HRC Report

Grand Prix of Valencia
Sunday November 4 2007
Weather: Dry and sunny.
Temperature: Air 19 degrees, ground 25.
Crowd: Race day 132,500, weekend 237,149.

PEDROSA WINS TO TAKE SECOND IN TITLE STANDINGS

This was the MotoGP race that Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) wanted to win to sign off his season in style – and take the coveted runner-up spot in the World Championship. He was a cut above the rest today with Casey Stoner (Ducati) was second and John Hopkins (Suzuki) third.

Stoner rocketed into the lead form the lights and had established a three-quarter second lead by the end of the first tour of this 4.005km circuit. The Aussie obliterated the lap record on lap two and it looked as if the new World Champion might run away with this race. But Dani knew otherwise.

On lap three Pedrosa was holding Stoner in check and this lead pair had a 2.3 second advantage over first Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) and then Hopkins when he stole past the former World Champion on lap four. Conditons were perfect for racing under sunny skies with a temperature of 19 degrees and the track at 25.

Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda RC212V) began attacking Hayden for fourth place and the Honda duo swapped places twice on lap four, the lap when Dani decided to run the race at his own increasingly rapid pace. Pedrosa set a fastest lap of 1m 32.748s as he closed on Stoner.

Dani took him on lap six and two laps later the 21-year-old Spanish star had a 0.6 second advantage, another two laps later it was 1.1 seconds and Stoner had no reply. Nor did the rest of the field. And Dani’s rival for second overall in the World Championship, Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), was struggling at the back of the field nursing a hand injury sustained in qualifying yesterday.

Dani, starting from his fourth consecutive pole of the season finally put his late season dominance to full effect and rode lap after lap at blistering pace – annihilating the opposition. He wanted second overall, but perhaps more than that, Dani wanted a Grand Prix win again.

Rossi slowed on lap 18 with machine trouble and then pitted a lap later, his race run. Dani was now riding for both the win and the runner-up slot and he was never going to be stopped. His margin at the finish was a massive 5.5 seconds over Stoner.

Behind them Hopkins had consolidated third while Hayden was slipping down the order having lost fourth place to Melandri on lap 19, fifth spot to Loris Capirossi (Ducati) on lap 26 and then succumbing to Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) who took sixth from him on the penultimate lap.

Dani, who is now the only rider ever to have won here in all three classes from pole while setting fastest race laps too, said: “I’m very happy with this result. I really wanted to win this race very much and so actually achieving it feels fantastic. In the early laps I was struggling a little with grip from the front tyre but then in the second half of the race it was very good. The pace today was really fast and Casey was chasing hard so there was no moment to relax or back off. Towards the end of the race I was sliding in some of the left-handers but I was still able to push hard. Thanks to the team because they worked very hard for me this weekend and all year – and the bike was perfect today.”

Melandri was fourth. He said: “I knew that it a would be a tough race, but today was much harder than in practice. I made a good start to gain five places but I lacked feeling in the front-end and the bike was moving around a lot. I fought with Hayden for fourth and was looking for Hopkins, but it wasn’t possible on this occasion. It’s disappointing because I wanted a podium and I’ve missed out on fourth place in the World Championship by two points to John. I wanted a better result, but thanks to Fausto and the team for all their hard work.”

Hayden, eighth at the flag, after Alex Barros (Ducati) took seventh off him on the last lap, said: “Well, we knew all weekend that we were on the back foot and the race proved it. We made a lot of changes for warm-up this morning and the package felt a bit better, but still we didn’t have the pace we needed for the race. I got a pretty good start but there were a few places on the lap where I was too weak and this made it quite a difficult race for me. It’s been a tough year so now we’ll go back to work. Thanks to the team for all their hard work this year. We’re going to keep working hard so we can do a lot better next year.”

