English
Russian motorcycle news
Brands Persons Miscellaneous

The Repsol Honda Team reign supreme at Silverstone

The Repsol Honda team leaves the Silverstone circuit with another victory for Casey Stoner, second place on the podium for Andrea Dovizioso and also with the Australian rider leading the MotoGP World Championship, 18 points clear of Jorge Lorenzo.

The British Grand Prix, scene of Stoner's 150th career GP, sees him claim his third consecutive win, fourth of the season, and twenty-seventh in MotoGP class.

The 1-2 for Stoner and Dovizioso has been the perfect climax in a dramatic wet race, which not only demanded the best skills but also ultimate concentration to avoid any mistakes. The Australian, focused and determined found himself racing alone out in front and was able to maintain the high pace for 19 laps after he overtook his team mate on the second lap. Andrea fought hard and was victorious in his duels, first with Jorge Lorenzo, and then with Marco Simoncelli, who both crashed while they were behind the Italian.

Casey's superiority was so evident that two riders were lapped with four laps remaining, while Andrea, after a perfect start from fifth on the grid to lead the race in the first corner, took his second podium of the season and holds third position in the World Championship standings, 15 points behind Lorenzo.

The team now prepare for Assen in two weeks time and will hope to be back to full strength with Dani Pedrosa back on his RC212V.

Casey Stoner: 1st – World Championship Position: 1st with 116 points
"At the beginning of the race we didn't have a great start and I needed to wait for the tyres to get up to temperature. In the first few laps when I was behind the other riders I got a lot of spray up inside the visor and it was hard for me to see, or for me to push. At this time I was being careful, trying to cover my lines to stop them coming inside, then after five laps my visibility got clearer and the water drained away from my visor and I was able to start doing the lap times we were looking for and started to open up a gap. I was just happy to stay up on the bike, it was incredibly cold and I was so nervous as in these conditions it's so easy to crash! We had a great race today in very tough conditions where anything could have happened, but to come away with a win is fantastic".

Andrea Dovizioso: 2nd – World Championship Position: 3rd with 83 points
“I’m really happy with today’s podium. It’s a second place that feels like gold. The track conditions were very tricky, with much more water than in the warm up this morning. We made a modification on the set up to have more rear grip and then we did a very good strategy. It helped us doing two laps before the race to bring the tyres up to temperature quicker. I had a very good start and then I was focused to manage the second position with Casey. I was braking very hard to close the doors to Lorenzo and Simoncelli. I had a good rhythm, not to far from Casey’s pace, but he is very strong with these conditions so I preferred to manage my race the best I could. I want to thank my team for the hard work and the support. We need to improve the performance also in qualifying but at the important moment, in the race, we are there. We never give up. With today’s second place we have consolidated the third position in the Championship and reduced the gap to Lorenzo. The season is still long so I’m confident”.

Colin Edwards: 3rd – World Championship Position: 9st with 34 points
“That was an unbelievable race and to finish on the podium feels amazing. I was happy to qualify eighth but never in a million years did I think I'd be on the podium just over a week after breaking my collarbone. I need to thank Dr Xavier Mir for the repair job he did on my shoulder and also my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 because they gave me a phenomenal bike today. My shoulder felt great and it was the muscle damage around my ribs that caused me the most pain. But the rain definitely helped because it was a lot less physical than in the dry. I just gritted my teeth and got on with it, just trying to stay smooth and not make any mistakes. Conditions were pretty bad and it was a case of working out when and where you could push. I'd have been happy to fin ish the race and then go home to think about Assen. But I saw a few people succumbing to the conditions and I saw P3 on by board and I couldn't believe it. At that time though there were still eight or nine laps to go and I couldn't feel my hands or my feet because it was so wet and cold. It was difficult but it was a good way to the end the weekend for the Team after what happened to Cal. Nobody wants to get hurt, but being injured for your home race is really tough to take, so I wish him a quick recovery and hope to see him back in Assen.”

MotoGP class, race results:
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Repsol Honda Team 47'53.459
2. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda Team + 15.159
3. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 + 21.480
4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Team + 26.984
5. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 35.569
6. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Ducati Team + 1'04.526
7. Karel Abraham (CZE) Cardion AB Motoracing + 1'32.650
8. Toni Elias (SPA) LCR Honda MotoGP + 1'51.938
9. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 1'52.350
10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Pramac Racing Team + 2'03.312
11. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team After 1 laps
12. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Pramac Racing Team After 1 laps
13. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini Not classified (10 laps)
14. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha Factory Racing Not classified (12 laps)
15. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing Not classified (13 laps)

Championship Standings:
1 Casey Stoner (AUS) Repsol Honda Team 116
2 Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha Factory Racing 98
3 Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda Team 79
4 Valentino Rossi (ITA) Ducati Team 68
5 Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 61
6 Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Team 60
7 Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 43
8 Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing 36
9 Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 34
10 Karel Abraham (CZE) Cardion AB Motoracing 33
11 Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 32
12 Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 30
13 Toni Elias (SPA) LCR Honda MotoGP 28
14 Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team 26
15 Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 22
16 Loris Capirossi (ITA) Pramac Racing Team 22
17 Randy De Puniet (FRA) Pramac Racing Team 6

Add your comment

Name: Code:
 
 
Rambler's Top100