FIM MotoGP World Championship Brno, Czech Republic August 15, 2010 Race Results (dry conditions, all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (Yamaha), 22 laps, 43:22.638 2. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (Honda), -5.494 seconds 3. Casey STONER, Australia (Ducati), -11.426 4. Ben SPIES, USA (Yamaha), -13.723 5. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (Yamaha), -17.930 6. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (Ducati), -26.815 7. Colin EDWARDS, USA (Yamaha), -33.396 8. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Honda), -39.406 9. Hector BARBERA, Spain (Ducati), -39.639 10. Randy DE PUNIET, France (Honda), -40.893 11. Marco SIMONCELLI, Italy (Honda), -42.032 12. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (Ducati), -47.091 13. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (Honda), -51.368 14. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (Suzuki), -1 lap, DNF, crash 15. Mika KALLIO, Finland (Ducati), -15 laps, DNF, crash 16. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (Honda), -16 laps, DNF, crash 17. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (Suzuki), -21 laps, DNF, crash World Championship Point Standings (after 10 of 18 races): 1. Lorenzo, 235 points 2. Pedrosa, 158 3. Stoner, 119 4. Dovizioso, 115 5. Rossi, 101 6. Nicky Hayden, 99 7. Spies, 90 8. De Puniet, 75 9. Melandri, 61 10. Edwards, 57 11. Simoncelli, 54 12. Barbera, 48 13. Capirossi, 36 14. Espargaro, 32 15. Kallio, 31 16. Bautista, 25 17. Hiroshi Aoyama, 18 18. De Angelis, 11 19. Roger Hayden, 5 20. Kousuke Akiyoshi, 4 21. Wataru Yoshikawa, 1 More, from a press release issued by Interwetten Honda: Set up improvements with Honda RC212V The weekend at the Autodromo Brno, where the Grand Prix Ceské republiky took place, finished with a 13th place for Alex de Angelis and the Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team. The work with the set up of the Honda RC212V went well this weekend and De Angelis improved his performance regarding to the races before as he had a much better feeling with the bike. Unfortunately he was pushed to the side while he was riding comfortable in the middle group and lost his position. Despite the result the weekend did go well for the team and more work on the set up will continue tomorrow, when the MotoGP class stays for one day testing at the Czech racetrack. Alex de Angelis, 13 – 43’51.368: “The race started quite well, I was fast and I could stay with the group. Then Espargaro pushed me aside and I had to go wide and finished in the grass. I lost some pos itions. It was hard to fight back, but I could manage it. Then the bike started shaking really hard and I rode to the grass again. I lost the connection and had to ride alone and I could not catch up again. I am really sorry for this result, as I know it could have been much better today. The direction the team changed the bike in is the right direction, but unfortunately I could not show it with a better result.” Daniel M. Epp, Team Manager: “In his third race Alex was much faster and could stay with the middle field with the other riders. Step by step he gets to grips with the 2010 Honda, but at the end he could not manage to keep the lap times he did before.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Jorge Lorenzo’s phenomenal 2010 form continued at the Cardion ab Grand Prix ÄŒeské republiky on Sunday where the Fiat Yamaha rider won his seventh race of the season. A front row start was converted into another 25 points by the Spaniard, who maintained his record of having finished inside the top two in every race so far. The sun was shining brilliantly in stark contrast to the wet morning warm-up session and the dark clouds that had circled the track as just over 148,000 enthusiastic fans packed out the Brno circuit. Lorenzo quickly engaged himself in an early battle with rival Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) who started from pole position by taking the lead in the third corner. There were two early fallers as Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) went down inside the opening three laps, the latter managing to avoid collisions with a number of oncoming bikes while stranded in the middle of the track coming out of turn nine. Dovizioso rejoined the back of the race but was forced to retire shortly after with a handlebar issue. Lorenzo and Pedrosa exchanged fastest-lap times in the preliminary stages of the race as they set the pace but the championship leader gradually began to pull away from his compatriot, and the pair were also well ahead of Casey Stoner (Ducati Team) in third place. The riders became more separated as the race reached its finale, and Lorenzo cruised across the line 5.494s ahead of Pedrosa to extend his Championship lead over his fellow Spaniard to 77 points. The Repsol Honda rider was followed onto the podium by Australia’s Stoner, who finished third almost six seconds back and also moved into third in the Championship ahead of Dovizioso. Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) placed fourth from his first MotoGP front row grid position having made an impressive start, with Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) fifth, just over four seconds off the rookie. American duo Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) and Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) were sixth and seventh respectively, with Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar) and the returning Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) completing the top ten just four weeks after breaking his leg in Germany. A frustrating weekend was ended in heartbreaking fashion for Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) as the rookie slid out on the last corner of the final lap, having just passed Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) who took 11th. Moto2 A controlled and well-measured ride from standings leader Toni Elías delivered the Spaniard’s fourth win of the 2010 campaign at Brno, which also marked the Gresini team’s 100th podium finish in the World Championship. As opposed to the start of the earlier 125cc contest the Moto2 riders were met with sun as they lined up on the grid, and early in the race there were up to nine riders battling for the lead, amongst them pole man Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP) and Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing), who got off to a great start from the third row. Arne Tode (Racing Team Germany) crashed out early on but there were few fallers, and Elías patiently monitored the situation at the head of the race, sidling up to Tomizawa. Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) was also in the group vying for positions towards the front and the Italian moved into first position as halfway approached. Iannone threatened to pull away as he has done more than once before this season, but Elías recovered a gap of over a second to overtake on lap 13 as Roberto Rolfo (Italtrans STR) became involved in the top-three battle. Unfortunately for the Italian a mechanical failure on the next lap ended his race prematurely after an impressive ride. The experienced Elías started to pull away and Yuki Takahashi (Tech 3 Racing) passed Iannone to slot into second on the penultimate lap, a position he held to the finish line. The victorious Elías met the chequered flag with an advantage of 2.312s over the Japanese rider to take the 25 points, with Iannone third behind Takahashi by just over six-tenths of a second. Cluzel and Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) completed the top five, with Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up) completing a solid weekend in sixth. Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Racing) placed 11th, which means Iannone now sits second in the Championship standings at seven points ahead of the Swiss rider. Elías’ lead at the top remains strong after nine rounds and he is now 55 points clear. 125cc After a short delay to the start of the race when rain suddenly started to fall, a frantic changing of tyres by many teams on the grid to wet compounds, led to a fantastically intriguing encounter as the track dried throughout the course of the 19-lap race. Terol’s choice of front and rear wets paid off for the Bancaja Aspar rider as he opened up a substantial lead early on over Tuenti Racing pair Efrén Vázquez and Pol Espargaró. The Aprilia rider’s display was made all the more impressive given that this was his first GP back from a vertebra injury having missed the previous round in Germany. The real battle was for the remaining podium spots and a great contest began to unfold as Vázquez and Espargaró stuck close together. Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX) was soon to enter the fray as well, whilst Championship leader Marc Márquez (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) put up a valiant effort to remain as close to the front as possible, having dislocated his shoulder earlier in the weekend. Johann Zarco’s WTR San Marino Team made the decision to change the Frenchman’s tyres to slicks and although he rejoined the race at the back he set a number of fastest laps to show they were the correct choice of tyre, but was too far behind to make any difference to the points-scoring positions. Rabat passed Vázquez with three laps to go to slot into third and Vázquez then crashed on the penultimate lap as he pushed to keep up. The victory belonged to Terol however and he crossed the finish line 20.351s ahead of Espargaró for a resounding victory his second of the season with Rabat delighted to take third just two-tenths of a second behind. Jonas Folger (Team Ongetta) and home rider Jakub Kornfeil (Racing Team Germany) completed the top five, with pole holder Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar) having done well to recover an early loss in ground to place sixth. Márquez took valuable points with seventh as he rode a courageous race. The result means Márquez’s lead at the top of the Championship has been cut to 15 points ahead of Espargaró, with Terol’s victory preserving his third spot and moving him back to within 23 points of the leader. More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista both crashed out of today’s Czech Republic Grand Prix at either end of the 22-lap race with both riders able to walk away uninjured from their respective incidents. Capirossi got a poor start from 10th on the grid as another rider hit the left-hand-side of his bike on the first lap and knocked his clutch lever out of position. The Italian had to hit the lever to get it back into place, but the running repairs cost him time and he was relegated to last position. Capirossi quickly regained his composure and passed four riders in quick succession and looked like making a concerted attack through the field, but unfortunately he lost front grip on turn 12 and slid into the gravel with no hope of re-mounting and continuing the race. Bautista battled heroically for the whole 22-laps as he fought against the pain caused by yesterday’s huge high-side and the other riders on track. Despite starting from the back of the grid he caught the battle for eighth position before the half-way point of the race. Bautista was fighting with the group and as the last lap arrived he was close enough to challenge Marco Simoncelli. He made a strong passing manoeuvre in the last corner and although he got past Simoncelli he lost the front of the bike and also slid into the gravel – as Capirossi had done earlier. Bautista was visibly disappointed with the outcome of the race after such a brave effort had proved fruitless in the end. Today’s Brno Grand Prix was watched by nearly 150,000 people at trackside and they witnessed Jorge Lorenzo provide another commanding performance on his Yamaha to win his seventh race of the season and strengthen his grip at the top of the championship. Rizla Suzuki will remain at Brno for a full day’s testing tomorrow as they try to unlock the potential of the Suzuki GSV-R and put today’s frustrations behind them. The next round of the MotoGP World Championship will require another crossing of the Atlantic, as the field prepares to line-up for the Indianapolis Grand Prix in America on Sunday 29th August. Loris Capirossi: “I am so upset by today’s race because I know I could have had a good result here. I got hit on the first lap by another rider and that pushed my clutch lever right up, so I had to hit it to get it into place and by the time I had done that I was last. I easily passed four riders and I felt my pace was very fast, but then in turn 12 of the second lap I lost the front and crashed. I don’t know what happened because I wasn’t braking and I didn’t turn in too quickly, I just lost grip and went into the gravel. I am sorry for the whole team because they are working so hard and getting nothing. This has not been the weekend we wanted or deserved, so we will need to start work again tomorrow in the test and see if we can start to turn things around the potential was really good today.” Álvaro Bautista: “The crash was a big disappointment for me as I went to overtake Simoncelli, because at the beginning of race I didn’t know what my condition would be at the end and I was pleased that I felt strong enough to make the move. The first few laps were difficult because I’d only had about 40 minutes of dry practice all weekend and needed to get my reference points sorted out. The pain was horrible but I was able to start to push and in the middle of the race I was in the group challenging for eighth position, which was not too bad. After about half of the race my body started to tire and although I was pushing to the maximum, when I came up to other riders it was difficult to pass because I was at my physical limit. I would have liked to finish this race as this is now three consecutive races that I have failed to complete. The rest of the race was not too bad and compared to other riders my rhythm was good. I hope for the next race in America to make a complete weekend and continue with my progression in MotoGP.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “In sport you have to make your own luck, but it really feels like we need to go to a Church and have a word with someone who can maybe help us out a little bit! Absolutely nothing seemed to go right here at Brno and the most disappointing thing is that without question the bike and riders had the capability to challenge for a top-six position. Álvaro made a heroic effort, we have to remember that he was in great discomfort and had only spent about 45 minutes practice time in the dry compared to everyone else’s three hours. Once he found his rhythm the bike was working well, his speed was good and he’d clawed his way into contention for an excellent finish. His commitment to catching and passing Simoncelli on the last lap was obvious and he nearly made it happen, but asked a bit too much of the front tyre in the final left. It was extremely disappointing, but we have to respect a superb effort. “Loris’s race should have been his best of the season, the bike felt right and after he was knocked back to last place he looked like he could pass other riders with ease. He said the bike and feedback from it was the best he’d felt all year. “The result today doesn’t reflect anywhere near our potential and we’re going to work positively at the test tomorrow and set our sights on realising the true capability of the GSV-R, Loris and Álvaro for the rest of the season.