Toni Elias (Gresini Honda RC212V) finished tenth and said: “I made a good start, but I struggled a lot in the first ten laps with a full tank, and was not getting enough grip. Once my pace improved I went after Vermeulen, de Puniet and Capirossi but couldn’t catch them. It’s a shame because I wanted to end the season with a better result. I want to thank the team and Fausto for the two last years. They have been like a family to me and they helped me get my first MotoGP win.”

Carlos Checa (LCR Honda RC212V), 12th in his final MotoGP race, despite riding with a severe stomach complaint said: “I’m a little emotional because I still have a great feeling for this fantastic sport. My aim was just to finish the race as way of saying goodbye to my fans and friends and seven laps from the finish I started to have a lot pain in my stomach. Grand Prix racing has been a great part of my life but now I start a new adventure in Superbikes.”

Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda RC212V) was 14th and said: “Another very difficult race and one which has basically summed up the whole season. My start was so-so, but I found that I could overtake some riders going into turn two. At the beginning my pace wasn’t so bad, but from the middle of the race I found that I couldn’t improve my lap times. I’ve crashed a few times this season because of this, but I’m pleased to be ending the year without any injuries. This is an excellent team but unfortunately the results haven’t been there for us this year.”

Kurtis Roberts (Roberts KR212V) retired on ten.
He said: “The thing just never worked right. We did 1m 34s lap times pretty easily in practice, and a 1m 33s lap to qualify. I was riding just the same in the race and we couldn’t even see 1m 34s. My last lap was a 1m 36s. The engine started missing really bad off the bottom, and got progressively worse from the first lap on. I couldn’t do anything to keep up with them. It got slower and slower.”

Mika Kallio (KTM) won the 250cc race from Alex de Angelis with Alex Debon third (both Aprilia). With Jorge Lorenzo (Aprilia) already crowned World Champion, this was perhaps a race where Kallio established himself as one of the new front men in the class.

Lorenzo got the holeshot and as the order settled down he was followed by Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Honda RS250RW) and Alex de Angelis (Aprilia). But is was soon de Angelis who then made the running by mid-race distance of this 27-lapper with Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) hounding him.

When Bautista crashed out on lap 20, Kallio had entered the fray and he timed his charge to the front to perfection taking the lead on the penultimate lap and holding it resolutely until the flag from de Angelis. And Alex Debon
(Aprilia) denied Dovizioso as the pair fought to the finish for third.

Dovi said: 4th “My position is better than I expected before the race but not what I expected as the race went on even though my race pace was good/ My start was unbelievable and I was with Lorenzo very quickly and just sat behind him waiting but I saw he was not so fast. When De Angelis passed us and went away I realised it was not possible to follow him so I waited for Bautista and Kallio to do the same and tried to stay with them. But coming off the last corner onto the straight they just pulled away from me it is very frustrating to have to race under those conditions. The chassis suspension and tyres were great its just the lack of power that causes the problem for us. I am very unhappy with the way things have gone this season. But now we go to MotoGP where we will have plenty of power but I know this year could have been very different.”

Julian Simon (Repsol Honda RS250RW) finished sixth and said: “Not so bad in the end. My start was not so good – the worst of this year and I apologise to the team for that. But I worked hard after the slow start and pushed really hard and caught the group and was able to stay with them till the end. The bike was good, chassis, engine and suspension, even in T13 where I was having trouble in qualifying. I’ve enjoyed this season and thank my team for everything. Now we get ready for next year and I hope to improve again and get on the podium.”

Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda RS250RW) was eighth. He said: “I made a very bad start and at the first corner I braked too late, so many riders passed me. Then I tried to recover position but from the middle of the race on I maintained a fast pace but wasn’t able to reach the front because of the start error. Anyway I’m satisfied about the progress and I’m optimistic for next season.”

Shuhei Aoyama (Repsol Honda RS250RW) in 17th said: “Very bad race for me – my worst overall performance. Yesterday I had a big crash and hurt my leg and hand. I took painkillers before the start, but not enough of them, and my hand was painful in the race. My start was not too bad and I could follow Julian (Simon) Takahashi san and my brother Hiro but on lap three I ran off track. When I rejoined the race I was almost last. I pushed again but finally I could only make 17th place.”

