Pedrosa dominates for home win

From the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Two months ago, Dani Pedrosa couldn’t ride a motorcycle due to a broken hand suffered in a late January testing crash. Now he sits atop the MotoGP World Championship standings after a dominant victory Sunay in his home Grand Prix of Spain at the Jerez circuit.

Pedrosa pulled away from his second starting spot and led all 27 laps for his first victory of the season on the Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin. The victory vaulted him the top of the standings with 41 points, as he finished third in the season-opening Grand Prix of Qatar on March 9.

“This is my first MotoGP win at Jerez, and I’m very happy about today’s performance because it comes after a difficult winter during which we couldn’t test so much after I crashed and broke my right hand in January,” Pedrosa said. “To score good results in two complicated races and lead the championship is very important.”

Five-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi finished second on his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, 2.883 seconds behind Pedrosa. Rossi is winless in his last six starts, the longest drought of his MotoGP career, which started in 2000. But he could take solace in becoming the first MotoGP rider to record 100 career podium finishes.

The charismatic Rossi nearly blew his finishing position when he slowed and started to gesticulate toward his crew when crossing the start-finish line with one lap remaining. He quickly realized the race wasn’t over and twisted the throttle hard for the final lap.

Rookie Jorge Lorenzo, who won his second consecutive pole, finished third on his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Michelin. Lorenzo climbed to second in the points with 36, just five points behind bitter rival and fellow Spaniard Pedrosa.

2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden led the American contingent with a fourth-place finish on his Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin after starting in the same position. John Hopkins climbed from the ninth starting position to finish seventh on his Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki/Bridgestone.

Colin Edwards placed 17th after crashing his Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Michelin on lap 5 and retiring one lap later. Edwards qualified third, his second consecutive front-row start, and was running sixth when he crashed.

Defending World Champion Casey Stoner endured a miserable weekend after winning the season opener in Qatar. Stoner qualified seventh on his Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati/Bridgestone and dropped to an 11th-place finish in the race after running into the gravel twice. It was the worst finish of his 20 career starts with Ducati, which he joined last season.

The next race is the Grand Prix of Portugal on April 13 at Estoril.

Results
1. Dani Pedrosa Spain Honda/Michelin
2. Valentino Rossi Italy Yamaha/Bridgestone +2.883 seconds
3. Jorge Lorenzo Spain Yamaha/Michelin +4.339
4. Nicky Hayden United States Honda/Michelin +10.142
5. Loris Capirossi Italy Suzuki/Bridgestone +27.524
6. James Toseland Great Britain Yamaha/Michelin +27.808
7. John Hopkins United States Kawasaki/Bridgestone +28.296
8. Andrea Dovizioso Italy Honda/Michelin +28.449
9. Shinya Nakano Japan Honda/Bridgestone +32.569
10. Chris Vermeulen Australia Suzuki/Bridgestone +35.091
11. Casey Stoner Australia Ducati/Bridgestone +42.223
12. Marco Melandri Italy Ducati/Bridgestone +44.498
13. Anthony West Australia Kawasaki/Bridgestone +45.807
14. Alex De Angelis San Marino Honda/Bridgestone +45.871
15. Toni Elias Spain Ducati/Bridgestone +1:09.558
16. Sylvain Guintoli France Ducati/Bridgestone +1:14.442
17. Colin Edwards United States Yamaha/Michelin +22 laps
18. Randy De Puniet France Honda/Michelin +25 laps
Fastest lap: Pedrosa, 1:40.116, lap 3
Pole lap: Lorenzo, 1:38.189

Points
1, Pedrosa 41, 2. Lorenzo 36, 3. Rossi 31, 4. Stoner 30, 5. Dovizioso 21, 6. Toseland 20, 7. Hayden 19, 8. Capirossi 19, 9. Hopkins 13, 10. Nakano 10, 11. Edwards 9, 12. Melandri 9, 13. De Puniet 7, 14. Vermeulen 6, 15. West 3, 15. Elias 3, 17. De Angelis 2, 18. Guintoli 1