Pedrosa Wins in Catalunya to Send Fans Home Happy
A breakaway plan from Dani Pedrosa worked to perfection in the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya, as he took the holeshot at his home race and never looked back.
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 A breakaway plan from Dani Pedrosa worked to perfection in the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya, as he took the holeshot at his home race and never looked back. The win ended a long premier class run without a local winner in Barcelona, stretching back to 1999 and a popular triumph for Alex Criville. Keen to avoid a battle between himself and predicted podium finishers Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi, the Repsol Honda rider burst out of the blocks and set about putting space between himself and the rest of the field. A new circuit record was made by Pedrosa by the second lap, and he kept the pace up throughout the 25 lap race. A fourth consecutive win proved a wish too far for Fiat Yamaha star Rossi, who nonetheless fulfilled expectations by fighting his way up from ninth on the grid. A penultimate lap slipstream of Stoner gave him second place, a sixth consecutive podium and, most importantly, the advantage necessary to maintain the lead in the MotoGP World Championship. Andrea Dovizioso was spot on in his Saturday prediction, having noted that all three of last year´s rostrum finishers would repeat their form in 2008. What the JiR Team Scot rider was not so sure about was his own form, but a fourth place -equalling his previous best MotoGP finish from Qatar- was a remarkable performance for the highest placing satellite rider. As in qualifying, the Tech 3 Yamaha pairing of Colin Edwards and James Toseland took fifth and sixth place, respectively, with the latter holding off Rizla Suzuki´s Chris Vermeulen. In a sprint to the line. Nicky Hayden, Shinya Nakano and John Hopkins completed the first ten past the chequered flag. The race was littered with retirements at the midway point, with Alex de Angelis, Loris Capirossi and Randy de Puniet all crashing out in quick succession. Toni Elias had just a few laps earlier been shown the black flag for not obeying an order for a ride-through penalty. Dani Pedrosa – Race Winner "I don’t know where the pace came from. It was a fantastic race, amazing to win. I won in 125cc and 250cc here, so now to win in MotoGP is great. The other two were pushing hard. I went to a different setting than yesterday, and it worked." 250cc Marco Simoncelli cut the lead in the 250cc World Championship to just three points with his second consecutive race victory, which came after a thrilling last lap battle with Alvaro Bautista. Whilst there may have been controversy surrounding his Mugello maiden win, the Metis Gilera rider´s latest triumph was inarguably a clean one. Bautista had just to hold Simoncelli off on the 23rd and final lap, but found himself experiencing yet more bad luck as the in-form Italian pressured him into running wide. Attempting to make up ground, Mapfre Aspar rider Bautista could not close Simoncelli down on the final corners, and had to settle for second place in a race that by all accounts should have been his. The previous man to lose out to Simoncelli, Hector Barbera completed the podium places at his home race. The Team Toth Aprilia rider had been fighting early on with the leading duo, but could not avoid a breakaway and had simply to keep his cool and round off the rostrum. Alex Debon came in fourth, continuing his assault on the title, whilst Thomas Luthi and Mattia Pasini also featured in the top six. Hiroshi Aoyama was the highest placing KTM rider in seventh, with teammate and World Championship leader Mika Kallio forced into retirement with a mechanical failure for the first time this season. Hector Faubel, Julian Simon and Lukas Pesek were the final threesome in the top ten. 125cc A Mike di Meglio victory and crashes for two home favourites spoiled the expected Spanish 125cc fiesta in Catalunya, as Ajo Motorsport´s French star held his nerve for a second win of 2008 and the leadership of the World Championship. Di Meglio started from second on the grid, and was the only rider to stick with the local stars in the early stages. His toughest challenge for victory came from Nico Terol, but when the Spaniard crashed on the penultimate lap -shortly after a fall from fellow countryman Joan Olive- the new series leader could breathe a little easier before passing the chequered flag. In second place with the best result of his career to date, poleman Pol Espargaro was under two-tenths of a second behind Di Meglio, holding off World Champion Gabor Talmacsi and taking his second consecutive podium. The Belson Derbi rider made a late push after stalking the leaders, avoiding a Talmacsi slipstream on the final straight. Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing´s Stefan Bradl showed his experience of the Catalunya Circuit with fourth place, having learned the intricacies of the track through his time racing in Spain, whilst previous World Championship leader Simone Corsi had a respectable fifth place finish that allowed him to pick up more valuable points. Scott Redding, Stevie Bonsey and Sandro Cortese also featured in the top ten, ahead of Sergio Gadea in ninth. The Mafre Aspar rider had to come back through the field after being forced wide by Nico Terol on lap eight. Marc Marquez completed the top ten with the best result of his rookie season, onboard the Repsol KTM. MotoGP - Catalunya - Race Result Pos - Rider - Team - Time 1 - Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 43.02.175 2 - Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha - 43.04.981 3 - Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro Team - 43.05.518 4 - Andrea Dovizioso - JIR Honda Scot - 43.13.068 5 - Colin Edwards - Yamaha Tech3 - 43.18.601 6 - James Toseland - Yamaha Tech3 - 43.23.657 7 - Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 43.23.723 8 - Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda - 43.24.455 9 - Shinya Nakano - Honda San Carlo - 43.24.550 10 - John Hopkins - Team Kawasaki - 43.49.100 11 - Marco Melandri - Ducati Marlboro Team - 44.00.166 12 - Anthony West - Team Kawasaki - 44.01.343 13 - Sylvain Guintoli  - Alice Ducati - 44.02.954 Not Classified - Randy De Puniet - Honda LCR - Alex De Angelis - Honda San Carlo - Loris Capirossi - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - Toni Elias - Alice Ducati Championship Points 1 - Valentino Rossi - 142 2 - Dani Pedrosa - 135 3 - Jorge Lorenzo - 94 4 - Casey Stoner - 92 5 - Colin Edwards - 69 6 - Andrea Dovizioso - 57 7 - James Toseland - 53 8 - Loris Capirossi - 51 9 - Nicky Hayden - 48 10 - Shinya Nakano - 42 11 - Chris Vermeulen - 40 12 - John Hopkins - 32 13 - Marco Melandri - 29 14 - Alex De Angelis - 24 15 - Toni Elias - 24 16 - Randy De Puniet - 18 17 - Sylvain Guintoli  - 15 18 - Anthony West - 10 19 - Tadayuki Okada - 2
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