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Lorenzo takes seventh win of the season after rain-interrupted Brno weekend Round 10: Czech Republic GP Race Automotodrom Brno, Sunday 15 August 2010 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Hard, Extra Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard After a damp warm-up session in the morning the Czech Republic Grand Prix, during which it was only the second time this season that Bridgestone’s wet tyres have been used, the forecast rain stayed away and made for a dry race at the Automotodrom Brno circuit. Every rider raced on the harder option front and softer option rear Bridgestone slick tyres, exactly the same tyre compounds as they used during yesterday’s qualifying session. Bridgestone’s tyre selection for this grand prix was exactly the same as it was for Brno last year, apart from a modified medium compound used in the softer option rear tyre that has set lap records at Jerez, Silverstone, Assen and Laguna already this season. With every rider on the same tyres, the race was a direct test of each rider and machine package. Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo was strongest over the 22 laps, and he led from the first lap to the flag to take his seventh win of the season. Dani Pedrosa pushed hard for the Repsol Honda Team and kept close to Lorenzo in the opening laps but ultimately had to settle for second, whilst Ducati’s Casey Stoner passed Ben Spies for the final step of the podium. Hiroshi Yamada Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department “I’d like to congratulate Jorge and the Fiat Yamaha Team for their victory here in Brno. They are having a remarkable season and are proving to be very strong at every race. Conditions this weekend have been very difficult for the teams, but with every rider on the same tyres it really put the emphasis on the combination of rider and machine.” Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “I think this grand prix has been difficult for the teams and riders because the dry running has been interrupted by rain throughout the weekend, with Friday’s practice cut short, a damp start to Saturday’s practice and a wet warm-up session this morning. We also experienced high winds during the race and I think the combination of these factors resulted in the total race time being slower than last year’s record time. Our tyres were exactly the same as those we brought to Brno last year, apart from the improved medium compound rear tyre we have been using this season. Overall I am happy with tyre performance this weekend despite the difficult conditions and the lower track temperature that was ten degrees Celsius cooler than last year. Now we hope for good weather tomorrow when we continue with our important front slick tyre testing at this circuit.” Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team Race Winner “Today I was hungry after the crash yesterday. I made quite a good start and pushed at the maximum, but it was a difficult race because of a lot of wind not helping with the laptimes. We have a big lead in the championship and the seventh victory this year is fantastic.” Top ten classification (Sunday 14:00 GMT+2) Pos. Rider Team Race time Gap Front spec Rear spec Tyres 1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 43m 22.638s Ex. Hard Medium Bridgestone slick 2 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 43m 28.132s +5.494s Ex. Hard Medium Bridgestone slick 3 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 43m 34.064s +11.426s Ex. Hard Medium Bridgestone slick 4 Ben Spies Monster Yamaha Tech3 43m 36.361s +13.723s Ex. Hard Medium Bridgestone slick 5 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 43m 40.568s +17.930s Ex. Hard Medium Bridgestone slick 6 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 43m 49.453s +26.815s Ex. Hard Medium Bridgestone slick 7 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 43m 56.034s +33.396s Ex. Hard Medium Bridgestone slick 8 Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda Gresini 44m 02.044s +39.406s Ex. Hard Medium Bridgestone slick 9 Hector Barbera Paginas Amarillas Aspar 44m 02.277s +39.639s Ex. Hard Medium Bridgestone slick 10 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 44m 03.531s +40.893s Ex. Hard Medium Bridgestone slick Weather: Dry. Ambient 26-27°C; Track 37-38°C ( Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: STUNNING TOP TEN FINISH FOR DE PUNIET IN CZECH REP. GP Brno, 15 August: the LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet rode his Honda RC212V no. 14 to an impressive 10th place in today’s Czech GP at Brno race track. The tenth round of the season was run under blue skies with ambience temperature of 26°C despite some poor rain in this morning warm up session. The tough Frenchman, who received a painkiller injection ahead the 22-lap race, battled bravely with the injury he sustained during the German GP. Just three weeks after the left leg surgery, De Puniet steadily improved his pace session by session and put in a strong performance today at the 5.403 Km race track starting from the 11th spot on the grid after yesterday remarkable qualifying. The 29-year-old was obviously in severe discomfort despite using painkilling therapy but demonstrated his vein once again climbing up to a sensational top ten finish in a physically demanding race. De Puniet is now holding the 8th place in the world standing with 75 points. The premier class Teams and riders will be back on track tomorrow for one day of testing but De Puniet won’t join his competitors and will continue with his recuperation in readiness for the next event at Indianapolis circuit on the 29th of August. De Puniet 10th De Puniet: “This is simply great! I could not expect such a positive week end. Just three weeks after my injury I was back on my bike and could fight for the top ten. I want to thank the doctors, my family and my friends and of course the Team because they helped me to get this incredible result. I could also fight for the eight position but I lost some tenths behind Melandri but in this condition it was pretty hard to overtake the others. Then I passed Melandri and started to be faster and together with Barbera we caught Simoncelli. At 7 laps to go they both passed me as I was completely exhausted. I really dug deep in my reserves to finish this race and I am very happy about my performance. Now I will have almost 2 w eeks to complete my recovery and hopefully we can obtain another positive result in Indianapolis”. More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER EXTENDS PODIUM STREAK AS HAYDEN BATTLES TO BRAVE SIXTH Casey Stoner finished third today at Brno behind race winner Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa to extend his run of podium finishes to five and move himself up to third place in the MotoGP World Championship standings. Nicky Hayden battled through the pain of a chipped radius bone, sustained in a crash at the end of qualifying practice yesterday afternoon, to cross the line in an impressive sixth place. Overnight storms and light rain showers this morning had left the track damp for warm-up but the sun emerged in the afternoon to ensure the Czech Republic Grand Prix took place in ideal weather conditions, even though grip levels were lower than they had been for the past two days here. The Ducati Marlboro Team will be back on track tomorrow for a demanding day of testing, with Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden both scheduled to try some technical updates. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd “To be honest I can’t be completely happy with this result, even though it is always good to be on the podium. Towards the end of qualifying yesterday we thought we had found a good way forward with the setting but we needed to finalise it in the warm-up this morning and we didn’t get chance because of the rain. I was struggling with the front for the first few laps and lost too much ground on the two leaders. It looked like there were other guys having similar problems to me and I saw Dovi crash right in front of me. Things improved towards the end but I was too far from Dani and Jorge to trouble them. We have work to do but we’re not too far off and I am desperate to fight for victories again for myself and for Ducati.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 6th “Taking everything into consideration I have to be happy with sixth place our pace wasn’t bad and looking at the lap times I could have maybe been fighting for a higher position if I was fully fit. When Valentino passed me I managed to stay with him for a while but couldn’t hang on and just had to focus on keeping a pace that allowed me to bring some good points home. I want to thank the team because they made some changes to the bike to give me better grip in the left-hand corners and it worked. Once the race started and the adrenaline kicked in I couldn’t really feel the pain in my hand but I suddenly started to feel it as soon as I crossed the line. The thing I’m most worried aboutis if I can test tomorrow because it’s going to be a really important session for us.” VITTORIANO GUARESCHI Team Manager “This is another positive result for the team even though, to be honest, before we came here I was hoping for better considering our constant improvements over the past few races. Qualifying was more difficult than we expected and Nicky had to ride with an injury that we thought would make it impossible for him to finish sixth and to set such good lap times. Casey had made some good progress at the end of the session yesterday but the overnight rain affected the track conditions and he wasn’t as confident with the front, at least not at the start. Anyway, we’re back on the podium for the fifth race in a row.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: DIFFICULT RACE FOR THE PRAMAC RACING TEAM RIDERS AT BRNO CIRCUIT: TWELFTH ESPARGARO’, KALLIO RETIRED The unfortunate qualifying session of yesterday had proposed an aggressive Grand Prix for both “green” Pramac Racing Team riders that started in thirteenth and sixteenth position respectively with Kallio and Espargar. After a great start that saw them both conquer three positions after the first lap, the riders began to reduce the gap and overtake some rivals who preceded them to gain better positions. Mika has passed Melandri during the fourth lap preceding the group that was fighting for the ninth position. Unfortunately while he was pushing hard to catch Simoncelli who preceded him by nearly three seconds, the handlebar suddenly closed in a curve making him lose the front tyre and compromised his race. A pity, because with his pace he would have certainly gain a good result in this race. Other story for Aleix that after ten laps began to feel a slight pain in the right forearm that didn’t allowed him to maintain the eleventh position won after eighth lap. It was reached a nd overtaken by Bautista, who then felt on the last lap giving the twelfth position to the young Pramac Racing rider. Tomorrow there will be a test day for all the MotoGP Teams that will have the possibility to try further modifications on the bikes in order to make them more efficient for the rest of the season. The MotoGP World Championship will be back in two weeks with the Indianapolis Grand Prix. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Technical Director “Too bad for Mika’s fall, if he was abble continued the race with the pace clocked during the first few laps, he could certainly finish the race in the top eight. In the telemetry data we didn’t found anomalies in his bike, we’ll further analyze all the available data to understand which changes we should made on the bike to better perform in the tomorrow test on this track. Aleix after three unlucky races in a row, finished the race in the best possible way and increased by four points in the world championship ranking. Tomorrow we will work even on his bike to allow him to be more competitive in the coming races. ” Aleix Espargar – Pramac Racing Team – 12th in the race – 14th in the World Championship “The bike was much better than during yesterday’s qualifying, I could be much faster and closer to other riders. In the warm up this morning we have developed with the Team a good setting that allowed me to enter the turns in the best way, with a similar speed of my colleagues. I had a very good start today, I was in the eleventh position after eight laps and I was very close to the group that was fighting for the eighth position. Unfortunately my forearm has hardened too much and did not allow me to ride in the best way. After two weeks of break this can happen. It was important for me to finish the race after three consecutive falls, I hope that from here I’ll start to get good results for the rest of the season. ” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Team – DNF in race – 15th in the World Championship “I feel sorry because I haven’t finish this race. During this morning warm up I had gain a very good fifth best lap and this has give us good feelings for the rest of the day. At the end of the first lap I had conquer three positions and after that I have overtaken Melandri I was thinking to have a good position in the top ten. But when I was trying to put more distance as possible between me and the Italian rider, I had feel a problem with the front tyre during a curve and this has made me close the handle and made me slip away losing my race. I had wish to conquer a good position on this circuit. Now we’ll analyze all the technical data with my engineers to understand what to change in tomorrow’s test.