Dani Pedrosa in MotoGPDani Pedrosa in MotoGP, Juli?n Sim?n in the 250cc category, and Esteve Rabat in the 125cc category were on the brink of taking a podium position, but were finally left out of the top positions at Le Mans
The French Grand Prix shall not be remembered by the Repsol riders as one of the best of the 2008 season. In spite of the brilliant performance shown by all of them during the two days of training -especially Dani Pedrosa, with two impeccable days-. In the end the aspiration of making it to the podium or even fighting for the victory was ever more distant this morning. Once again, the weather marked the day: rain during the 125cc race, a wet track during the 250cc race, though it dried out as the laps wore on, and a dry track for the MotoGP race apart from light rain 10 minutes from the end.
In MotoGP, Dani Pedrosa started out as the favourite after showing he was the fastest rider on the French track over these last two days of training, including yesterday afternoon's timed session. Starting from the foremost position on the starting grid, when he reached the first turn he had to concede his position to Stoner, who took command of the race. The fast pace set by the Australian, current World Champion, soon gave way to a pack at the lead of the race, with Stoner, Pedrosa, Edwards and Rossi leaving the rest of the riders behind. It looked like the race was to be decided among these four riders, but there were still many laps to go and many things were yet to happen.
Rossi took command of the race in the eighth lap after overtaking Stoner, who defended himself against the attempts by Pedrosa at overtaking him in order not to lose Rossi's wheel. However, the Australian defended well his second position, and when Pedrosa finally overtook him -lap 11-, Valentino Rossi was already two seconds ahead of the Repsol Honda Team rider. Even so, Pedrosa tried hard to chase the Italian, and though he put a second's distance between himself and Stoner and Edwards, he did not have a single chance of contending for the victory with Rossi. A problem with the performance of the front tyre of Pedrosa's Honda RC212V prevented him from fighting for the victory, or even for a podium position. Ten laps away from the end, the rain started to fall lightly on the Le Mans track, and two laps later Stoner headed to make a pitstop, Lorenzo caught up with and overtook Pedrosa and Edwards, and the latter did the same with the Spaniard. Finally, a victory for Rossi, Lorenzo was second, Edwards was third, and the Repsol Honda Team rider was fourth. In the general classification, Valentino Rossi is now in the lead, followed by Lorenzo and Pedrosa -with the same score-, 3 points behind the Italian.
For Nicky Hayden the French Grand Prix was an event to forget. After completing the three training sessions in quite a low position, the American Repsol Honda Team rider took a few risks yesterday afternoon in order to make room for himself on the second row today, after running the sixth fastest time. But today, Hayden was uncapable of defending his position, in spite of completing his first lap in fourth position. The rider from Kentucky lost positions until he crossed the finish line in eighth position.
In the quater-litre category, Juli?n Sim?n was unable to give a good performance due to mechanical problems which dragged him down to eighth position. The Repsol rider maintained his eighth position after starting off, and was cautious during the first laps due to the rain fallen during the 125cc race, which left the track totally wet. All riders decided to ride with intermediate tyres except Deb?n, Simoncelli and Pasini, who in the end were the riders who took the podium, riding with treadless tyres. As the track dried out, Sim?n increased his pace and climbed positions in the classification, crossing the finish line in sixth position after the third lap, fourth in the fifth, and third in the seventh, after overtaking Pasini, Barber?, Kallio and Aoyama. Little by little, he got closer to Takahashi, and in the tenth lap took second position. Just two laps later, the Japanese rider overtook him again and the Repsol rider started to lose his advantage over the group in chase. Five laps away from the end, this group overtook him in its entirety, without him able to offer any resistance, and finished the race in eighth position. Mika Kallio and Hiroshi Aoyama, riders who receive technical support from Repsol, finished fifth and seventh, respectively.
In the 125cc category, mixed feelings for Esteve Rabat and Marc M?rquez after a positive weekend which ended in a fall for both. Bad luck put an end to Esteve Rabat's hopes in a race where he managed to climb to third position, fighting for the lead. The Repsol rider, after a good start from ninth position, climbed to fourth position in a leading pack comprised of eight riders, confirming the improvements made during the training sessions. However, it started to rain during lap sixteen and the race manager decided to wave the red flag, stop the race, and recontinue the race thirty minutes later, declaring the race in wet conditions. Once the race restarted, Rabat started from seventh position and got off to another good start, taking first position at the end of the straight. The Repsol rider reached the bend too fast, and when he took the second bend he fell when he tried to correct his course. He got up and managed to finish the race, but in seventeenth position, without any points.
For teammate Marc M?rquez, the race finished much sooner, when in the sixth lap he was involved in an accident along with Scott Redding and Tomoyoshi Koyama. In what was his third Grand Prix, the Repsol rider progressed spectacularly, and today, at the start of the race, maintained his position among the first ten riders, leading the chasing pack, but a few laps later, on the fourth bend -a long right-hander hairpin-, he was invloved in a fall with a number of other riders. Fortunately he was unhurt and has the next race in mind, which will be held in a fortnight on the Mugello Circuit in Italy.
MotoGP
Dani Pedrosa >> 4th at 10.157 secs.
