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Italian hero Valentino Rossi was hopeful of
a return to the podium and he made a good
start, keeping his fourth position and
holding on to the leaders over the first few
laps. He closed down and passed Casey Stoner
on lap eleven and despite coming under
pressure from fellow countryman Andrea
Dovizioso but he was able to hold him off to
come home just over a second behind his
team-mate. |
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The Fiat Yamaha Team gained
their first double podium since Laguna Seca
when Jorge Lorenzo finished second and Valentino
Rossi third behind Dani Pedrosa at Misano on Sunday
afternoon. The day was overshadowed however by the
tragic news that Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa had
passed away following an accident in the Moto2 race.
Lorenzo lost one place at the start and dropped to
third but before the first lap was over he had got
back past Casey Stoner to retake second position.
Despite pushing hard in the early stages, it was
soon clear that the championship leader was not able
to run the same pace as Pedrosa today and he was
forced to settle for an uneventful ride to second,
importantly taking another 20 points for his title
challenge and continuing his flawless record of a
podium in every race this season.
Italian hero
Rossi was hopeful of a return to the podium and he made
a good start, keeping his fourth position and holding on
to the leaders over the first few laps. He gradually
began to close down Casey Stoner and made the pass stick
on his second try, on lap eleven of 28. In the latter
part of the race he came under pressure from fellow
countryman Andrea Dovizioso but he was able to hold him
off, putting in his fastest lap of the race three laps
from the end and coming home just over a second behind
his team-mate.
Lorenzo leads
the championship by 63 points after today's race and
Rossi has moved to fourth in the standings; on identical
points to Stoner but ahead on race wins. The next round
comes at the new track of Motorland Aragon in two week's
time.
Jorge Lorenzo
"I don't have many words for the race on such a sad say.
I made a good start but I couldn't keep close to Pedrosa.
Second is good, we weren't fast enough but for the
championship it's another very important result and that
is our target. The podium is our goal in all races,
although we hope we can still improve our M1 a bit more.
As for Shoya, it's a huge pity because he was a good guy
and a strong rider. I am so sad and I just want to say
how sorry I am for his family and his friends. When this
happens nothing else matters."
Valentino Rossi
"This was a great result for us, more than just for the
podium but for the way that the result arrived. I was
very fast at the end of the race and this shows how much
we're improving because I was able to keep pushing right
to the end. I think we did a good job this weekend. But
when something so sad like this happens everything else
goes to zero and the result doesn't matter. I'm so sorry
for Shoya because he was a strong rider but above all he
was very ‘sympatico.' He was very funny, always smiling
and he always had nice things to say to everyone. He was
also very young with a great career ahead of him so we
are all very sad."
Wilco Zeelenberg -
Team Manager, Lorenzo
"Today was frustrating for Jorge because he is a winner
but he knows he can't afford to take risks, thinking
about the championship. Pedrosa was very strong and we
couldn't catch him, so we will be working hard to try to
find a way to get back to fighting with him at the next
race. As usual Jorge kept his head and rode a sensible
race to get as many points as he could and we are still
on target for our goal. We would like to say how sorry
we are about Tomizawa, he was clearly a huge talent who
was destined to be here in MotoGP one day. This is the
nature of our sport but today has reminded us all what
can happen."
Davide Brivio -
Team Manager, Rossi
"It's a very sad day for our sport, our thoughts go out
to Tomi and to his friends, his family and his team. He
was a very good guy. The race was very positive because
Valentino was able to increase the pace and he was very
fast and very consistent at the end of the race. The
bike was working well, we did a good job and Valentino
was happy which gives us good confidence for the next
races. His pace was very close to the top and his
physical condition seems to have improved. We're looking
forward to him being back to his very best. This was an
important step for the bike and for the rider on our way
to being back in contention for victories."
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