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO BLOWS AWAY RIVALS WITH CLINICAL BRNO WIN; ROSSI STRUGGLES TO FIFTH Jorge Lorenzo took an impressive seventh win of the season in Brno this afternoon with a clinical performance that saw him lead from the first lap to the chequered flag. In doing so he becomes only the third premier-class rider in history to finish in the top two at the opening ten races of the season. In stark contrast to his Fiat Yamaha team-mate’s good fortunes, Valentino Rossi ran into problems from the start and could only finish fifth. Despite surrendering pole position for the first time in six races, some bold moves from the Spaniard around the first two turns saw him take the lead before the first split and he looked in imperious form on his Yamaha M1, with yesterday’s front-end troubles clearly a thing of the past. Dani Pedrosa kept close on his heels for the first few laps but every time his fellow countryman cl osed the gap a few tenths Lorenzo responded with renewed vigour and by the tenth lap he was a second clear. From then on he was unchallenged and he crossed the line 5.494 seconds clear of Pedrosa to take the 33rd win of his career and his 12th in MotoGP. With the weather looking favourable following heavy rain this morning, Rossi was confident that he would be able to mount a strong challenge for honours this afternoon but it was not to be for the Italian today. He had felt strong all weekend despite sliding off yesterday but he never had the same confidence in the race and was unable to ride as he would have liked. He had dropped from fifth on the grid to eighth by the end of the first lap before rallying to pass Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden to move to fifth by lap six, but from then on he could make no further headway and rode a lonely race to the flag. Another maximum-points haul for Lorenzo leaves the young Mallorcan 77 point s clear of Pedrosa in the standings, with eight rounds remaining. Rossi holds on to fifth, 14 points behind Andrea Dovizioso. Tomorrow will see both Fiat Yamaha riders back out on track, weather permitting, for a one-day test before the bikes are shipped off to Indianapolis for the second US round of the season in two week’s time. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 1st Time: 43’22.638 “After my problems yesterday and the crash I didn’t expect this today, I thought it would be much more of a struggle. Once I got to the front I expected Dani to come with me and I knew it was my moment and that I had to push as much as possible. I thought he would try to overtake me but I felt good, pushed hard and little by little I was able to lose him. I know I said I was riding for the championship now and that’s still true but when there’s the chance to win I have to take it! To take my seventh win in one season is fantastic, thank you to all of my team for such a good job after we had difficulties yesterday. Tomorrow we have an important test which we hope will help us in the last part of the championship and then we go to Indianapolis, a track that I love.” Valentino Rossi Position: 5th Time: +17.930 “We are really disappointed tonight because we had hoped to do a good race and I was confident that I could challenge at the front today. It seemed everything was right and yesterday we had a good pace but today we just weren’t as fast and I couldn’t stay with the leaders. We are sad but tomorrow we will have the chance to test and try to understand what went wrong today, which will help us to be in better shape in Indianapolis. As for my future, you will know something at 6pm today.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “A surprisingly good result because after the crash of yesterday and Dani’s speed in qualifying we had some doubts about today. Jorge really stuck his neck out to put in a great first half of the race and actually Dani couldn’t stay with him. The lap times were equal or even slower to yesterday so we didn’t make a huge change to the bike, so we really have to put this down to Jorge doing an excellent job and the others struggling a bit today. Well done to everyone for another great weekend.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “Unfortunately during the race Valentino never felt good with the front and this made it very difficult for him in corner entry. Luckily we have a test tomorrow so this will give us the chance to really investigate what happened. We had a good pace throughout the weekend and we hoped to be able to stay with Lorenzo and Pedrosa but we weren’t able to today so we’re a little bit disappointed. Tomorrow will be a good opportunity for us to improve and work towards our target of a good end to the season.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA TAKES SECOND AT BRNO AS DOVIZIOSO FALLS Mixed fortunes awaited the Repsol Honda riders at Brno today as the 2010 MotoGP World Championship season entered its second half. A fast-starting Dani Pedrosa led from pole position and guided his RC212V to a strong second place at the chequered flag, while Andrea Dovizioso was unfortunate to fall early in the race as he battled to stay in contention with the frontrunners. Pedrosa made one of his patented fast getaways from the front of the grid when the start lights went out and led through the first corner. Exercising caution on cold tyres, the 24-year-old Spaniard slipped back behind Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo into turn three, before re-passing Spies a lap later and latching onto the back of Lorenzo. Pedrosa and Lorenzo were clearly in a class of their own today and exchanged fastest laps in the early stages of the race, with Pedrosa closing right in, only for Lorenzo to stretch a small gap the next time round. Try as he might thou gh, Pedrosa was unable to prevent Lorenzo from edging away in the second half of the race and finally crossed the line 5.494s behind his fellow countryman to secure 20 world championship points. It was a welcome return to the MotoGP rostrum for Pedrosa and was his fourth podium finish from the last five races, and his sixth in total this season. The result consolidates Pedrosa’s second place in the world championship, with the gap to Lorenzo now standing at 77 points. Dovizioso started the race well and fought his was from sixth on the grid into fifth place on lap one. The Italian, who was fastest in this morning’s damp warm-up session, quickly fought his way past Casey Stoner for fourth and looked capable of staying with the leaders in the race’s early stages. However, with a strong wind blowing at Brno making for tricky riding conditions, Dovizioso was caught out in turn nine and lost the front end of his RC212V, sliding to a halt in the middle of t he track. Indeed the 24-year-old was fortunate not to be hit by the following riders as he scrambled to his feet. Dovizioso remounted and continued for three more laps, but with a severely bent right handlebar it was impossible for the Italian to maintain race pace and he had to pull into the pits. Having missed out on championship points today, Dovizioso has slipped one place to fourth in the MotoGP standings. The Repsol Honda Team remains at the Brno circuit tomorrow for a rare and precious day of official testing – the last such day permitted until after the end of the season in November. Once complete, the Team packs the crates and ships them to Indianapolis in the USA for the next race which takes place in two weekends’ time. DANI PEDROSA 2nd World Championship position 2nd 158 points “It’s good to be back on the podium after the crash at the last race at Laguna Seca so I’m happy about this. My start was good and I was in first place through the first corner but in the first left-hander I was a little bit too concerned about my tyre temperature and braked too early, which allowed Ben and Jorge to get past. When I was in second place behind Jorge again I was trying as hard as possible to stay close, which I could do for a few laps, but for some reason I wasn’t quite able to go as fast as yesterday – I had quite a lot of wheelspin and was struggling to get good drive out of the corners. I tried to adjust my riding to improve this but Jorge was gradually able to open the gap. So today wasn’t the best result for us, but still the podium is ok and we can build on this result. After the test tomorrow we go to Indianapolis and I was strong there las t year – despite the mistake in the race – so I’m confident we can be competitive again at the next race.” