EDWARDS TAKES WELL FOUGHT FOURTH AT SACHSENRING
Fiat
Yamaha Team rider Colin Edwards rode a strong race in sweltering
conditions today to take a best-ever Sachsenring finish of fourth,
after starting from thirteenth on the grid for the German Grand Prix.
Team-mate Valentino Rossi had a disappointing day as he slid out of the
race early on when challenging for sixth position, in a race which was
led from start to finish by Dani Pedrosa.
In
front of 101,083 fans and with temperatures touching 33 degrees,
today's thirty-lap race looked like being a test of endurance - both
for riders and tyres. Rossi started from sixth but dropped to eighth at
the start, taking two laps to pass Alex Barros before finding himself
in seventh behind Randy de Puniet on lap three. He soon made his move
on the Frenchman and looked to be safely through but a small mistake
proved costly and sent him tumbling into the gravel trap.
Edwards
meanwhile was making steady progress through the pack as he gained more
and more confidence in his M1 and his Michelin tyres. On lap 24 he
suddenly found himself within striking distance of Marco Melandri and
Casey Stoner, passing them both on the next lap to take fourth. With a
podium in his sights he set about trying to close the gap on Nicky
Hayden but was not quite able to catch his fellow American, eventually
crossing the line just under two tenths adrift. Rossi remains second in
the championship but the gap to Stoner grows to 32 points, whilst
Edwards consolidates seventh after taking 13 points today.
COLIN EDWARDS
"The
beginning of that race was pretty tough, I almost crashed out a few
times and it felt like I almost had too much grip on the rear! As time
went on though I started to feel better and better and when Hayden
passed me back again it made me pretty determined to keep pushing.
Suddenly I looked up and there were three of them in front of me and at
that stage I felt like the podium was a possibility. Getting past
Stoner and Melandri was fine but I couldn't quite get back to Hayden
which was a pity. A podium would have been nice but, after yesterday's
qualifying, I'm pretty happy with fourth; it's my best ever finish here
by miles. It was an exhausting race and you don't realise till you
cross the finish line how much strain thirty laps around here puts on
the left side of your body - my shoulder's pretty sore now! I want to
say a big thank you to Michelin, my team and Yamaha because they've had
to work really hard this weekend to find a way to make things come
together and they did a great job. We knew this morning that we'd found
a good package and to finish fourth after starting thirteenth is great.
We're heading for Laguna on a high!"
VALENTINO ROSSI
"Unfortunately
I made a mistake today and I want to say sorry to everyone - my team,
Yamaha and of course all my fans. I lost some places at the start and
had to wait a lap before I could start to push, but everything was
feeling very good. Getting past de Puniet was hard because in the part
of the track where it's best to overtake he was very fast. Finally I
made my move and I made a great pass but I made a mistake and lost the
front. I'm so disappointed because today our package was working very
well and we missed the chance to make up a lot of points on Stoner. We
know from Pedrosa and Colin's performance that the Michelin tyres
worked well until the end and I'm sad that we weren't there to fight.
Luckily Stoner was only fifth so the points situation is not as bad as
it could have been. I'm very glad we only have seven days until the
next race because right now I'm feeling quite bad, but very determined
for America!"
DAVIDE BRIVIO
"Congratulations
to Colin, it's a great result for him and it gives him and his team a
lot of encouragement and confidence for his home race in Laguna Seca.
Michelin did a good job this weekend and our tyres worked very well
until the end. On the other side, it's a great disappointment with
Valentino because we lost the chance to recover some points. However
this is racing and we know that our package is working very well now
and we will get the chance to try again in just one week's time. Today
gives us double motivation for Laguna."
RESULTS
| |
1. |
Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team |
41'53.196
|
|
 |
| |
2. |
Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team |
+ 13.166
|
|
|
| |
3. |
Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team |
+ 16.708
|
|
|
| |
4. |
Colin Edwards (USA) Fiat Yamaha Team |
+ 18.299
|
|
|
| |
5. |
Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team |
+ 31.426
|
|
|
| |
6. |
Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini |
+ 31.917
|
|
|
| |
7. |
John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP |
+ 33.395
|
|
|
| |
8. |
Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki |
+ 41.194
|
|
|
| |
9. |
Alex Hofmann (GER) Pramac d'Antin |
+ 43.214
|
|
|
| |
10. |
M Fabrizio (ITA) Honda Gresini |
+ 44.459
|
|
|
| |
11. |
Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP |
+ 1'01.894
|
|
|
| |
12. |
Kurtis Roberts (USA) Team Roberts |
+ 1'10.721
|
|
|
| |
13. |
Makoto Tamada (JPN) Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 |
2 Lap
|
|
|
| |
14. |
Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda LCR |
3 Lap
|
|
|
| |
|
NOT CLASSIFIED |
|
|
|
| |
 |
Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team |
1 Lap
|
|
|
| |
|
Shinya Nakano (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda |
11 Lap
|
|
|
| |
|
Alex Barros (BRA) Pramac d'Antin |
21 Lap
|
|
|
| |
|
Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team |
25 Lap
|
|
|
| |
|
Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 |
27 Lap
|
|
|
