Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa has delighted his home fans with an emphatic victory at Jerez this afternoon while world champion Casey Stoner made two uncharacteristic mistakes at the beginning and end of the race which saw him finish in 11th.
And if that wasn’t drama enough, Valentino Rossi’s maths very nearly let him down as he crossed the line on the penultimate lap. He looked over at his pit crew and waved as he thought he had secured second but quickly realised he had one lap to go as team-mate Jorge Lorenzo bore down on him.
Britain’s James Toseland finished in sixth after a race-long dice with the Rizla Suzuki pairing of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi, plus Andreas Dovizioso. A last corner melee saw three arrive together, Toseland in the middle, and he managed to keep Dovi behind him across the line.
Nicky Hayden was well in contention for a podium spot until he lost the front with six laps to go. The American saved a crash, holding the front of the bike up on his knee.
Ducati’s Stoner had a nightmare of a race. It began to go wrong with a big slide on the second lap and he ten outbraked himself on the following lap, running into the gravel. He emerged in 11th but stayed there until there was only five laps to go, and did it again in exactly the same place.
Results:
1 25 2 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 45’35.121 157.183
2 20 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 45’38.004 157.017 2.883
3 16 48 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 45’39.460 156.934 4.339
4 13 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 45’45.263 156.602 10.142
5 11 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 46’02.645 155.617 27.524
6 10 52 James TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 46’02.929 155.601 27.808
7 9 21 John HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 46’03.417 155.573 28.296
8 8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA 46’03.570 155.565 28.449
9 7 56 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 46’07.690 155.333 32.569
10 6 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 46’10.212 155.192 35.091
11 5 1 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 46’17.344 154.793 42.223
12 4 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 46’19.619 154.667 44.498
13 3 13 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 46’20.928 154.594 45.807
14 2 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 46’20.992 154.590 45.871
15 1 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team DUCATI 46’44.679 153.285 1’09.558
16 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team DUCATI 46’49.563 153.018 1’14.442