Pedrosa Scores his First in Estoril

Story and photos by Vicki Schouten

A very relieved Dani Pedrosa took the checkered flag at the third round of the MotoGP in Estoril this weekend. Starting on the front row in third position, the Repsol Honda Rider was battling an injured shoulder on which he recently had surgery. "It looks like the surgery was successful," proclaimed an enthusiastic Pedrosa following his win, "I am so happy because it was a big relief." Pedrosa got in behind fellow Spanish rider and defending champion Jorge Lorenzo off the start of the race and paced the Factory Yamaha rider until the final three laps, when he drafted past Lorenzo on the front straight to take the lead. Once in front, Pedrosa checked out on Lorenzo and crossed the finish line three seconds ahead of the Yamaha rider.

Despite leading all but the final three laps of the race, second place finisher Jorge Lorenzo was concerned that his Factory Yamaha was not working as well as in the last two years, "We need to improve the bike," explained Lorenzo, who will be on hand for a MotoGP test at the Estoril circuit on Monday. The popular Spaniard has won at the Estoril circuit the past three years in MotoGP.

Trailing in third was Pedrosa's teammate, Casey Stoner, who ran a lonely race. Frustrated by a poor start where he claims San Carlo Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli cut him off going into turn one, followed by a pinched nerve that caused pain in his back, Stoner was not able to bridge the gap to the two front runners and raced by himself to a third place finish, over seven seconds behind Pedrosa.

While the battle for first was between two Spaniards, it was the Italians who duked it out for fourth place. Team Ducati's Valentino Rossi led most of the race ahead of Repsol Honda's Andrea Dovizioso, but with four laps remaining Dovizioso was all over Rossi and quickly closing the gap. The race came down to the wire where Doviziosi drafted past Rossi at the checkered flag to claim fourth, with Rossi fifth. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards put in a respectable ride to finish sixth.

Marco Simoncelli, who had led the free practice sessions all weekend, and who started from the front row, crashed out of the race in turn four of the first lap.

Final Results after 28 Laps:

1. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda

2. Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing

3. Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda

4. Andrea Doviziosio, Repsol Honda

5. Valentino Rossi, Ducati Team

6. Colin Edwards, Monster Energy Tech 3 Yamaha

7. Hiroshi Aoyama, San Carlo Honda Gresini

8. Cal Crutchlow, Monster Energy Tech 3 Yamaha

9. Nicky Hayden, Ducati Team

10. Randy de Puniet, Pramac Racing Team

11. Tony Elias, LCR Honda

12. Loris Capirossi, Pramac Racing Team

13. Alvaro Bautista, Rizla Suzuki

DNF:

Ben Spies, Monster Energy Tech 3 Yamaha

Karel Abraham, Cardion AB

Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Gresini Honda

Hector Barbera, Mapfre Aspar