Hector Faubel won the 125cc race from his team-mate Gabor Talmacsi with the third member of this three-rider Aprilia team, Sergio Gadea, in third. But it was the Hungarian Talmacsi who secured the World title here today.

Talmacsi started from pole but it took him until the second lap to gain control of this race from the front of the field. Faubel, who had to win here with Talmacsi finishing fourth or lower, for the Spaniard to take the title, took a while to get on terms with Talmacsi. But on lap nine of this 24-lap contest, he was ahead of his rival.

But Faubel ran wide at turn one several laps later and lost touch with Talmacsi until the closing laps when the duo swapped places with mesmerizing frequency and then were joined by a three-rider group headed by Gadea in the final two laps.

But Gadea was never going to interfere in the intense fight between Talmacsi and Faubel and although Faubel took the win Talmacsi knew he had done enough to become the first ever Hungarian to win a World Championship in any motorsport discipline.

Esteve Rabat (Repsol Honda RS125R) finished sixth and said: “I got a terrible start and had to push really hard to make up places. I passed many riders but when I got on to the back of the last group I had to follow them. After about mid-race the rear tyre performance dropped off but only slowly and I could stay with them. But when Gadea caught and passed Pablo (Nieto) I could not get passed and lost ground. The only problem I had today was at T11 where the engine was not picking-up, I don't know why but anyway it wasn’t a big problem. Thanks to my team who’ve given me their best every week – we were the best Honda today.”

His team-mate Bradley Smith (Repsol Honda RS125R) was eighth and said: “My start was awesome. I was third at the end of lap one. I just tried to hang in there and had a good pace and it was only down the straight that they could pass me on power. I’ve had two top 10 finishes in the last two races and 10th in the World Championship so I have to be happy with that. Thanks to the team for everything they’ve done for me – it’s been great working with them.”

Honda riders quotes, GP Valencia, race November 4, 2007.

MotoGP.

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1st "I'm very happy with this result. I really wanted to win this race very much and so actually achieving it feels fantastic. The race was very tough and I had to push at the maximum from start to finish. In the early laps I was struggling a little with grip from the front tyre but then in the second half of the race is was very good. The pace today was really fast and Casey was chasing hard so there was no moment to relax or back off. Towards the end of the race I was sliding in some of the left-handers but I was still able to push hard. I must say thanks to the team because they have worked very hard for me this weekend and all year and the bike was perfect today. Also I must thank Michelin too because the tyres were very good today. I didn't know until I arrived in the parc ferme that I had second in the world championship and this was nice surprise. I didn’t expect this because there was only a very, very slim chance of doing this coming into this weekend. After quite a difficult season second place is better than third and gives the Repsol Honda Team some reward for sticking with it and never giving up this year. It will give us even more motivation for winter testing because we must now take another step forward so that we can arrive at the first race of 2008 with the best possible package. I think the crowd has enjoyed this weekend and I'm very proud to have given my fans a great result at my home circuit – it’s a great feeling!"

Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 4th "I knew that it a would be a tough race, but today was much harder than in practice. I made a good start to gain five places but I lacked feeling in the front end and the bike was moving around a lot. I fought with Hayden for fourth and was looking for Hopkins, but it wasn't possible on this occasion. It’s disappointing because I wanted a podium and I've missed out on fourth place in championship by two points to John. I wanted a better result but thanks to Fausto and the team for all their hard work."

Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 8th "Well, we knew all weekend that we were on the back foot and the race proved it. We made a lot of changes for warm-up this morning and the package felt a bit better, but still we didn't have the pace we needed for the race. I got a pretty good start but there were a few places on the lap where I was too weak and this made it quite a difficult race for me. I got past Melandri and held on to fourth for as long as I could but then to lose four places in the last five or six laps was tough to take. Still, the season's in the books and we'll start all over with testing on Tuesday. It's been a tough year so now we'll go back to work. Thanks to the team for all their hard work this year - everybody at Honda, Michelin, my mechanics and everyone who's been behind me this year. We're going to keep working hard so we can do a lot better next year."

Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 10th "I made a good start, but I struggled a lot in the first ten laps with a full tank, and was not getting enough grip. Once my pace improved I went after Vermeulen, De Puniet and Capirossi but couldn't catch them. It’s a shame because I wanted to end the season with a better result. I want to thank the team and Fausto for the two last years. They have been like a family to me and they helped me get my first MotoGP win."

Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 12th ”I’m a little emotional because I still have a great feeling for this fantastic sport, although I have been very sick this weekend. My aim was just to finish the race as a way of saying good-bye to my fans and friends and seven laps from the finish I started to have a lot pain in my stomach. But I enjoyed the battle with group of Tamada, Edwards and briefly Rossi. In the end I was ahead of them but unable to catch Guintoli. I was not aggressive from ninth position at the start, but as the feeling came to me I started to push hard to the finish. Grand prix racing has been a great part of my life but now I start a new adventure in Superbikes.”

Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 14th “Another very difficult race and one which has basically summed up the whole season. My start was so-so, but I found that I could overtake some riders going into turn two. At the beginning my pace wasn’t so bad, but from the middle of the race I found that I couldn’t improve my lap times. It was another big battle from 16th to 12th with riders like Carlos Checa, Colin Edwards and myself. Eventually I finished in 14th place. This year we’ve struggled with front-end feeling from the RC212V, which has been a big problem, as my style needs this. I’ve crashed a few times this season because of this, but I’m pleased to be ending the year without any injuries. I would like to thank Luca and Giulio for always supporting me and keeping me motivated during this difficult year and also the rest of the team. This is an excellent team but unfortunately the results haven’t been there for us this year.”

Kurtis Roberts, KR212V: Technical problem. “The thing just never worked right. We did 1'34 lap times pretty easily in practice, and a 1'33 to qualify. I was riding just the same in the race and we couldn't even see 1'34. My last lap was a 1'36. The engine started missing really bad off the bottom, and got progressively worse from the first lap on. I couldn't do anything to keep up with them. It got slower and slower, which is pretty bad for the slowest thing out there. Honda did a good job on their bikes obviously, but not ours.”

Chuck Aksland - Team Manager, Team Roberts: “That wasn't exactly what we hoped for, but there's nothing you can do when the thing's not running right. It just got worse with each lap. It was very inconsistent, and just got impossible to ride. It's a shame because this morning's warm-up went great, Kurtis has been riding hard and well all weekend, and could have had a good race. Anyway, that's that - we go on to better things, hopefully. We need to thank all the fans who supported us and showed interest in the project this year, and to all our suppliers and technical staff for assisting as they could. And the team: they worked hard and never gave up. I think it is one of the strongest teams in the paddock. Hopefully we can get the programme together to get our results back where they should be”.

250cc:

Andrea Dovizioso, Kopron Scot Honda: 4th “My position is better than I expected before the race but not what I expected as the race went on. My start was unbelievable and I was with Lorenzo very quickly and just sat behind him waiting but I saw he was not so fast. When De Angelis passed us and went away I realised it was not possible to follow him so I waited for Bautista and Kallio to do the same and tried to stay with them. But coming off the last corner onto the straight they just pulled away from me it is very frustrating to have to race under those conditions. The chassis suspension and tyres were great its just the lack of power that causes the problem for us. I am very unhappy with the way things have gone this season. But now we go to MotoGP where we will have plenty of power but I know this year could have been very different.”

Julian Simon, Repsol Honda: 6th.“Not so bad in the end. My start was not so god - the worst of this year and I apologise to the team for that.
But I worked hard after the and pushed really hard and caught the group and was able to stay with them till the end. The bike was good, chassis, engine and suspension, even in T13 where I was having trouble in qualifying. I have enjoyed this season and thank my team for everything. Now we get ready for next year and I hope to improve again and get on the podium.”

