Pedrosa positive, Stoner and Dovizioso unhappy

After the extended break following the race in Jerez, MotoGP returned to Estoril. It was a Honda that led the way in both practice sessions, but it was Marco Simoncelli for San Carlo Honda Gresini Team who was the initial pace setter. Stoner was second fastest in the morning, but missed a lot of track time throughout the day due to bike issues, which then dropped him to fifth in the second session.

Pedrosa was positive after his first day on the bike after his surgery and was consistent with the third quickest laps in both practices. Dovizioso wasn’t happy after finishing sixth in the morning session and then a further six places lower with 12th in the afternoon, after struggling with the feeling of the front end.

Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda
"To be honest I'm not very happy with how the day has gone. We had a few small issues with the bike that took quite a lot of time out of our sessions today. We could have had a much more productive day than we did, as we didn't really find any improvements. We have to wait for tomorrow and hope for some dry weather, because at this moment we're not too happy with the setting of the bike. We need to improve it a little under the braking point and in the middle of the corner, where we seem to be struggling to get the bike to turn, so if there is some good weather tomorrow, we should be able to improve the situation and not be so far off".

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda
"I think the first day of practice has been positive, it's the first race after a major operation, so it's only logical that I feel sore and I understand that with a little more time and treatment this will disappear. The pain I feel are some cramps which are caused by tension I have in the shoulder area. The last round of laps this afternoon, I wanted to extend a little longer to see how I felt, but I made seven laps in a row, which would be about 15 minutes. This is not enough to make a definitive judgement. If it rains tomorrow, it will be important to have a positive practice to get a good position on the grid".

Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda
“Today I had two difficult practice sessions and I can’t be happy. I had no feeling with the front so we made several runs to test the modifications, but the situation in general didn’t improve in the afternoon. I struggled to make lap times. Today was dry and I hope that tomorrow we can continue to work in the same conditions. According to the weather forecast, it should rain and this would complicate the situation”.

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Pedrosa powers to first victory of the season in Estoril

Pedrosa who only recently had surgery on his injured shoulder, had been seemingly pacing himself behind the leader, Lorenzo, until the final three laps, when the Repsol Honda rider, passed the Yamaha down the straight and then delivered a succession of fastest laps to pass the chequered flag first. Pedrosa finished just over three seconds ahead of the reigning MotoGP World Champion and closed the gap on Lorenzo’s lead in the standings to just four points. Pedrosa’s triumph also prevented the pole sitter clinching four successive victories at the Estoril circuit.

 

Stoner had a lonely race in third and was over seven seconds behind his team mate who won the race. The former MotoGP World Champion has never won at Estoril (one of only five circuits the Australian has failed to clinch victory at). The eyes were all on the battle behind the Australian between Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) and Andrea Dovizioso. The Repsol Honda rider stayed close to Rossi throughout the race and managed to snatch the fourth place on the very last lap as they crossed the start finish line, by a mere 0.025s. The nine time World Champion’ previous lowest result here in Estoril had been a fourth place from 11 starts, before the pass from his fellow compatriot over the line.

 

It was a good day for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team. Colin Edwards arrived home in sixth position, two ahead of Cal Crutchlow. The British rookie had been involved in a tussle with Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini), but the Japanese rider got the better of the former World Supersport champion. Crutchlow was one of many riders racing following an operation and has continued to pick up points in his first season in the premier class.

 

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) was ninth, after racing with Ben Spies early on and the final place in the top ten went to Frenchman Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) who was recovering after an operation on his leg. Toni Elías (LCR Honda) who won here in 2006, was 11th after fighting with Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing) and edging out the most experienced rider in the field, come the end of the race.

 

In the first race of the season for Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki), after missing the opening two rounds, the Spaniard battled through the pain barrier to record 13th place and claim three points, just six weeks after breaking his leg.

 

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) who started from the first row, which was only his second front row start in the premier class, suffered his second accident of the Portuguese weekend on the first lap. The Italian who c crashed whilst in contention for pole position during qualifying, came off at the beginning of the race whilst in third.

 

Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) struggled on his second visit to Estoril after several excursions off the track and dropping down to tenth. The American then crashed and was unable to restart the bike.

 

Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar Team) had scored points in 19 of the past 20 races since he began his MotoGP career, but this race wasn’t to be for the Spaniard after crashing out on the opening lap with a nasty looking highside. Karel Abraham (Cardion ab Motoracing) who qualified ahead of the factory Ducati of Hayden in just his third GP start, had his first non-finish of his debut MotoGP campaign after an early off brought his race to a halt.

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Pedrosa eager to get back to action in Portugal

Dani Pedrosa had a routine medical check on Monday to assess the status of his recovering left arm, following surgery a fortnight ago. The Repsol Honda rider – who fractured his left collarbone last October in Japan – had the titanium plate and screws fixed to the bone in the aftermath of the injury removed following the Jerez round at the start of the month, after he had begun to experience a compression of his left subclavian artery.

Writing in his blog on Monday following a check-up, Pedrosa discussed the recovery process following his surgery at the start of April. “The truth is that it went well and in the days that have followed I’ve adjusted my routine to the recommendations made by the medical team, so that the recovery goes as well as it possibly can. Today (Monday) I had a routine medical check and it seems that things are going well, although we have to be cautious until I get back on the bike in Portugal.”

The Repsol Honda rider is now keen to get back on his RC212V and test out his fitness, although he will have to wait until the opening day’s practice at the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal on April 29th.

“I’m eager and motivated to return to competition to test the feeling I have on the bike, and to see if I can forget about these problems as soon as possible,” he continued. “The past few days I have been relaxing at home, getting in the rest recommended by the doctors. Even though a break in the calendar has coincided with the recuperation I have a lot of motivation to return to competitive fitness, working with the team and above all getting on the bike.”

Despite his discomfort when riding Pedrosa has started the season well, finishing third in the season opener in Qatar and second at Jerez.

“Looking at what has happened so far we arrive in Portugal with 36 points and nine behind the leader, and that’s taking into consideration the fact I was injured. The truth is that we have a very positive balance with which to face the Championship, which has only just begun,” concluded Pedrosa.

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