Repsol Honda duo shine at Le Mans, Pedrosa gets a DNF and fracture - MotoGP News
The Monster Grand Prix de France was a celebration for the Repsol Honda riders except Dani Pedrosa, who got his collarbone fractured after an accident with Marco Simoncelli.
Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso were first and second respectively, on the podium of the French GP. The crash between third team-mate, Dani Pedrosa of Repsol Honda and Marco Simoncelli of San Carlo Honda Gresini rider was the turning point of the event.
The Australian secured his first ever pole position at Le Mans and raced in fine fashion to claim his maiden victory at the French venue in any class. Early in the race, Dani Pedrosa took the lead but after a fight in some laps, Stoner was able to toggle back into the lead.
Stoner, the Repsol Honda rider said, “The whole weekend has gone so well for us, arriving here from the Portugal test with the bike almost the same and we have improved small things here and there and only needed to adjust the set up for this circuit.”
Italian rider, Andrea Dovizioso started the race from third place at the grid, which was his best qualifying result of the season. He continued his good form throughout the event, where for most of the race he was dealing with Lorenzo and Rossi, fighting for the fourth place. After the fall of Dani Pedrosa and a penalty for Simoncelli, the fight was shifted for a second place on the podium.
Repsol Honda rider, Andrea Dovizioso said, “I’m really happy with the second position today, it’s so important for the championship and it arrives after a start of the season, where we didn’t get the results we expected. We did a very good job from the beginning of the weekend and I knew I could fight for the podium, but I didn’t expect second place.”
Dovizioso feels he had a great battle with his compatriot and beating Rossi was one of his best moments in the race.
The unfortunate Spaniard was leading the race in the initial laps, soon after which Stoner took the lead and Pedrosa chased his team-mate on the tail. After half of the race, the two riders maintained their positions until Marco Simoncelli overtook the Spanish rider and had an accident with Pedrosa. The unfortunate incident gave Pedrosa a broken collarbone and his first ‘Did Not Finish’ of the season.
Tags: