FIM MotoGP World Championship Jerez, Spain May 3, 2009 Race Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), 27 laps, 45:18.557 2. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), -2.700 seconds 3. Casey STONER (Ducati), -10.507 4. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), -31.893 5. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki), -33.128 6. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), -34.128 7. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), -34.421 8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), -34.625 9. Toni ELIAS (Honda), -42.689 10. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), -45.183 11. Sete GIBERNAU (Ducati), -48.192 12. Yuki TAKAHASHI (Honda), -51.875 13. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), -53.683 14. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), -53.941 15. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati), -61.237 16. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati), -70.896 17. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), -4 laps, DNF, crash 18. Mika KALLIO (Ducati), -15 laps, DNF, retired MotoGP World Championship Point Standings (after 3 of 17 races): 1. Rossi, 65 points 2. Stoner, 54 3. TIE, Lorenzo/Pederosa, 41 5. Dovizioso, 30 6. Edwards, 26 7. De Puniet, 24 8. Melandri, 23 9. Vermeulen, 21 10. Capirossi, 19 11. Kallio, 16 12. TIE, De Angelis/Elias, 15 14. Toseland, 10 15. Gibernau, 8 16. TIE, Takahashi/Hayden, 5 18. Canepa, 2 More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA TAKES SECOND AND DOVIZIOSO EIGHTH IN SPAIN Repsol Honda’s home star Dani Pedrosa guided his RC212V to second place in today’s Grand Prix of Spain after leading for much of the race. A crowd of over 123,000 sun-kissed spectators saw Pedrosa stretch his lead to 1.5s as he sought to repeat of his victory here last year, but in the end he was beaten to the chequered flag by Valentino Rossi. When the starting lights went out, Pedrosa made his customary lightning getaway from second on the grid and the 23-year-old led for the first seventeen laps. On lap two the Spanish favourite broke his own lap record set last year as he absorbed the pressure from Casey Stoner behind him. On lap six of the 27-lap race, Valentino Rossi took over the pursuit and he was eventually able to pass Pedrosa. Though slightly disappointed not to have won, Pedrosa was pleased with his second podium finish in succession after missing out on testing time in a difficult pre-season. The result means the Repsol Honda rider has been on the podium at Jerez in every year since his MotoGP debut in 2006. He now stands fourth in the World Championship with 41 points after three races. Andrea Dovizioso also put in a spirited performance to fight back to eighth place after running off the track early in the race while in fifth position. The Italian, in his first season with Repsol Honda, had made rapid progress from eighth on the grid and was looking set for another strong race before he lost the rear going into turn eight on the eighth lap, running through the gravel and rejoining the race in 16th. The 23-year-old from Forli near Bologna displayed his never-say-die attitude by battling back up to 8th at the flag, but was left frustrated to have missed out on what he considered to be a possible fourth place today. Casey Stoner climbed the final step of the podium and Randy de Puniet came home in fourth place on the LCR Honda. After back-to-back races in Japan and Spain, the MotoGP series now breaks for a weekend before reconvening at Le Mans for the French Grand Prix on Sunday May 17. Dani Pedrosa – 2nd “I really wanted to win here but I knew it was going to be tough because Valentino has been very strong through the weekend and I knew he’d be fast in the race – and that’s how it turned out. I got a good start, got out in front and then I just tried to concentrate on my race and see what the would happen. Although of course I wanted to win here for me, the team and the fans, I’m actually very happy with the podium and surprised too. We struggled when we arrived on Friday and having missed so much testing in the winter – and the test here – it’s a very good result for us. So I must say thanks to my team and everyone who’s working with me. We’re having quite a difficult time at the moment to get the machine performance to where we want it, so this podium is unbelievable.” Andrea Dovizioso – 8th “I didn’t make a great start but I was able to recover some places and I’m pretty sure I could have stayed with Lorenzo if I hadn’t made the mistake. On the eighth lap while I was in fifth position, I lost the rear entering turn eight and I almost crashed. Fortunately I was able to rejoin the race and started to climb back up from 16th to eighth position. I wasn’t as fast as I wanted today because we’re still not at 100 per cent with the set-up of the bike. I’m disappointed about today’s result because we didn’t get the best out of the bike today. Dani had a great race today and I think he’s getting the maximum possible from the package, so I want to say congratulations to him.” Kazuhiko Yamano – Repsol Honda Team Manager “Today Dani rode a great race and this result is very good for the team. He squeezed the maximum out of the package, and second place is a very impressive performance, especially considering the difficult preparation for the season he endured. So it’s a second good result for him but as a team we have to keep on working hard because many of our rivals are fast and the championship is going to be tight. We must improve our machine if we’re to fight at the front. Andrea wasn’t able to fulfil his potential because he ran off track today, but he continued to ride hard for the full race and this was useful for us because he collected some points and also gathered some race data, which should prove useful. It’s this never-say-die attitude that we must all use to achieve the progress we’re working for.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI ROMPS HOME TO WIN SPANISH THRILLER Valentino Rossi took a stunning win in Jerez today, his first of the season and the 98th of his career taking him 11 points clear at the top of the championship. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo had a disappointing home race, crashing out on lap 24 when closing on the final podium position. The reigning World Champion had looked in trouble yesterday but an overnight set-up change saw him fastest in warm-up and he lined up confident that he would be able to mount a challenge. Starting from fourth on the grid, Rossi held his position at the start and managed to pass Lorenzo on the final turn of the second lap. Casey Stoner was the next target and the Italian quickly began to close the gap, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap four. Rossi and Stoner exchanged a couple of entertaining passes in the next few laps before the Yamaha rider made it stick at the end of the seventh lap, with the gap to Dani Pedrosa in the lead then standing at 1.2 seconds. The middle section of the race saw Rossi making little headway into the Spaniard’s lead but at two-thirds distance he suddenly found a new rhythm and started shaving tenths off the gap, making the definitive move and claiming the lead with 10 laps to go. From then on there was only one winner and the irrepressible 30-year-old brought his M1 home 2.7 seconds clear of second-placed Pedrosa. Ever the joker, Rossi took advantage of the moment to replicate one of his most famous post-race stunts ten years on, making a stop on his victory lap to pop into a track side portable toilet, to the delight of the 120,000-strong crowd. After his dazzling pole position Lorenzo was fully expecting to challenge for the win but the higher track temperature today caused problems and he lacked the grip and pace of yesterday. The Mallorcan, who turns 22 tomorrow, spent most of the race in a lonely fourth position but in the final stages began to close on Stoner and looked like he might have a podium chance. With the gap down to under half a second the excitement began to build in the 99 side of the garage but with just four laps to go he lost the front and went down, emerging unhurt from the gravel trap but with damage to his foot peg and throttle meaning there was no chance to finish the race. Rossi now leads Stoner by 11 points in the standings, whilst Lorenzo slips to third, 13 points adrift of the Australian. The MotoGP paddock will reconvene on French soil in ten days time for round four in Le Mans. Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 45’18.557 “This is a wonderful victory because yesterday we were really quite worried! I couldn’t ride how I wanted to and it was very hard. We had to work all together to understand how to fix the problem and finally we made a big change to try to make the bike feel how I like in the corner, which worked, so I have to say a huge thank you to Jeremy and all my guys. This morning we could tell immediately that things were much better and then we made a couple more small changes after warm-up, which made my M1 and my Bridgestone tyres feel even better. The race was long and quite hard I lost some time getting past Lorenzo at the start and then I had a good battle with Stoner, which I enjoyed. After that I wasn’t so fast and I couldn’t close the gap to Pedrosa for a while; he was very quick but finally things improved and I was able to catch and pass him. It’s great to win again and especially here in Jerez, which I love. It’s ten years since I made the joke with the toilet here and so I thought it would be funny to do it again if I won I liked that a lot! Now I hope that the changes we’ve made here will help us for the rest of the season. Thanks again to everyone!” Jorge Lorenzo Position: DNF Time: “I am very sad, because I was so fast all weekend and on pole position. Unfortunately today the temperature meant that our setting did not work in the same way and at the moment we don’t understand why. This is really more disappointing than the actual crash. Fourth position wouldn’t have been so bad but when you’re in front of your fans, at home with so much adrenalin on the bike of course you try to do the maximum. I could see that the podium was possible and maybe the right thing would have been to go more gently and not push so hard in that moment, but I always want to do my best. Then I made a mistake and I threw all my good work away. We have to try to forget this and wake up feeling positive tomorrow because Le Mans is near. I’m sorry to all the fans who came to see me, to my team, family and to everybody!” Davide Brivio Team Manager “This is a very important victory and after two second places everyone in the team was waiting for it and really wanted it. To win like this is something special; after being in trouble and quite sad on Saturday there was a lot of effort, long meetings, hard work by all the engineers, mechanics and technicians and finally we were able to give a good package to Valentino. If you can make Valentino feel happy on the bike then he will always give you this kind of performance and today it was wonderful to watch. This has to be our target every time. I am very happy and proud of all our guys, and of course of Valentino!” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “We’re very disappointed for today’s result. After excellent practice and qualifying sessions we expected to be on the podium but with the warmer temperature Jorge lost grip on the rear. At the end he was catching Stoner but then he lost the front and that was that! Now we need to make a deep analysis of why we had these unexpected problems and make sure they don’t happen again. It’s bad luck but now we will look forward to Le Mans, where we had a great result last year.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Seventh for Edwards in scorching Spain, Toseland battles to 13th The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team ended a scorching hot Spanish MotoGP race with hard fought points scoring finishes for Colin Edwards and James Toseland. Texan Edwards starred in one of the most fiercely contested battles of the 27-lap encounter, dicing throughout with Italian duo Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi in front of a sun-drenched crowd of 123,340 fans. Edwards expertly moved his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine by Capirossi to take seventh on lap ten, and four laps later he passed Melandri to set about securing his second top six in the opening three races. Small issues with his rear suspension setting though saw Edwards lose a superb last lap battle with Capirossi that left him only 1.3s away from a superb top five finish. Today’s result though keeps Edwards in the top six in the championship standings and leading non-factory rider. British rider Toseland rode a determined race to finish 13th, the 28-year-old unable to progress any further through the field as he never found a comfortable set-up on his YZR-M1 machine. He showed his battling qualities though to fend off a persistent challenge from Alex de Angelis. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team now takes a deserved break before its home race at the French Grand Prix in Le Mans on May 17, with expectations high after Edwards finished third in 2008. Colin Edwards 7th 26 points “I got a really good start but right from the first lap I knew I wasn’t going to be able to run the pace I needed. The guys in front just gapped me immediately and I couldn’t get the bike to turn. We went in the wrong direction yesterday when it was hot, so for the race we went back to the setting I’d had in the morning when the track temperature was a bit cooler. In the cooler temperatures that setting was fine, but once the temperature goes up I just couldn’t get into the rhythm I want and know I was capable of. I wanted to be smooth and precise but I couldn’t do that. I was having to adjust my style to get some weight on the rear to help the bike turn, but it wasn’t enough for me to get into the top six and that’s a bit frustrating.” James Toseland 13th 10 points “It has been a tough weekend and we have got some issues to sort out. We’re still trying a few things on the bike and I’m still searching for a comfortable setting over a race distance. I still need a second or so on race pace but I need to sort out qualifying too. I can do the same times as four or five guys in front of me, but when you’re all lapping at the same pace, it’s hard to come through. I’m giving myself too much to do from qualifying and being too far back. You don’t need to be too far off but if you start at the back you stay at the back in a competitive class like this. It has not been a great start to the season but I don’t feel we’re that far away. We’ve got a lot of information from this weekend and we’re eliminating things that we know don’t work. I’m confident we’re close to finding the setting I need and working hard with my guys to find it.” Herve Poncharal Team Manager “It was a difficult race and in the first two races I have to say we were a little bit closer to the front. It’s a shame that Colin wasn’t quite comfortable enough with the setting to fight closer with (Loris) Capirossi and (Marco) Melandri at the end. A top six would have been well deserved for his hard effort and maybe fifth was achievable. It was also a tough weekend for James. His lap times in the race were not too bad but it is clear he must improve in qualifying. He is capable of a much stronger performance, but it is difficult when you don’t qualify well. The start of the race now is crucial and qualifying is something that he will work on with his team. Everybody at Tech 3 is now looking forward to our home race. We know Le Mans is very good circuit for Yamaha and last year Colin was on the podium behind Jorge (Lorenzo) and Valentino (Rossi). I’d also like to thank Mark Hall from Monster Energy for his support this weekend. The Yamaha Tech 3 team is delighted to have Monster Energy as our title sponsor, and I’m sure our partnership will bring success in the future.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Valentino Rossi took his first win of the season at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España on Sunday, beating Dani Pedrosa to the line by a 2.7s margin in front of a huge Spanish crowd of more than 123,000 fans in Andalusia. Pedrosa led for the first half of the race having made one of his trademark strong starts from second on the grid, but Rossi took the lead with ten laps to go and did not look back there and his triumph gives him an 11 point lead in the general standings. The rostrum was completed by Casey Stoner, who trailed Rossi by 10 seconds – the Ducati Marlboro rider moving into second place in the championship. It was the Australian’s first podium appearance at the southern Spanish track on any category. As was the case in the 250cc and 125cc races, the Spanish rider who got underway in pole position crashed out in MotoGP. Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo lost control riding in fourth place with three laps to go, losing ground in the championship race after coming into the weekend as the series leader. An excellent performance from Randy de Puniet, meanwhile, saw the Frenchman bring his LCR Honda satellite machine home in fourth place, having qualified in fifth, to give himself a confidence boost ahead of his home GP at Le Mans in two weeks time. Another fine run from Marco Melandri gave the Italian another good points haul in fifth, improving upon his good result from last weekend in Japan for the Kawasaki-equipped Hayate Racing team. Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi rode steadily from sixth on the grid to maintain the position meaning that five different manufacturers were represented in the top six. Monster Tech Yamaha’s Colin Edwards crossed the line seventh, whilst Andrea Dovizioso did well to finish eighth in his third ride for the factory Repsol Honda team -having left the track at one stage due to a lack of grip. Toni Elías was the second best Spaniard in ninth for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team, with the top ten completed by Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen. Sete Gibernau -on his return to Jerez for his first race at the track since 2006- could only manage 11th for the Grupo Francisco Hernando team, whilst former World Champion Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro) crossed the line 15th. 250cc There was a brilliant battle between four riders at the front of the 250cc race, with Scot Racing team’s Hiroshi Aoyama ultimately emerging on top, holding off the advances of Álvaro Bautista right at the death. The lead changed hands continuously throughout the race between Aoyama, Bautista and Metis Gilera’s World Champion Marco Simoncelli the Italian falling away slightly in the final laps to eventually come home third. Aoyama outfought Bautista on the very last corner, the Japanese rider beating the Spaniard in his home race just as the Aprilia man had done to the Honda equipped Aoyama last week at Motegi. Aoyama now holds the championship lead by four points from Mapfre Aspar rider Bautista. As the front four crossed the line within three seconds of each other, Simoncelli completed the podium ahead of fourth placed Héctor Barberá (Pepe World Team Aprilia), the Italian finishing 0.063s ahead of the Spaniard. A close battle for fifth place was won by Thomas Luthi (Emmi Caffe Latte) who beat Mattia Pasini (Team Toth Aprilia) to the line by 0.004s. 125cc Bancaja Aspar’s team Bradley Smith earned his first ever win on the 50th time of asking in the 125cc class. There was heartbreak for poleman and home rider Julián Simón who suffered a nasty highside on lap five when running in second place and an accident on the first lap for series leader Andrea Iannone (Ongetta Team I.S.P.A) meant Smith went unchallenged en route to victory. Behind Smith there was a superb race-long battle for the podium with his team-mate Sergio Gadea eventually edging out Marc Márquez (Red Bull KTM) to make it a great day for the Spanish team and for those two Spanish riders in front of the home fans. The top five comprised only British and Spanish names in fact as Scott Redding (Blusens Aprilia) and Efrén Vázquez (Derbi Racing Team) crossed the line fractionally behind Gadea and Márquez. The World Championship returns to action at the Grand Prix de France in a fortnight’s time. More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi fought all the way to the finish line at today’s Spanish Grand Prix, as he battled to a hard won sixth place at a hot Jerez. Capirossi started from the second row of the grid, but he had to change his rear tyre as he lined up to start the race and it took him couple of laps to get it up to temperature – causing him to be relegated down to ninth position on lap three. He then got involved in a three way battle with Marco Melandri and Colin Edwards as the trio swapped places for the rest of the race. On the final laps Capirossi made an effort to get up into fifth, but lack of grip caused him to run wide and back to seventh. He quickly composed himself and attacked again on the last lap as he and Edwards traded places a number of times. Eventually Capirossi came out on top in the final corner to grab sixth place. Chris Vermeulen started from 10th on the grid and got off the line well, but he was hit by a couple of other riders in the first corner and lost his position. By lap two he was down in 14th place, but the true racer spirit showed through as he set about chasing the riders in front of him. By lap 24 of 27 Vermeulen had made his way up to 10th place, but a higher position was beyond him as the riders in front were too far away to catch. Today’s race was held in hot and sunny conditions as air temperatures reached 26ºC and the track rose to 50ºC. A huge Spanish crowd of over 123,000 people saw reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi win for the sixth time at Jerez, a result that lifts him to the top of the championship. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP now makes the short trip across Europe to Le Mans in France for the next round of the 2009 MotoGP season on Sunday 17th May. Loris Capirossi: “I am a bit upset with the result, because we had a problem with the tyre and had to change it on the grid and that cost us some places at the start. We put in a new one and for the first two laps it did not work as well as I would have liked. After it settled down I pushed hard and chased Marco and Colin and tried get past them. I did that but the grip dropped off pretty quickly and they went back past me, so I played about with the traction control to find the best solution. I found a good setting and although I was fighting a lot with the bike I was able to stay with the two of them. In the last three laps I tried to overtake and I got past Colin and went by Marco, but I braked too late and ran wide and they both went back past me. On the last lap I overtook Colin again, but there wasn’t enough time to get Marco. We want to go much better than this, but we have to work harder, because although the bike is not too bad we have to take some big steps!” Chris Vermeulen: “I got a reasonable start off the line, but I came together with a couple of other riders in turn one and lost my momentum. It was a bit difficult as I had a couple of Ducatis around me and with their straight-line speed they were a bit hard to get past. Once I got by I thought I would be able to pick up my lap-time, but we struggled with front grip and I wasn’t able to. The track temperature was a few degrees hotter today and it seemed to affect us more than it did some others and we have to work out why. I am disappointed with 10th because obviously the goal was to be nearer the front. We will now re-group and get to work on the next race.” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “We managed to match our qualifying positions in the race today, which is not at all spectacular, but it is in honesty about what we could have expected. We need a bit more performance from the machine, but also for our overall rider and bike package the hardest tyre this weekend simply didn’t suit us. It’s the same for everyone, so hopefully we’ll find the situation the other way round at a circuit sometime soon, but in the meantime we’ll be working hard to get the absolute best out of the package we’ve got at the next couple of races.” Ian Ross – Imperial Tobacco Central Marketing Director: “It has been a great weekend for me, I knew a lot more about Formula 1 and this was my first time at a MotoGP, but this racing is definitely a lot more exciting! The Rizla Suzuki squad are a great team and they all work very hard, it was obviously not the result they would have wanted today but overall anybody involved with the team should feel proud with what these guys do!” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Rossi back on top as Bridgestone demonstrates consistency Round 3: Spain Race report Circuito de Jerez, Sunday 3 May Tyre compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Soft, Medium Valentino Rossi scored his first victory of the 2009 season from fourth on the grid for Fiat Yamaha after overcoming Dani Pedrosa’s 1.4 second advantage to pass the Spaniard by lap 18 of the 27 lap race. With all of the riders choosing to race on Bridgestone’s hard front tyre and only three using the softer of the rear slick options, round three of the MotoGP season delivered the third different winner in as many races. The hard compound front and medium compound rear Bridgestones were clearly the favoured combination given the track temperature and the more abrasive nature of the resurfaced tarmac. Only Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden and the Pramac Racing pairing of Niccolo Canepa and Mika Kallio, the latter retiring with rear brake troubles, opted for the soft rear Bridgestone in an effort to better match the characteristics of their bikes. In front of his home crowd, Repsol Honda’s Pedrosa led for most of the race until overhauled by Rossi, and Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner finished third to claim his first podium at Jerez. Randy de Puniet claimed fourth on his satellite LCR Honda machine after polesitter Jorge Lorenzo fell four laps from the end, and in fifth was Marco Melandri who gave another strong performance for the Hayate Racing team. Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit “It has been a good race today and I am pleased to see three manufacturers on the podium. It is great to see Valentino’s first victory of the season, and means that we have now had three different winners in three races, and three different championship leaders. I am also pleased to see Dani finish second at his home race, claiming his second podium of 2009 so soon after injury, and Casey score his first podium finish at Jerez.” Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “The hard front and medium rear Bridgestone combination performed well today and we saw very good consistency over the race distance, with the hottest track temperature we have seen this weekend. The winning race time this year was 17 seconds faster than last year and the consistency was better so I am happy. This situation clearly shows the wider operating range and improved consistency of this year’s one-make Bridgestone tyres.” Valentino Rossi, Fiat Yamaha, Race Winner “I’m so happy. It was a strange weekend for me because on Friday I was very fast but on Saturday we had a lot of problems and I was quite slow. Already from this morning I was fast with the soft tyre so I was confident for the race. The race was fantastic I think. With Casey it was a great battle, two or three overtaking so was fun. In the first part I was not able to chase a lot but in the last part of the race I was able to come back. In the last ten laps I had better pace, better feeling so was able to push and it is fantastic to get the victory.” Top ten classification (Sunday 14:00 GMT+2) Pos. Rider Team Race time Gap Front tyre Rear tyre 1 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha 45m18.557s Hard Medium 2 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 45m21.257s +2.700s Hard Medium 3 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 45m29.064s +10.507s Hard Medium 4 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 45m50.450s +31.893s Hard Medium 5 Marco Melandri Hayate Racing 45m51.685s +33.128s Hard Medium 6 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki 45m52.685s +34.128s Hard Medium 7 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 45m52.978s +34.421s Hard Medium 8 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda 45m53.182s +34.625s Hard Medium 9 Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 46m01.246s +42.689s Hard Medium 10 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki 46m03.740s +45.183s Hard Medium Weather: Dry. Ambient 26° C; Track 49°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Playboy LCR Honda: DE PUNIET TAKES BRILLIANT FOURTH IN JEREZ Jerez, 3 May: In hard fought race LCR Honda MotoGP racer Randy de Puniet finished 4th in today’s Spanish Grand Prix at a sunny Jerez de la Frontera ahead 123.340 MotoGP fans. Today’s ambience temperature rose up to 21°C (27°C on the ground) and the 28-year-old was again a strong performer in this morning warm up session gaining the 7th quickest lap time (1’40.368) after yesterday’s good qualifying lap time which allowed him to start from the second row. Started from the 5th position for the 27-lap round at the 4.423 Km race track, De Puniet was 5th at the end of the first lap and started a close battle with Dovizioso that went wide on the gravel on lap 8. The Frenchman riding the Honda RC212V no. 14 set impressive lap times since the beginning of the race and when Lorenzo crashed at 4 laps to go he finished 4th overall. The race was won by Rossi on Yamaha followed by home hero Pedrosa and Stoner. Randy and his squad will be on track again on the 17 of May for the French GP at Le Mans race track. De Puniet – 4th: “It was a perfect week end for me and the Team. When I enjoy the bike I can go really fast and people can see that today. This was the best bike I had since I have been riding with Lucio’s Team. It was very easy to ride and I had fun. I made a good start and when Dovizioso overtook me I remain concentrated trying to keep my position. After few laps he made a mistake and I came back to the 5th place. Then, at the end, the final result of the race gave me the 4th place overall. I am very satisfied about the work we made during this week end as we struggled a bit here during the pre season test. Honestly I think that if we keep this pace for the rest of the season we can be very competitive. However we keep our feet on the ground as we must restart from zero in Le Mans. I absolutely want to end all the races to get as many points as possible. A big thank you to my Team because they did a great job!” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: Unfortunate Grand Prix of Spain for the Pramac Racing Team The Grand Prix of Spain ends without any luck for the Pramac Racing Team. Mika Kallio, who started from the seventeenth position on the grid, makes it to overtake a few riders in the first few turns finding himself in thirteenth place. After a few laps Mika’s lap times increased and three opponents overtook the Finnish rider. In the ninth lap Mika is obligated to enter the pit due to some problems at the rear break. His teammate, Niccolò Canepa, has concluded the race in sixteenth position notwithstanding a good start. Next MotoGP round in two weeks in Le Mans for the Grand Prix of France. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director “Mika had some problems with the rear break. At the beginning of the race was going well, but all of a sudden he couldn’t manage to control the situation and preferred to enter the pit. Now we have to understand what happened. It’s a pity because we were doing a good comeback once again with very interesting lap times. We will be back in Le Mans in two weeks even stronger.” Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing rider – 16th in the race – 18th in the Championship “We started quite well. During warm up we found a good technical compromise, but after a few laps in the race something happened in the front part of my bike that didn’t allow me to result as fast. It’s a pity because I could have finish this race probably three or four positions ahead. We will keep working hard to improve really soon.” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – DNF – 11th in the Championship “I am very sad today because I was doing well. In the start I made it to overtake three opponents but then I felt something strange in the rear part of my bike. I thought that it would be gone really quickly, but the situation has gotten worst and I was obligated to enter the pit. It’s a pity because I could have entered once again the top ten. Now we will analyze the situation to be able to improve in France in fourteenth days.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: PODIUM THAT FEELS LIKE A WIN FOR STONER AT JEREZ, TOUGH DAY FOR HAYDEN Casey Stoner backed up his best ever MotoGP qualifying performance at Jerez with his best ever result in any class here today, sealing third place at his bogey circuit with a superb performance. The Ducati Marlboro rider got an ideal start from third on the grid, chasing early leader and home favourite Dani Pedrosa over the opening five laps before conceding a position to Valentino Rossi. Stoner fought back and passed Rossi into the first turn of the following lap but the Italian quickly responded and opened up sufficient breathing space to defend a similar attack next time around. From that point Stoner settled into third place, withstanding increasing pressure from Jorge Lorenzo in the closing stages to the point that the Spaniard crashed out with four laps remaining, such was the desperation of his pursuit. The flip side of the coin for the team was another difficult day for Nicky Hayden, who has struggled all weekend to find a good set-up, hindered by his physical condition after heavy crashes in each of the opening two rounds. The American also battled bravely, however, to pick up a solitary point in 15th place. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd “After all these years this is my first time on the podium at Jerez so it has been a long time coming I’ve had plenty of opportunities in the past but I’ve been unlucky and made mistakes, so this tastes really sweet. Today I wasn’t nervous about the race at all because to be honest I went into it thinking that I didn’t have a chance of finishing on the podium. We knew Dani, Valentino and Jorge all had a better pace than us so we took a bit of a gamble with the setting to try and find an extra edge and it paid off, so I have to thank the team for that. I got a great start and I was running right up there with Dani in the early stages but I started to lose the front in a few corners. When Valentino came I tried to hold him off as best as I could but when he came past me the second time I decided to try and stay behind him, to see if he could take me with him to Dani. Unfortunately from that point I was losing the front even more often and there was one place in particular where I was almost crashing every lap. When Jorge started to close in I honestly thought it was ‘game over’ but I kept pushing to try and at least take the battle to the final laps. It was just getting to the point where I was going to have to back off because I was risking a crash, but Jorge solved that problem for me! I couldn’t believe my luck but I think we deserved it though because the whole team has worked incredibly hard all weekend and I could not have given more in the race. It is only third place but it feels even better than the win in Qatar.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 15th “I was nervous that physically it would be a tough race but it turned out to be a lot worse than we expected. In the beginning I struggled a lot again with a full fuel load and I made a mistake on the first lap I was trying to make some positions up and I actually lost some. I tried to recover but something was wrong with the set-up of the bike. I can’t make the harder compound work well with my bike and I have to go with the softer one but today even those didn’t start to work well until I got a lot of heat into them. I did my best time on the seventeenth lap so there is something we have definitely to work on with the team. We need to look at the data and think up something different for the next one.” LIVIO SUPPO MotoGP PROJECT DIRECTOR “I would rate that as one of the best performances of Casey’s career. He didn’t win but he made the podium for the first time at this circuit through sheer determination. He’s getting even better in every area ‘bravissimo’! On the other hand it has been a really difficult Grand Prix for Nicky on the back of two tough weekends and two crashes. We have a little break now during which time we can sit down and work out how to get him back to the level he was at in the winter tests, which would lift him much higher up the order.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: PEDROSA SCORES GRITTY SECOND, AOYAMA WINS 250 Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) led more than half today’s Spanish Grand Prix, finally finishing the race in a strong second place behind reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) to go third equal on points after three of 17 rounds. