlessly again. Faugheen’s quite a bumpy circuit, especially on the long downhill section but the bikes are handling really well so they were able to cope with them without any problems and all of the races went to plan. I managed to get a good start in all of the races so got my head down and managed to open up a gap from where I could control things. Michael (Dunlop) was on my tail for the first part of the 600cc race so I upped the pace in the second half and was able to pull away but, apart from that, it all went smoothly.” “It’s nice to have another clean sweep of the races but it’s going to be difficult to keep it going until the end of the season. Still, 45 wins at this stage of the season is brilliant and I’ve managed to wrap up the Super Twins Championship so the next target is to try and clinch the others. Thanks again to everyone in the team and to all the sponsors and we’re all eagerly looking forward to the next meeting where we’ll be trying to do it all over again.” Ryan’s next meeting is closer to home with the Mid Antrim ‘150’ road races taking place this Saturday, August 1st. More, from a press release issued by Motonation: July 27th, 2009 The past weekend’s racing was one to remember for the Sidi colours, as Sidi Vortice boots became major players on the Donington circuit during the GP of Great Britain. It was another extraordinary double in the 250 class, with the Japanese rider for Honda Hiroshi Aoyama coming in first, and Spain’s Alvaro Bautista (Aspar Team Aprilia) in second place. The two aces from the Sidi Sport stables are confirming themselves as true matadors in the 250 class for the 2009 season. The two Sidi pilots are now locked in a duel for first place, with the Japanese in the lead at 159 points, ahead of the Spaniard who follows with 144 points. Sidi is also having a great run in the Moto GP, with the outstanding American riding Yamaha Colin Edwards making it to the podium in second place on the heels of winner Dovizioso, and in the 125 class with the very young English pilot Scott Redding (Team BQR Aprilia), who made it to third place on the podium on his home town circuit. From Great Britain to the Czech Republic, the song remains the same with a fantastic Sidi double podium on the circuit in Brno for the Supersport race. Yamaha’s French rider Fabien Foret clenched victory while second place went to the Australian Anthony West (Team Stiggy Honda). More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Edwards Second, Rossi Fifth at Donington Park Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards produced one of his greatest MotoGP performances to date with a stunning second place in the British Grand Prix at Donington Park on Sunday, July 26. While Edwards mastered a damp and slippery track that played havoc with grip, Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi fell while leading the race but remounted to salvage fifth place and actually extend his points lead over teammate Jorge Lorenzo, who crashed out unhurt, and rival Casey Stoner, who finished downfield. Another bright spot for Yamaha was James Toseland, who finished just behind Rossi in sixth. Rossi held onto the lead from pole into turn one but a frenetic first lap saw a shakeup between several riders and it was Toni Elias who led across the line for the first time, followed by Lorenzo and Rossi. There were more changes of position between the frontrunners over the next few laps before Lorenzo took the lead at the start of lap five, with Rossi passing Dani Pedrosa and eventual race-winner Andrea Dovizioso next time around to move into second behind his team-mate. At that point the race looked like it was developing into another Fiat Yamaha duel but unfortunately on lap nine Lorenzo touched the white line in the last corner and went down. The race was now between Rossi and Dovizioso, who were over 10 seconds clear of the chasing pack, but on lap 20 Rossi also made a rare mistake and slid out. This left Edwards as the fastest rider on the track and he moved into third on lap 23 with a pass on Pedrosa to set up a thrilling finale. Edwards exchanged passes with Randy de Puniet in the closing stages before securing his fifth MotoGP second place just 1.3 seconds behind Dovizioso at the flag. “That was a pretty intense 48 minutes but at the start there was no way I thought I was going to be on the podium,” Edwards admitted. “All the time you’re trying to figure out where there’s grip and where there isn’t. But my Yamaha M1 and Bridgestone tires were just awesome today, so I’m really happy.” Spies Closes on World Superbike Points Lead with Brno Win After getting knocked down in the first race at Brno in the Czech Republic on Sunday, July 26, Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies turned the day completely around by winning the second race and moving closer to the series points lead in the process. As the championship head into its annual summer break, Spies is now just seven points behind leader Noriyuki Haga with eight races remaining. After likewise encountering problems in race one, in the second race Spies teammate Tom Sykes finished seventh, and remains in seventh in the standings. The first of two races started well enough with Spies, Max Biaggi and Michel Fabrizio pulling away at the front but three laps in Fabrizio came into a corner too hot and lost the bike, taking Spies out of the event in the process. Sykes was also to suffer in race one as an electrical problem temporarily dropped him back to 24th place. He eventually fought his way back up to 16th place, then only to have a crashing rider in front again drop him down several places and ultimately out of contention. Spies got straight out in front in race two and was once again followed by Fabrizio and Biaggi, with the two Italians fighting between themselves until the closing laps when Biaggi got past and came after the YZF-R1 rider. Spies adapted his riding and braked later into the corners to leave no opportunity for Biaggi to pass, and in doing so took a well-earned victory and added 25 points to his championship hopes. “Obviously the first race wasn’t so good but we came back well for the second which was good for the points,” Spies said. “It’s a shame we didn’t get to fight for the first race but I guess that’s just how it goes sometimes. Anyway I want to thank Yamaha because they gave me a great bike!”