Yukio Takahashi, Kopron Scot Honda: 8th.“I made a very bad start and at the first corner I braked too strong, so many riders passed me. Then I tried to recover position but from the middle of the race on I maintained a fast pace but I wasn’t able to reach the front because of the error at the start. Anyway I’m satisfied about the progress I have made and I’m optimist for the next season. From now on I can just grow.”

Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT-SAG: 15th."It was important to be back in top 15, but a mistake at the start and another at the end of race prevented me to secure a better result. Anyway I think I had a good race, I was on the pace and I could fight with Baldolini until the end. It's the end of the season and I'd like to thank the team and our sponsors for their support throughout the year, helping me in my debut. I'm very thankful to them and I hope to keep progressing like this in the future."

Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda: 17th.“Very bad race for me my worst overall performance. Yesterday I had a big crash and hurt my leg and hand – I had took painkillers before the start but not enough and my hand was painful in the race. My start was not too bad and I could follow Julian (Simon) Takahashi san and m brother Hiro but on lap three I ran of the track. When I rejoined the race I was almost last. I pushed again but finally I could only make 17th place.”

Eugene Laverty, LCR Honda: 21st. “It’s been a tough year but I’ve learnt a lot. On the first lap Fabrizio Lai crashed in front me and I ran wide into the gravel but it’s disappointing that we could not find the set-up to go faster. I was having huge slides."


125cc.

Tito Rabat, Repsol Honda: 6th “I got a terrible start and had to push really hard to make up places. I passed many riders but when I got on to the back of the last group I had to follow them. After about mid-race the rear tyre performance dropped off but only slowly and I could stay with them But when Gadea caught and passed Pablo (Nieto) I could not get passed and lost ground. The only problem I had today was at T11 where the engine was not picking-up, I don’t know why but anyway it wasn’t a big problem. I have to thank my team for the way they have helped me develop and given me their best every week – we were the best Honda today.”

Bradley Smith, Repsol Honda: 8th “My start was awesome I was third at the end of lap one! I just tried to hang in there and had a good pace and it was only down the straight that they could pass me on power. After about 10 laps the rear started to slide badly on the left hand corners and I was lost the slipstream of the guys in front. After that they could run high 39 lap times while I could only run low 40s. I have had two top 10 finishes in the last two races and 10th in the championship so I have to be happy with that. I just wish to thank the team for everything they have done for me – its been great working with them.”

Alexis Masbou, FFM Honda: 14th “I had quite a good start but after that I was a little too fast entering the corners, with too much machine angle on the exit to accelerate well, and thatąs why the fast pack were able to move away early in the race. Then Juan Olive passed me, and I was able to catch a good pace again with better cornering lines. The lap times just followed and I was able to catch up. I finished the race on the side of Ranseder with whom we exchanged positions quite a few times. I thought I could pass him in the last straight line before the flag, but we touched in the last few hundred meters and the slipstreaming effect wasnąt enough for me to pass him on the line. Once again, we saw today that finishing in the points is far from easy, but we made it.”

Danny Webb, Molenaar Honda: 21st.“That was a brilliant race I really enjoyed it. I got a good start and was with a good group of about seven and we were chasing the last championship point. I would gain some places and then get re-passed. But after about 17 laps my rear tyre started to slide badly but I had a good lead over the next group so I decided not to take any risks and finish the race.”

Mike Di Meglio, Kopron Scot Honda: 23rd.“Not a good race for me. I crashed in the warm up this morning – the front end closed on me just like yesterday. Two crashes in two days is not so good and I raced with a sore back and right forearm and hand. I just could not concentrate my hand was too painful.”

Joey Litjens, Molenaar Honda: 24th.“Not a good race for me at all! I crashed in practice and hurt my shoulder and that mad braking very difficult for me. I had a lot of pain and it affected my concentration – I made too many silly little mistakes. Pity because my bike was really very good all weekend.”

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