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) was Honda’s next best MotoGP finisher at Jerez, the satellite team rider taking a magnificent fourth-place finish, 2.8 seconds ahead of eighth-placed Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) who might have been in the hunt for a podium result if he hadn’t run off the track in the early stages. Conditions were perfect for racing, with ambient temperature at 27 degrees. Track temperature was the hottest it had been all weekend at 45 degrees. Watched by more than 120,000 sun-blessed fans, Pedrosa led from the start, all the way to lap 18 of 27, when he was passed by Rossi. The Spaniard kept his head down to finish just 2.7 seconds behind the race winner and more than eight seconds ahead of third-placed Casey Stoner (Ducati). It was Pedrosa’s second podium finish in a single week, the former 125 and 250 World Champion taking third in last Sunday’s Japanese GP. Both results are minor miracles, Pedrosa having battled a multitude of injury problems during the past six months. The knee and wrist injuries he suffered in early March meant that he was also the only rider to go into today’s race without having attended the two-day preseason tests session at Jerez. De Puniet was delighted with his best finish since October 2007, the Frenchman’s consistently fast pace proving that his LCR Honda team has made a superb job of adapting the set-up of his RC212V to Bridgestone tyres. De Puniet started well and held fifth for much of the race. When Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) crashed out of fourth spot in the closing stages, de Puniet inherited that position. Dovizioso had a thrilling battle with de Puniet in the early laps, the pair colliding at the hairpin on lap three. On lap five Dovi made it past his fellow RC212V rider but then ran off the track at turn eight on lap eight, taking a long detour through the gravel which dropped him way down to 16th. The Italian kept his head and fought back brilliantly, climbing to eighth place and crossing the line immediately behind Marco Melandri (Kawasaki), Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) and Colin Edwards (Yamaha) who had disputed fifth place for much of the race. Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) had a frustrating ride to ninth place but is determined to take the positives from the weekend. Although the local star struggled during the race with traction issues he continued to narrow the gap between himself and the leaders and is convinced that he will continue to improve at the next few races. Rookie Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda RC212V) enjoyed a promising ride, the Japanese inside the top ten for much of the race, but tyre-wear issues meant that he lost out to the more experienced Elias, Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) and Sete Gibernau (Ducati) during the final few laps. Takahashi learned much in his best MotoGP ride so far and set the ninth fastest lap of the race. Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) completed a difficult weekend in 14th place. Battered and bruised from a high-speed fall in qualifying, caused by the gusting winds that hit Jerez yesterday, and also weakened by ‘flu, the San Marino rider went home having added just two points to his tally. Pedrosa now sits on 41 points, equal third with Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) who crashed out today. Rossi leads the MotoGP title chase on 65 points, with Stoner second on 54. Dovizioso is fifth on 30 points. Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) won a stunning 250 victory, defeating local favourite Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) at the final corner. The race was a classic, with Aoyama, Bautista, Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) and Hector Barbera (Aprilia) the stars. In the closing stages the four-way battle distilled into a two-way duel, Aoyama and Bautista swapping positions time and again. Bautista led into the final lap, Aoyama diving ahead with less than half a lap remaining. Bautista tried to retake the lead at the final corner but ran wide, allowing Aoyama to win by 0.132 seconds. It was the Japanese star’s sixth 250 win and his first with Honda since the 2005 Japanese GP. After three rounds Aoyama leads the World Championship by four points from Bautista. Aoyama’s team-mate Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) also rode well, scoring a tenth-place finish after a gruelling, mid-pack contest. The young Italian grabbed tenth on the last lap from reigning 125 champ Mike di Meglio (Aprilia). Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda) was rightfully delighted with his superb ride to 12th position. The Jerez first-timer started well but found himself losing places in the early laps, so he adapted his riding style to suit the situation and started moving forward again, fighting hard with fellow Honda riders De Rosa and Hector Faubel (Valencia CF Honda SAG). Faubel struggled to maintain his pace due to rear-grip issues and crossed the line in 14th place. The last point went to Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) who rode bravely with a left ankle injury, the result of a nasty fall during qualifying. Rookie Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda) was 17th, just two places outside the points. MotoGP rider quotes Second-placed Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) said: “I really wanted to win here but I knew it was going to be tough because Valentino has been very strong through the weekend and I knew he’d be fast in the race and that’s how it turned out. I got a good start, got out in front and then I just tried to concentrate on my race and see what would happen. Although of course I wanted to win here for me, the team and the fans, I’m actually very happy with the podium and surprised too. We struggled when we arrived on Friday and having missed so much testing in the winter and the test here It’s a very good result for us, so I must say thanks to my team and everyone who’s working with me. We’re having quite a difficult time at the moment to get the machine performance to where we want it, so this podium is unbelievable.” Fourth-placed Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) said: “It was a perfect weekend for me and the team, so my thanks to them. When I enjoy the bike I can really go fast, and people could see that today. The bike was very easy to ride and I had fun. I made a good start and when Dovizioso overtook me I remained concentrated to try and keep my position. After a few laps he made a mistake and I got back into fifth place. Then at the end I finished in fourth place. I am very satisfied with the work we did this weekend, because we struggled here during preseason testing. Honestly, I think if we can keep this pace for the rest of the season we can be really competitive. However, we must keep our feet on the ground because we restart from zero at Le Mans. My goal is to finish all the races and get as many points as possible.” Eight-placed Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) said: “I didn’t make a great start but I was able to recover some places and I’m pretty sure I could have stayed with Lorenzo if I hadn’t made the mistake. On the eighth lap while I was in fifth position I lost the rear entering turn eight and I almost crashed. Fortunately I was able to rejoin the race and started to climb back up from 16th to eighth position. I wasn’t as fast as I wanted today because we’re still not at 100 per cent with the set-up of the bike. I’m disappointed about today’s result because we didn’t get the best out of the bike today. Dani had a great race today and I think he’s getting the