Pedrosa wins German GP battle

From motogp.com

Dani Pedrosa emerged victorious from a three-way race long battle for first in Sunday's MotoGP World Championship event at the Sachsenring, with Jorge Lorenzo stealing second from Casey Stoner on the last corner.

Repsol Honda's Pedrosa had his usual great start, taking the holeshot ahead of Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) and Stoner (Repsol Honda) at the start of the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland MotoGP race in what was to be a 30-lap fight to the finish. The Spaniard's win is his fifth Grand Prix victory at the Sachsenring circuit and only his second race after returning from surgery for his broken collarbone.

"It's an incredible feeling to be back and win a race so early," Pedrosa admitted. "I didn't expect it, but this circuit has been always very good for me and I made it happen. I was already surprised yesterday with second position in qualifying and to finish the weekend in this way is amazing, a huge relief for me after a very hard time with injuries.

"Here I suffered less than in Mugello because of the layout, but in the race today I had a strange feeling, something I've never had before. At the beginning of the race I wasn't feeling great on the bike, I was fourth but I didn't get nervous or worried because I'm still not mathematically out of the Championship battle, but I know it's almost impossible. So, I just let the laps pass and in the middle of the race, with less fuel in the tank and when the tires started sliding, I decided to step it up a little and it worked perfectly."

At the end of lap one, Lorenzo was in the lead ahead of the three Repsol Hondas of Pedrosa, Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso, who fought amongst each other for second until the Australian made his attack on lap 5 to take the lead, only to have Lorenzo regain the lead status a few laps later. The Mallorcan then tried desperately to defend his line, until lap 21 when Pedrosa got a huge drive out of the last corner to launch himself into the lead for the last time.

"It has been a fantastic race today," Lorenzo said. "From the middle of the race I got very tired in my left hand so I didn't know where I could find the strength to push and keep pushing to the end. Then Casey stopped the bike a lot two corners from the end so I took advantage of it, opened the throttle full stand in the last corner I went for it. It was a miracle pass."

"We knew today would be a hard race," Stoner conceded. "We found a good set up yesterday in qualifying but we had an issue with the rear tire and the temperatures getting too high, with it spinning too much.

"We took it easy in the early part of the race and thought we'd try to preserve the tire and warm it up slower than we did in Mugello. After a few laps I decided to make a move to the front to see what we could do and we were able to pull a small advantage, but too small compared to the effort we were putting in so I backed off on my pace a little and tried to stay as smooth as possible and see what happens. They came past me and Dani was riding so strong and was able to get past Jorge before I got there, he built a small advantage and by the time I got past Jorge and I struggled to chase him down.

"I made a few small mistakes and that left just Jorge and I for the last few laps. I tried everything I could, riding the cleanest lap possible and trying to block my line, but Jorge came up on the dirty part of the track and I thought it would be too high a risk but he made it stick and I have to settle for third place. I'm still leading the Championship and I'm thankful for the points here today."

Meanwhile a three-man battle for fourth ensued behind the leaders between Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), Dovizioso and Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing), out of which Italian Dovizioso crossed the line first, two tenths of a second in front of American rider Spies and four tenths ahead of fellow countryman Simoncelli.

Another intense fight starred Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) and the two Ducati Team riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi. Bautista crossed the line seventh with Hayden less than a tenth of a second behind the Spaniard and Rossi just six thousands behind the American, with of Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha Monster) following the trio in 10th.

Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) had an off-track excursion in the early stages of the race but then staged a great comeback from the back of the pack to finish 11th, in front of Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing).

Stoner leads the championship with 168 points, just 15 points ahead of Lorenzo. In third is Dovizioso with 132 points.

Marc Márquez took his third consecutive win at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland Moto2 race, ahead of local star Stefan Bradl, and Alex de Angelis in third.

Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) had the holeshot off the start, but pole man Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) quickly took the lead on the first lap of the Sachsenring race, scrapping for the lead with the German until the Spaniard regained the lead on lap 22 of the 29 lap race to take the win.

De Angelis (JiR Moto2), who started from the second row, pressured Bradl throughout the race, followed by Aleix Espargaró (Pons HP 40) and fourth row starter Yonny Hernández (Blusens-STX), until Espargaró and Max Neukirchner (MZ Racing) collided on lap five, ending the race for both of them. De Angelis wasn't able to make a move on Bradl, with the Italian finishing the race in third, half a second behind the German.

Randy Krummenacher (GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing) made his move on fellow countryman Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) on the second to the last lap to grab fourth place after the two had sparred with de Angelis for third. Sixth place went to Hernández.

A dead heat to the finish line between Johann Zarco and Héctor Faubel gave the Spaniard his first 125cc World Championship win of the season after a photo finish determined a tie between the two, requiring the fastest lap of the two to be the deciding factor in who was the victor.

A breathtaking last lap battle between Faubel (Bankia Aspar), Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) and Maverick Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) saw Frenchman Zarco make a move Faubel outside of the last corner, crossing the finish line at the exact same time at the Spaniard. A video image finish determined a tie between the two, therefore based on the rules the win goes to the rider who had the fastest lap, thus giving Faubel his first Grand Prix win of the season and Zarco a miss at his first victory.

Alan Techer, the 16-year-old Frenchman, scored his first Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup victory in the second race of the German Grand Prix weekend at the Sachsenring. Chasing him across the line were two Germans, 15-year-old Florian Alt ahead of 13-year-old Willi Albert, who was on the podium for the first time in his debut season.

MotoGP Race Results
1. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team / Honda 41:12.482
2. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Yamaha Factory Racing / Yamaha +1.477
3. Casey STONER (AUS) Repsol Honda Team / Honda +1.568
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team / Honda +10.513
5. Ben SPIES (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing / Yamaha +10.719
6. Marco SIMONCELLI (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini / Honda +10.923
7. Alvaro BAUTISTA (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP / Suzuki +27.451
8. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Team / Ducati +27.510
9. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Ducati Team / Ducati +27.576
10. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / Yamaha +33.491
11. Hector BARBERA (SPA) Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP / Ducati +38.944
12. Karel ABRAHAM (CZE) Cardion AB Motoracing / Ducati +39.148
13. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) Pramac Racing Team / Ducati +39.415
14. Cal CRUTCHLOW (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / Yamaha +39.477
15. Hiroshi AOYAMA (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini / Honda +54.516
16. Toni ELIAS (SPA) LCR Honda MotoGP / Honda +1:12.335
17. Sylvain GUINTOLI (FRA) Pramac Racing Team / Ducati +1 Lap

MotoGP Point Standings
1. Casey STONER (Honda) 168
2. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha) 153
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 132
4. Valentino ROSSI (Ducati) 98
5. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 94
6. Ben SPIES (Yamaha) 85
7. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati) 85
8. Marco SIMONCELLI (Honda) 60
9. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 59
10. Hiroshi AOYAMA (Honda) 57
11. Hector BARBERA (Ducati) 49
12. Karel ABRAHAM (Ducati) 41
13. Alvaro BAUTISTA (Suzuki) 39
14. Toni ELIAS (Honda) 35
15. Cal CRUTCHLOW (Yamaha) 34
16. Loris CAPIROSSI (Ducati) 22
17. Randy DE PUNIET (Ducati) 15
18. John HOPKINS (Suzuki) 6
19. Kousuke AKIYOSHI (Honda) 3