German MotoGP: Pedrosa Wins a Thrilling Battle in Germany
Due to a severe accident, involving Randy De Puniet, the German GP was shortened to 21 laps. Dani Pedrosa, the Rapsol Honda Driver, won the race ahead of the current championships leader, Jorge Lorenzo. Casey Stoner, of Ducati team, came third once again, to complete the podium. However, he was challenged throughout the race by Valentino Rossi, who got a remarkable fourth place finish after coming back from an injury.
On the ninth lap of the race, red flag was shown after the Frenchman, Randy De Puniet of LCR Honda, crashed and brought down Aleix Espargaro, on Pramac Racing, and Alvaro Bautista, on Rizla Suzuki. De Puniet, however, had the worst of the crashes, as he broke his leg and was immediately taken away to medical care.
At that time of the race, the leaders were Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Stoner, Dovizioso and Rossi. They failed to return to pit lane within the five minutes of the red flag, hence were delivered a penalty of starting at the back of the grid.
There was a break of twenty five minutes, after which the race started, however this time it was of 21 laps only. Pedrosa, as always, raced his way in front of the grid, at the start. However, soon he was overtaken by Jorge Lorenzo, and after that, the battle for the first and second places got heated up. The battle for fourth and fifth positions started between Rossi and Dovizioso, and the race got more and more interesting with the passing of time. During the battle for the first place, Dani Pedrosa broke the all-time record of the circuit, overtaking Lorenzo for the lead.
Soon, Rossi got away from Dovizioso, while Nicky Hayden and Marco Simoncelli started battling with him for the fifth and sixth place. Valentino Rossi showed great nerves while battling with the Australian, Casey Stoner, for a third place. This was a great performance by the Italian, who was suffering from pain due to an injury, but showed a lot of concentration throughout the race.
Dani Pedrosa was the first one to the chequered flag with a lead of more than 3 seconds. Jorge Lorenzo, in his FIAT Yamaha bike, came second. Casey Stoner edged past Valentino Rossi to take away the third place. Andrea Dovizioso came fifth, while Simoncelli was sixth.
For Ducati team this race has not been good enough. Although, Casey Stoner is showing consistency, as he is constantly finishing in third place, but there was no improvement in the performance as was expected before the race. In addition, Nicky Hayden, Stoner’s compatriot, finished in seventh place and showed no real commitment.
The best man on the track was Dani Pedrosa, who showed real great performance for his second win of the season. In his post race interview, he told the press that he enjoyed the race more than his other victory at Mugello. This time he really showed that his bike is good enough to challenge the authority of Jorge Lorenzo. However, Andrea Dovizioso, his compatriot, was unable to challenge Valentino Rossi, as he gave up his fourth place to the Italian.
Valentino Rossi had a very good comeback race, as he showed no signs of fatigue and tiredness. He was able to hold off the Dovizioso challenge, for the fourth place. Rossi also challenged Casey Stoner for the third place, until the last lap. However, in the last moment, he lost the place to the Australian, but for Rossi’s camp, it was a good show by the Italian.
The Drivers’ Championships is wide open, once again. Jorge Lorenzo is still at the top with 185 points, but his lead has been shortened by Dani Pedrosa, who is in the second place with 138. Andrea Dovizioso is still in the third place with 102 points; however, Casey Stoner is getting closer to the driver. Valentino Rossi is back in the challenge, but is still far away from the lead. His confidence has been restored, which could prove to be a real threat to other drivers in the future.
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