maximum possible from the package, so I want to say congratulations to him.” Ninth-placed Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) said: “I honestly thought we were capable of a better race today but it was impossible. We were suffering too much throughout the race with a lack of rear traction and I can promise the fans that I couldn’t do any more than what I did. In a situation like this you can only try to take some positives away from the Grand Prix as a whole and looking back at the weekend we have at least continued to make progress. We were two seconds off the pace in Qatar, one and a half seconds off in Motegi and one second off here. The target for Le Mans is to reduce it to less than a second. I hope we can do it.” 12th-placed Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda) said: “I’m satisfied with that result. I had a good feeling with the bike the best since the beginning of the season. I made a good start and rode a fast first lap. Then I overtook Elias and found myself in a good position, but in the second half of the race I began to experience some problems with the tyres first with the front, then with the rear. Anyway, I’m really happy: my programme is to learn race by race, at that is what I’m doing.” 14th-placed Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) said: “I woke up this morning with a bout of ‘flu and I was really struggling. Doctor Costa sorted me out with some medication but I certainly wasn’t at 100 per cent for the race. I got a decent start but I got stuck behind Toseland and even though I felt much faster than him he was very, very strong on the brakes and I just couldn’t get past. I got stuck there for the whole race and that was that, pretty much. There’s not much else to say! It has been one of my hardest weekends for a long time and I’m looking forward to spending some time at home, recovering from this illness and having a good rest before France, which promises to be another tough one for us.” 250 rider quotes Winner Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) said: “First of all, thanks to my team, sponsors and to the fans. For some reason, while we had a good practice, I did not find a good feeling with the bike during qualifying yesterday. Saturday night and Sunday morning we changed the set-up, and found a good setting. I was fast in the flowing part of the circuit, which is so important. What’s really great with this bike is the overall package, so even when the situation is difficult like in Qatar, for example we are able to have a good race. I don’t know if I can be a contender for the championship, but I am certainly looking forward to Le Mans. We will see what happens.” Tenth-placed Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) said: “I had a problem: shifting from fifth to sixth the engine would often cut out. It took me some time to adapt to that problem. Add to that the fact that race conditions were different from morning warm-up, and that I was a little bit nervous. When I found a good rhythm I was able to ride a few fast laps, which tells me that my real position should be further towards the front of the race.” 12th placed Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda) said: “That was a very, very interesting race, and I really enjoyed it! I got a very good start but then during the first few laps it seemed like I was going backwards, so I changed my riding style a bit my riding position, my braking position and so on, and it worked well. There were many big fights and I have to say that De Rosa is a very fast rider! The bike was good and we learned a lot, so now I can’t wait to get to Le Mans.” 14th placed Hector Faubel (Valencia CF Honda SAG) said: “I got a good start and was very motivated to get a good result here. But pretty soon I started losing some positions because I was struggling with rear grip. I’m not sure why, maybe it was the suspension setting. I don’t like to lose here because I was racing in front of the Spanish fans, but I have to stay focused and look forward to getting a better result at Le Mans.” 15th placed Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) said: “After the morning warm-up session I went to the Clinica Mobile to get some painkilling injections in the left ankle I hurt yesterday. But I was still in a lot of pain, I couldn’t weight the footpegs, I struggled to change gear and I couldn’t move around on the bike like I normally do. Now we have some time to make my ankle better before going to Le Mans, which is good for me and for the Honda. I want to score my first World Championship podium there!” 17th-placed Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda) said: “I got a very good start and I was able to make up three places. Then I overtook Baldolini, but he was able to get away from me on the straights. The first six laps I was doing fine with grip, and then the rear started to slide around when I accelerated. We need to find a solution to this problem for the next races, so we are going to have to work very hard. I think Le Mans should be a bit better for me because the track doesn’t feature any really fast corners, which are my problem at the moment.” More, from a press release issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway: MotoGP RACE REPORT: GRAND PRIX OF SPAIN Reigning champ Rossi returns to top of points after first victory of season INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, May 3, 2009 Six-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi needed to pass all three of his main rivals to earn a hard-fought victory May 3 in the Spanish Grand Prix, also seizing the lead in series points. Rossi’s Yamaha ended up 2.7 seconds ahead of Spanish rival Dani Pedrosa’s Honda before a massive crowd at Jerez. It was 2008 Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Rossi’s first victory of the season and his sixth career MotoGP victory at Jerez. “It’s great to win again and especially here in Jerez, which I love,” Rossi said. 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner finished third on his Ducati, 10.507 seconds behind Rossi. It was the first podium finish for Stoner at Jerez in any World Championship class. “It is only third place, but it feels even better than the win in Qatar,” Stoner said. Rossi needed to dig deep for this victory. He was unhappy with the setup of his bike after qualifying fourth. But crew chief Jeremy Burgess and the Fiat Yamaha Team found the sweet spot for Rossi’s bike overnight, and “The Doctor” was quickest in the morning warm-up. Pedrosa rocketed past pole winner Jorge Lorenzo to take the early lead in the race, with Stoner climbing to second. Meanwhile, Rossi passed teammate Lorenzo for third on Lap 2. Rossi then set his sights on Stoner, and the two World Champions engaged in a spirited duel for second, swapping the spot in the new few laps. Rossi passed Stoner for good on Lap 7, then trailing leader Pedrosa by 1.2 seconds. Pedrosa maintained that lead during the midway portion of the race before Rossi found a quicker rhythm and started shaving tenths of a second from the gap. With 10 laps to go in the 27-lap race, Rossi passed Pedrosa for the lead for good. On his victory lap, Rossi repeated one of the most famous post-race stunts of his career, stopping in a trackside portable toilet, which drove the passionate Spanish fans wild. Lorenzo, who led the points entering this event, crashed his Fiat Yamaha Team machine with four laps remaining while chasing Stoner for third place. He fell into a tie for third in points. American Colin Edwards finished