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO DNF World Championship position 4th 115 points “I recovered a couple of positions at the start and in the first few laps I didn’t want to lose contact with the riders in front so I was really pushing as hard as possible. Already in a few corners I had some warnings from the front and then it went in turn nine. It’s a pity – I made a mistake and it cost me dear because the 1m 58.0s pace that the lead bunch were running was one that I could also have maintained today. During the whole weekend we’ve been at the limit with the front end and today the strong wind made it worse. We needed a good result here so it’s disappointing. When I was in the middle of the track it was pretty scary because the riders behind were going either side of me, so actually I was lucky that the consequences weren’t worse. We have a test tomorrow and then we’ll have to try to bounce back well in Indianapolis.” TOSHIYUKI YAMAJI – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “Dani was clearly pushing very hard for the victory and in the early laps he was exchanging fastest laps with Lorenzo and it looked like he might be able to challenge, but in the end he had to settle for second. We’d hoped for the victory of course, but today Lorenzo made a very good race and we have to say congratulations to him. On the other hand, this result simply means that the Repsol Honda Team must continue to work as hard as possible and to improve our performance for the next races. Today the conditions were quite windy and I think it could have been the wind that caught Andrea out at that moment and he was unlucky to fall. Without the crash he could have had a good race and a possible podium, so it’s unfortunate, but this can happen when you’re pushing hard. He’ll come back fighting next time.” More, form a press release issued by Honda: Czech Grand Prix, Brno MotoGP and Moto2 races August 15 2010 Weather: warm, cloudy and windy Track temperature: 40 degrees Ambient Temperature: 26 degrees Crowd: 148,120 (official figure). PEDROSA SCORES STRONG SECOND-PLACE FINISH AT BRNO Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) rode a determined race to finish second in today’s Czech Grand Prix, his best efforts not quite enough to allow him to battle for the lead with race winner and World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha). It was a tough day for Honda’s other MotoGP riders, with Pedrosa’s team-mate Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) looking capable of recording a strong result until he slid off during the early stages. The Italian set the fourth fastest lap of the race, suggesting he might have been able to fight for a podium finish. Dovizioso’s exit made Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) Honda’s next best rider in eighth place, just ahead of the heroic Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V), racing just one month after breaking his left leg. Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) had been going great guns, looking on course for a top eight finish until he ran into grip issues and slipped back to 11th. Alex de Angelis (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V), substituting for the injured Hiroshi Aoyama, finished 13th after being nudged off the track during the early stages. Among the huge crowd watching today’s racing at Brno was Honda Motor Company President and CEO Takanobu Ito who was making his first visit to a MotoGP event since last year’s Japanese Grand Prix. Pedrosa got the holeshot from pole position, storming into the lead as the pack funnelled into the sweeping first corner, typical of the wide-open turns that dominate the epic Brno circuit. But Lorenzo grabbed the lead at the next corner and although Pedrosa did everything in his power to counter attack, he could never quite get close enough to try a move on his compatriot. On lap seven Pedrosa set the fastest lap of the race so far to close right up on the leader, but by half distance Lorenzo had stretched the gap to 1.2 seconds and Pedrosa knew he would have to settle for second, especially considering the fact that he had tumbled out of the lead at Laguna Seca three weeks ago. The 20 points he scored today strengthens his second place in the World Championship, albeit 77 points behind Lorenzo. Dovizioso was running fifth after the first lap and pushing hard to ensure he didn’t lose contact with the leaders. Like many riders he was dealing with some front end issues exacerbated by the windy conditions and some morning rainfall and lost the front at turn nine on lap five, shortly after having moved into fourth place ahead of Casey Stoner (Ducati). Dovizioso and his RC212 ended up in the middle of the track, with riders passing on either side, but he was unharmed in the fall. Melandri had an interesting race after a tough two days of practice. The former 250 World Champion completed the first lap in 11th, then spent much of the 22 laps involved in a thrilling contest for ninth place, which then became a contest for eighth once the group had caught Simoncelli. At one point the group consisted of five riders, Melandri setting impressive lap times in the late stages to fight his way to the front to finish eighth just ahead of Hector Barbera (Ducati), de Puniet and Simoncelli. De Puniet had painkilling injections before the race, to ease the pain of his broken left tibia, which was pinned following his tumble at the German GP on July 18. Despite significant discomfort, the ultra-brave Frenchman played a major part in the busy skirmish won by Melandri. Twelfth at the end of the first lap, de Puniet got as high as ninth in the closing stages but lacked strength in the closing stages and finally lost out to Barbera. Like many riders, Simoncelli had hoped to evaluate final set-up changes during morning warm-up, but the session was run on a wet track, leaving him going into the race with a few questions unanswered. As the race went on the hard-riding rookie began to struggle with grip and slipped from eighth to 11th. De Angelis would have scored a stronger finish if he hadn’t been forced onto the grass by a rival. The San Marino rider fought back after that incident, only to run off the track once again which put him at the back of the field. All teams stay at Brno tonight to take part in tomorrow’s official one-day test, which will allow riders to test solutions for the remainder of the season and try out ideas for 2011. Aoyama will take part in the tests, making his return to riding after breaking a vertebra in a British GP warm-up crash. The Japanese ace hopes to prove that he is strong enough to race at the upcoming Indianapolis GP on August 27/28/29. Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki) rode to a determined win in the Moto2 race to extend his lead in the inaugural Honda-powered Moto2 World Championship. The Spaniard started relatively slowly, running in the leading pack for the first half the race, then he started hunting down leader Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up). Iannone ended up third behind Yuki Takahashi (Tech 3 Racing, Tech 3) who came through strongly in the final stages. Elias’s fourth win also gave the Gresini team its 100th podium result, which he celebrated on the podium by wearing a commemorative T-shirt. The former 125, 250 and MotoGP race winner had to work hard yesterday after being disqualified from Friday’s opening practice session for testing at Misano during the summer break. Testing is not allowed during the break. Pole position man Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP, Suter) led the first few laps but the Japanese couldn’t maintain his pace and got shuttled all the way back to tenth at the flag. During the early laps Elias also found himself going backwards, to seventh place on lap four. But then he gathered himself for his challenge and steadily moved through the pack. By the time he took second place at half-distance, Iannone already had a one second lead, but just as he did in Germany last month, Elias steadily chipped away. He took the lead on lap 13, but Iannone fought back while Roberto Rolfo (Italtrans S.T.R, Suter) also joined the battle. Elias stole a small advantage while Rolfo getting the better of Iannone, only for Rolfo to suffer engine problems which stopped him on lap 15. After that it was Elias all the way, Iannone dropping back into the clutches of Takahashi, whose bike worked better on worn tyres. Elias now leads Iannone by 55 points with eight races remaining. Silverstone winner Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing, Suter) won a tight four-way battle for fourth place, the Frenchman just getting the better of Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter), Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up) and Alex Debon (Aeroport de Castello-Ajo, FTR), who had led briefly during the first few laps. That quartet was covered by less than a second. Simone Corsi (Jir Moto2, Motobi), who also led a lap during the early stages, finished eighth, comfortably ahead of Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing, Suter) and Tomizawa who crossed the line separated by 0.016 seconds. Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2, Moriwaki) finished 11th, his team still trying to get on top of some electronics issues. The 125 race first of the day started on a partially wet track following earlier rainfall. Marcel Schrötter (Interwetten Honda 125 Team) scored more World Championship points with a 13th place finish. The race was won by Nicolas Terol (Aprilia). HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V): 2nd “It’s good to be back on the podium after the crash at the last race at Laguna Seca so I’m happy about this. My start was good and I was in first place through the first corner but in the first left-hander I was a little bit too concerned about my tyre temperature and braked too early, which allowed Ben and Jorge to get past. When I was in second place behind Jorge again I was trying as hard as possible to stay close, which I could do for a few laps, but for some reason I wasn’t quite able to go as fast as yesterday I had quite a lot of wheelspin and was struggling to get good drive out of the corners. I tried to adjust my riding to improve this but Jorge was gradually able to open the gap. So today wasn’t the best result for us, but still the podium is ok and we can build on this result. After the test tomorrow we go to Indianapolis and I was strong there last year despite the mistake in the race so I’m confident we can be competitive again at the next race.” Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V): 8th “After a weekend to forget we had a decent race. The last part of it was good although the start wasn’t so positive for me. We struggled a lot on fresh tyres and I couldn’t match the pace of the group in front of me, so I lost a lot of ground there. Then as the fuel load lightened and the tyres came up to temperature it worked more in my favour. It was less difficult to ride the bike and I felt more comfortable. I’m still not completely happy though because I’m still having a lot of problems with the electronics and that makes it difficult for me to overtake. We need to work a lot and with more help from Honda I’m sure we can take a step forward tomorrow.” Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V): tenth “This is simply great! I could not expect such a positive weekend. Just four weeks after my injury I was back on my bike and could fight for the top ten. I want to thank the doctors, my family and my friends and of course the team because they helped me to get this incredible result. I could also fight for the eighth position but I lost some tenths behind Melandri but in this condition it was pretty hard to overtake the others. Then I passed Melandri and started to be faster and together with Barbera we caught Simoncelli. At seven laps to go they both passed me as I was completely exhausted. I really dug deep in my reserves to finish this race and I am very happy about my performance. Now I will have two weeks to complete my recovery and hopefully we can obtain another positive result in Indianapolis.” Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V): 11th “I’m not satisfied with the race today. We made some changes to the bike compared to yesterday but we weren’t able to test them out in the warm-up this morning because of the damp track. I felt pretty good at the start of the race but then as the laps went by I lost consistency. The front closed on me a few times and I had to back off. I still thought I could lap in the mid 1m 59s but in the second half of the race the bike got worse and I couldn’t get the power down in fourth, fifth and sixth gear so the group behind were able to catch and pass me as if I was on a bike from a different category. Now we need to work out what happened. Obviously I’m disappointed because ten laps into the race I thought I was good for eighth place.” Alex de Angelis (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V): 13th “The race started quite well, I was fast and I could stay with the group. Then Espargaro pushed me aside and I had to go wide and finished on the grass. I lost some positions. It was hard to fight back, but I could manage it. Then the bike started shaking really hard and I rode onto the grass again. I lost the connection and had to ride alone and I could not catch up again. I am really sorry for this result, as I know it could have been much better today. The direction the team changed the bike in is the right direction, but unfortunately I could not show it with a better result.” Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V): DNF “I recovered a couple of positions at the start and in the first few laps I didn’t want to lose contact with the riders in front so I was really pushing as hard as possible. Already in a few corners I had some warnings from the front and then it went in turn nine. It’s a pity I made a mistake and it cost me dear because the 1m 58.0s pace that the lead bunch were running was a one that I could also have maintained today. During the whole weekend we’ve been at the limit with the front end and today the strong wind made it worse. We needed a good result here so it’s disappointing. When I was in the middle of the track is was pretty scary because the riders behind were going either side of me, so actually I was lucky that the consequences weren’t worse. We have a test tomorrow and then we’ll have try to bounce back well in Indianapolis.” MOTO2 RIDER QUOTES Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki): winner “Missing first practice affected me a little bit, but the bike was okay for the race. At the beginning the problem was me. I knew I had the rhythm to do 2m 4s lap times all race, so maybe I was too relaxed. In the first laps I lost several places and it looked like I had no answer to my rivals. When Iannone passed me I found some motivation and I was able to pass several riders, then catch Iannone. We fought for two laps, then I took an advantage and I was able to pull away. The fact that Takahashi finished second is good for the championship.” Yuki Takahashi (Tech 3 Racing, Tech 3): 2nd “Our bike works very well at this track, so we will see if we can reproduce this performance at other tracks. We knew before the race that our bike would get better as the race went on. During the early laps with full grip it was not so easy, but once the tyre grip had gone down a bit I was able to start pushing really hard.” Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up): 3rd “I got a bad start, so I had to work very hard to get through the pack. Once I got to the front I was ahead of Debon, so I hoped he would keep the other riders at bay for a while. But Toni and Yuki came charging through and there was nothing I could do about their speed. The main thing is that we have to sit down and work out how to get the tyres to work all the way to the end of the race. My congratulations to Toni and Yuki who have obviously been working too hard; thanks also to my team for their great work.” HONDA 125 RIDER QUOTES Marcel Schrötter (Interwetten Honda 125 Team): 13th “All in all I am quite satisfied and I was able to gain some points. At the beginning it went very well and I had a great feeling with the bike. I was able to catch up some places. Unfortunately I had to brake because of a crash in front of me and after that I had to fight to close the gap. Then I could stay with the group, but the riders behind me came closer and closer and I could not ride with them anymore. I am quite fast in the corners, but on the straight I have no chance. At the end I started sliding around a lot and I was lucky that I didn’t crash. Apart from that it was a good race.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Big points haul for Spies and Edwards in Brno A strong weekend concluded in fine style for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team squad in Brno today with Ben Spies storming to a superb fourth position and Colin Edwards equalling his best result of the season. Starting from the front row of the grid for the first time in his MotoGP career, Spies made a blistering start and led momentarily off the line before giving way to a typically fast starting Dani Pedrosa. Spies swept by the Spaniard later on the first lap to engage in an exciting early battle with Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo. Despite launching a concerted effort to stay in contention at the front, Spies was unable to maintain his impressive early rhy thm. Battling a small front-end grip issue, the Texan tenaciously fought to keep Casey Stoner at bay until the Australian relegated Spies to fourth position on lap nine. Spies dug deep again to try and keep himself in contention for a second rostrum of the campaign but he was unable to keep close to Stoner, the reigning World Superbike champion settling for a comfortable fourth position that moved him to within 25-points of fourth place in the overall rankings. He was once again leading non-factory rider and second best Yamaha as Jorge Lorenzo triumphed in emphatic fashion again. Colin Edwards also made a brilliant start from the third row and he was involved in one of the few battles unfolding in front of a bumper crowd of 148,120. The experienced 36-year-old fought tirelessly to close in on compatriot Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi before he too encountered some small front-end grip issues. He settled for a seventh place that moved him into the top ten in the overall rankings and today’s 22-point haul the second best of the season for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad – further consolidated the team’s position in fourth place in the Team World Championship classification. Ben Spies 4th 90 points “I got a good start and was staying right with Jorge and Dani for a few laps and had a comfortable pace. But after about lap seven I starting having problems with the front that I hadn’t experienced all weekend. It’s a shame because while I know I definitely didn’t have anything to fight Jorge with because he is riding so well, maybe I could have stayed close to Dani. I’m not saying I’d have beaten him but I’d have been closer to put up a challenge. I had one second on Casey when I started having th e problems but I had to slow my pace quite a bit and that was a bit frustrating because it meant he caught me quite quickly. I couldn’t run his speed so when he passed me I didn’t worry about trying to run with him. I’m not upset though because without that small problem I could have easily battled for the podium. I’d have loved the podium to give me a big lift before going home to Indianapolis, but I’m really happy with my recent performances and once again I was the top satellite team rider and I can’t be unhappy with fourth place.” Colin Edwards 7th 57 points “I gave it everything I had and I can’t be disappointed with the way I rode. I thought it was going to be a good race because I’d been strong all weekend and really happy with the new front-end geometry setting that had helped the bike turn much better. And when I got a good start I felt confident that I could challe nge for my first top six of the season. But in the race I didn’t have the same feeling with the front tyre and I don’t think I was the only one that had a small issue. When I tried to push a bit harder I had a moment and I lost contact with Valentino and Nicky in front of me. I took some risks to keep close to them but there was nothing I could do. Seventh is not a great result but it’s better than where I have been finishing and hopefully we can make some more progress in Indianapolis and be closer to the front.” Herve Poncharal Team Manager “I am a happy man tonight because Ben and Colin were really strong all weekend and today was no exception. We scored a good amount of points that really helps us in the Team Championship and once again thanks to Ben and Colin we are the leading non-factory squad. I think Ben gave everything he had and at one stage early on we were thin king that he might be able to challenge for another podium. But he had some small issues that prevented him from staying close to Jorge and Dani and then Casey. He kept the pace he was comfortable at and it was another very strong result from Ben who can be proud of another impressive weekend. I’m also happy with Colin because he has been riding very well at the last two races and he helped Yamaha occupy an incredible four places in the top seven. We are really confident for the rest of the season that Ben and Colin can be consistently together in the top six. Now we look forward to another trip to America where both will be determined to put on a good show for the fans.”