HRC Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto got his wish today at the Brno GP.
The Japanese boss fulfilled his dream of an all Honda podium much sooner than he expected, with Casey Stoner taking a dominating win, his sixth of the season and lengthening his lead in the championship over Jorge Lorenzo.
Andrea Dovizioso took his fifth podium of the year and Marco Simoncelli finally made it to the podium after binning his RC121V so many times.
These two Italians are are still unsure of their fates next season and whether Honda will still support them with factory bikes as the Japanese manufacturer is still finalizing its 2012 budget; Dovizioso seems headed to Cecchinello’s LCR Honda team if they can find the funds and Simoncelli on Ducati’s radar, but the lanky Gresini rider would like to stay put where he is now.
“We knew we could make a strong podium challenge today but we didn’t really expect the race win,” reported a satisfied Casey Stoner.
“As soon as the race got underway I was having a good battle with Andrea but this cost me a little time and I was afraid that Jorge and Dani would stretch away from me but when I got past I found I had plenty of speed to catch up and the bike felt great.
I passed Jorge and then Dani sadly crashed out so I pushed to see if I could pull a gap and I was able to do so quite quickly, then from this point it was a matter of managing the race.
I’m very sorry for Dani, he would have been hard to beat today.
After such a hard weekend it’s fantastic to come out with a comfortable win, a big thanks to my team who never give up, they always support me so a huge thanks to them.
Tomorrow we’ll be back on the 1000 for another day of testing, so I hope the weather stays dry for us!”.
Andrea Dovizioso said “I’m really happy to be back on the podium, it’s a good result after a difficult weekend and second position is so important for the Championship.
In the warm up we made some small changes and my feeling improved.
I arrived at the race very determined and I made a very good start from seventh position.
In the first laps I was riding cautiously to save the tyres.
I had good pace and when Dani crashed I tried to stay with Casey but I made a mistake at turn 13 and I almost went off the track.
I lost contact and from that moment Casey built a gap that was impossible to catch.
I’m happy of how I managed the race first with Lorenzo and then with Simoncelli to maintain second position.
In the final five laps I pushed harder, lapping under 1′58 to maintain the margin from Marco.
I didn’t want to fight with him in the last corners.
I want to thank Honda and the team for the good work, despite the fact that we struggled slightly over the weekend, we have demonstrated one more time that in the race we are there and I’m really looking forward to Indy in two weeks time”.
“I am really happy.
I have been very strong this year but it has been tough because we have had some difficult situations to deal with,” said Marco Simoncelli.
“Me and the team have never lost our faith though and finally the result has come so I want to thank all of them, as well as Honda and anybody else who has maintained their belief in me.
On the last lap today I just wanted it to be over and nothing bad to happen and thankfully it all worked out.
I am really delighted.
I didn’t make a great start and had to pass Valentino, who fought back for three corners and I have the tyre marks on my leathers to prove it! It was a nice battle even though it was short.
I tried to attack Dovizioso at the end but he was pushing hard and I decided to settle for the position because I knew Lorenzo was making up ground behind me.
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