seventh on his Yamaha Tech 3 machine, maintaining sixth place in the series standings. Fellow American Nicky Hayden’s tough start to the season continued, as 2006 World Champion Hayden finished 15th on his Ducati Team bike. Hayden continues to try to recover from an injured back and chest suffered in a qualifying crash in the season-opening Grand Prix of Qatar on April 12 and another crash at the Grand Prix of Japan on April 26. The next race is the Grand Prix of France on Sunday, May 17 at Le Mans. The second annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP is Sunday, Aug. 30 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. *** RESULTS JEREZ, Spain Results of the 27-lap Grand Prix of Spain MotoGP race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle, time behind winner. All riders on Bridgestone tires: 1. Valentino Rossi Italy Yamaha 2. Dani Pedrosa Spain Honda +2.700 3. Casey Stoner Australia Ducati +10.507 4. Randy de Puniet France Honda +31.893 5. Marco Melandri Italy Kawasaki +33.128 6. Loris Capirossi Italy Suzuki +34.128 7. Colin Edwards United States Yamaha +34.421 8. Andrea Dovizioso Italy Honda +34.625 9. Toni Elias Spain Honda +42.689 10. Chris Vermeulen Australia Suzuki +45.183 11. Sete Gibernau Spain Ducati +48.192 12. Yuki Takahashi Japan Honda +51.875 13. James Toseland Great Britain Yamaha +53.683 14. Alex de Angelis San Marino Honda +53.941 15. Nicky Hayden United States Ducati +1:01.237 16. Niccolo Canepa Italy Ducati +1:10.896 17. Jorge Lorenzo Spain Yamaha +4 laps 18. Mika Kallio Finland Ducati +15 laps Fastest lap: Rossi, 1:39.818, Lap 4 Pole lap: Lorenzo, 1:38.933 *** POINTS Riders: Rossi 65, Stoner 54, Lorenzo 41, Pedrosa 41, Dovizioso 30, Edwards 26, de Puniet 24, Melandri 23, Vermeulen 21, Capirossi 19, Kallio 16, de Angelis 15, Elias 15, Toseland 10, Gibernau 8, Takahashi 5, Hayden 5, Canepa 2. Manufacturers: Yamaha 70, Ducati 54, Honda 47, Suzuki 28, Kawasaki 23. *** PODIUM QUOTES VALENTINO ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, winner): “This is a wonderful victory because yesterday we were really quite worried. I couldn’t ride how I wanted to, and it was very hard. We had to work all together to understand how to fix the problem, and finally we made a big change to try to make the bike feel how I like in the corner, which worked. This morning we could tell immediately that things were much better, and then we made a couple more small changes after warm-up, which made my M1 and my Bridgestone tires feel even better. I lost some time getting past Lorenzo at the start, and then I had a good battle with Stoner, which I enjoyed. After that, I wasn’t so fast and I couldn’t close the gap to Pedrosa for a while. He was very quick, but finally things improved and I was able to catch and pass him.” DANI PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Bridgestone, second): “I really wanted to win here, but I knew it was going to be tough because Valentino has been very strong through the weekend and I knew he’d be fast in the race. And that’s how it turned out. I got a good start, got out in front, and then I just tried to concentrate on my race and see what would happen. Although, of course, I wanted to win here for me, the team and the fans, I’m actually very happy with the podium and surprised, too. We struggled when we arrived on Friday and having missed so much testing in the winter and the test here it’s a very good result for us. We’re having quite a difficult time at the moment to get the machine performance to where we want it, so this podium is unbelievable.” CASEY STONER (Ducati Team Ducati/Bridgestone, third): “After all these years, this is my first time on the podium at Jerez, so it has been a long time coming. I’ve had plenty of opportunities in the past, but I’ve been unlucky and made mistakes, so this tastes really sweet. Today I wasn’t nervous about the race at all because, to be honest, I went into it thinking that I didn’t have a chance of finishing on the podium. We knew Dani, Valentino and Jorge all had a better pace than us, so we took a bit of a gamble with the setting to try and find an extra edge, and it paid off, so I have to thank the team for that. I got a great start and I was running right up there with Dani in the early stages, but I started to lose the front in a few corners. When Valentino came, I tried to hold him off as best as I could, but when he came past me the second time I decided to try and stay behind him, to see if he could take me with him to Dani. Unfortunately from that point, I was losing the front even more often, and there was one place, in particular, where I was almost crashing every lap. When Jorge started to close in, I honestly thought it was ‘game over,’ but I kept pushing to try and at least take the battle to the final laps. It was just getting to the point where I was going to have to back off because I was risking a crash, but Jorge solved that problem for me! I couldn’t believe my luck, but I think we deserved it, though, because the whole team has worked incredibly hard all weekend and I could not have given more in the race. It is only third place, but it feels even better than the win in Qatar.” *** AMERICAN RIDER QUOTES COLIN EDWARDS (Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Bridgestone, seventh): “I got a really good start, but right from the first lap I knew I wasn’t going to be able to run the pace I needed. The guys in front just gapped me immediately, and I couldn’t get the bike to turn. We went in the wrong direction yesterday when it was hot, so for the race we went back to the setting I’d had in the morning when the track temperature was a bit cooler. In the cooler temperatures, that setting was fine, but once the temperature goes up, I just couldn’t get into the rhythm I want and know I was capable of. I wanted to be smooth and precise, but I couldn’t do that. I was having to adjust my style to get some weight on the rear to help the bike turn, but it wasn’t enough for me to get into the top six, and that’s a bit frustrating.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Team Ducati/Bridgestone, 15th): “I was nervous that physically it would be a tough race, but it turned out to be a lot worse than we expected. In the beginning, I struggled a lot again with a full fuel load and I made a mistake on the first lap. I was trying to make some positions up, and I actually lost some. I tried to recover, but something was wrong with the setup of the bike. I can’t make the harder compound work well with my bike and I have to go with the softer one, but today even those didn’t start to work well until I got a lot of heat into them. I did my best time on the 17th lap, so there is something we have definitely to work on with the team. We need to look at the data and think up something different for the next one.” *** MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS 250cc: Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Scot Racing Team 250cc Honda 125cc: Bradley Smith, Great Britain, Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc Aprilia. American Cameron Beaubier placed 15th, scoring the first point of his World Championship career. He is 21st in the season standings after three races. *** NEXT RACE Grand Prix of France, Le Mans, May 17. Round 4 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 three events in 2009 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the Indianapolis 500, Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and Red Bull Indianapolis GP 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.