?I am sorry because we could have been on the podium but in the race I wasn?t able to go as fast as I had gone during practice. From the beginning of the race I had some issues with the front tyre, I couldn?t brake the way I wanted to brake.
When we chose our race tyres we tried hard to choose the best tyres for the race, so we didn?t expect things to turn out like they did. Then in the second half of the race I started to lack some rear grip. When Lorenzo passed me I tried to go with him and not lose contact but I couldn?t manage it. I gave my maximum and despite the problems we finished fourth, which isn?t so bad. We are second equal in the championship and we will continue to work hard to achieve better results at the next races. We stay here tomorrow for one day of testing when we will try to understand what happened today and make another step forward.?
Nicky Hayden >> 8th at 27.995 secs.
?That wasn?t too pretty. All weekend we?ve been missing something, the pace hasn?t been there. I got a good start and recovered a couple of positions but couldn?t go with the group I needed to go with. I was hanging in there, then I ran off the track in turn six, got in just a little bit hot, didn?t make it and that lost me three positions.
I came back on, had a little dice with Loris over the last few laps but it wasn?t the result we wanted. It was definitely tough conditions, it wasn?t just a few drops of rain it was straight-up raining through some parts of the track. With the tyres being that hot the lap times didn?t suffer too bad, but I was kinda hoping the rain would come down and let us swap bikes and try something different, but it didn?t happen. This has never been an easy track for me, I?d say Le Mans is the worst track for me on the calendar. Tomorrow we?ll work on chassis stuff. I need to try getting some momentum going, especially for the tracks I really love that are coming up. I need to be strong when I get to them, I need to use the people around me to find what I need.?
250cc
Juli?n Sim?n >> 8th at 17.526 secs.
I'm convinced I could have opted for the podium, because I was having a good race. I got off to a good start and kept my calm during the first few laps on a wet track. Bit by bit it dried out and I started to ride faster, though I found the last partial a bit tough.
I was feeling good, but halfway through the race I had a problem with my rear brake. The bike started to lose oil and I was unable to ride, because the footrest was slippery, I couldn't brake properly, and had a few big frights. Even so we finished the race in eighth position, satisfied with the work done over the weekend. We were ahead of our main rivals in all of the training sessions, and during the race we held a good pace. Now we have to concentrate on Mugello.?
125cc
Esteve Rabat >> 17th at 26.411 secs.
?I started off in ninth position in the first race and got off to a good start, reaching fourth place. The truth is that the bike has improved a lot, mainly on the bends, where it is superior to the Aprilias. Near the end of the race I had a brush with Gadea and they escaped ahead a bit, but I felt capable of catching up with them again.
Then it was a shame, because that's when it started raining and the race was stopped. This time I started off in seventh position, from the second row, and did well. I took first position, but made a mistake in the first bend, tried to correct my course in the second, and when I stepped on the gas I fell. In any case, I think this weekend has been very positive, because I've recovered my confidence and know what was happening, unlike last year when I got a good result, and didn't really know how. This time I had to work towards it. I'd like to thank the team for all their work, KTM, for providing me with a competitive bike, and Repsol.?
Marc M?rquez >> suffered a fall
?The truth is it didn't go well today, because I fell. But we have to concentrate on the positive side, which is the fact that we've gradually improved over the weekend. In the race I'd got off to a good start, and after my first lap I was sixth. Later on I kept my distance with regards to the leading pack, and wanted to wait and see if I could bother them.
But then, I don't know if I fell or if someone knocked me over, but I ended up hiiting the ground and was unable to finish the race. During the whole weekend, both the team and I have done a lot of work to try and make the bike as comfortable as possible. Now we're thinking about Italy, which is the next race, and we'll try to improve some more. I'm getting more and more comfortable on the bike and am polishing off my riding, so let's see if I can improve throughout this season, and take a step forward by the end of it.?
Official Results
MotoGP
1. Valentino ROSSI (YAMAHA) 44:30.799
2. Jorge LORENZO (YAMAHA) at 4.997
3. Colin EDWARDS (YAMAHA) at 6.805
4. Dani PEDROSA (REPSOL HONDA) at 10.157
5. Chris VERMEULEN (SUZUKI) at 21.762
8. Nicky HAYDEN (REPSOL HONDA) at 27.995
250cc
1. Alex DEBON (APRILIA) 47:27.406
2. Marco SIMONCELLI (GILERA) at 4.816
3. Mattia PASINI (APRILIA) at 4.998
4. Yuki TAKAHASHI (HONDA) at 5.770
5. Mika KALLIO (KTM) at 6.197
8. Juli?n SIM?N (REPSOL KTM) at 17.526
125cc
1. Mike DI MEGLIO (DERBI) 10:08.574
2. Bradley SMITH (APRILIA) at 0.800
3. Nicol?s TEROL (APRILIA) at 3.077
4. Pol ESPARGAR? (DERBI) at 10.407
5. Andrea IANNONE (APRILIA) at 11.697
17. Esteve RABAT (REPSOL KTM) at 26.411
NC. Marc M?RQUEZ (REPSOL KTM)
