It’s going to be hard making today’s Estoril GP sound exciting, because only three things made it worth watching.
Marco Simoncelli highsiding on the first lap on a cold rear tire when he was expected to be on the podium, a suffering Dani Pedrosa who overtook Jorge Lorenzo for the lead with four laps to go and sped away to the chequered flag and Andrea Dovizioso who beat Valentino Rossi for fourth place over the finish line by a mere 0.
025s.
Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa completely dominated the race from start to finish, with Pedrosa never letting the Yamaha rider out of his sights and more or less matching lap times until the 22nd lap when the Pedrosa decided it was time to break the monotony and on the first turn overtook an almost suprised Lorenzo.
Seemingly unsettled by Pedrosa’s pass, Lorenzo immediately tried to retaliate but made a small mistake and lost 4 tenths of second and contact with the Repsol Honda rider.
The 23rd lap saw Lorenzo lose another 3 tenths and Pedrosa laying down the best lap of the race and then speeding to victory.
Casey Stoner took the third spot on the podium, but he immediately lost contact with the front runners on the first lap when Simoncelli crashed out in front him and couldn’t make up the gap despite running excellent lap times.
Fourth went to a very distant Andrea Dovizioso, who tailed Valentino Rossi for the entire race and in the last lap with the finish line almost in sight, Rossi made a small mistake at the chicane and let Dovizioso come up close and rush across the straight and pip him for the spot.
Colin Edwards was sixth just has he predicted before the weekend and very good Hiroshi Aoyama was seventh.
Eighth went to the other Yamaha Tech3 rider Cal Crutchlow followed by Nicky Hayden who had moment at turn 3 with Ben Spies, while Randy de Puniet closed out the top ten.
Only 13 riders managed to finish the race, besides Simoncelli’s crash, Hector Barbera also crashed out on the first lap due to a cold tire and seeing him lying still in the gravel pit while the marshal picked up his bike instead of helping him should certainly cause some noise.
Karel Abraham was also another rider who crashed out on the first lap.
Ben Spies also DNF’d with some sort of technical problem on his front brake.
MotoGP Estoril Race Results:01- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – 28 laps in 45’51.
48302- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 3.
05103- Casey Stoner – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 7.
65804- Andrea Dovizioso – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 16.
53005- Valentino Rossi – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 16.
55506- Colin Edwards – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 32.
57507- Hiroshi Aoyama – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 38.
74908- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 40.
91209- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 54.
88710- Randy De Puniet – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 59.
69711- Toni Elias – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 1’00.
37412- Loris Capirossi – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1’01.
79313- Alvaro Bautista – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 1’24.
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