The top three finishers in the Chinese Grand Prix, from left: Dani Pedrosa, second; Valentino Rossi, winner; Casey Stoner, third

Chinese GP Race Report

By Paul Kelly
redbullindianapolisgp.com

Sunday, May 4, 2008

The drought finally is over for Valentino Rossi.

Five-time MotoGP World Champion Rossi ended the longest dry spell of his career at the top level of the sport, halting a seven-race winless streak by triumphing May 4 in the Grand Prix of China at the Shanghai International Circuit. Rossi prevailed in a race-long duel with Dani Pedrosa, taking the checkered flag by 3.890 seconds over his Spanish rival.

"After seven races, it is a great feeling to win again. I am very happy!" Rossi said. "This is a very important result for us because, above all, I was able to ride exactly how I wanted from start to finish, and this was great fun for me."

Defending World Champion Casey Stoner finished third on his Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati/Bridgestone. Rookie sensation Jorge Lorenzo was fourth on his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Michelin, an incredible result considering Lorenzo raced with broken bones in both ankles suffered in a practice crash Friday.

2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden led the American contingent in sixth place on his Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin. American standout Colin Edwards finished seventh on his Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha/Michelin, but it was a disappointing result after capturing his third career pole Saturday.

"I'm not particularly happy with that, if I'm being honest," Edwards said. "At the end, we needed to refine a couple of things to make it a little bit better, but at the end of the day, I made a mistake. But if I hadn't made it, I still wasn't going to be on the podium. It just wasn't going to happen today."

John Hopkins rounded out the American finishers in 14^th on his Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki/Bridgestone.

All 18 starters were confounded by changing conditions at the 3.281-mile circuit. There was heavy rain in the morning before the race, but riders started on slick tires due to warm conditions causing rapid drying of the track.

Rossi dropped to fourth on the first lap after starting second on his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, but he passed Stoner and Edwards on Lap 3 of the 22-lap race for second place. Rossi then zeroed in on leader Pedrosa's Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, passing Pedrosa on the backstraight on Lap 4.

Points leader Pedrosa hung close to Rossi, and the pair clicked off a series of fast laps in lockstep before Rossi pulled away over the final three laps.

The next race is the Grand Prix of France on May 18 at Le Mans. The inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP is Sunday, Sept. 14 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

***

RESULTS

SHANGHAI, China - Results of the 22-lap Grand Prix of China MotoGP race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle/tire, time behind winner:

Fastest lap: Rossi, 1:59.273, Lap 18

Pole lap: Edwards, 1:58.139

***

POINTS

Riders: Pedrosa 81, Lorenzo 74, Rossi 72, Stoner 56, Capirossi 33, Toseland 33, Edwards 31, Hayden 29, Dovizioso 26, Hopkins 26, Melandri 23, Nakano 22, Elias 15, Vermeulen 14, De Puniet 11, De Angelis 7, Guintoli 4, West 3.

Manufacturers: Yamaha 90, Honda 81, Ducati 56, Suzuki 34, Kawasaki 26.

***

PODIUM QUOTES

VALENTINO ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, winner): "After seven races, it is a great feeling to win again. I am very happy! This is a very important result for us because, above all, I was able to ride exactly how I wanted from start to finish, and this was great fun for me. I had a great battle with Pedrosa, and he pushed me hard, and to be doing 1:59s until the end was unbelievable! All weekend we were hoping the rain wouldn't come, so when we saw it this morning, we were quite disappointed. Then it started to dry out, so we were praying that it would dry completely. We were lucky today! We've had four races and four different winners so this shows how close the championship is."

DANI PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, second): "I'm very happy with today's result. We had been expecting a wet race, so to get second today is fantastic, and it's 20 good points for the championship. I started a bit cautious during the early laps because I didn't know what the track conditions were like, but then Valentino and I began to set an extremely fast pace. Lap by lap, our rhythm got faster. I had the advantage through the middle section of the track; he had the advantage through the first and last sections. My Michelin tires were working really well, and we were riding at lap record pace all through the race. The wind was very strong today, so my engine was over-revving, which is why I decided to ride a little more conservatively in the final laps to secure second place and the world championship lead."

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati/Bridgestone, third): "I'm disappointed, to be honest, because I know we could have done better today. The bike has worked really well in practice, and we thought we had the ideal setup for today. But we changed a couple of things, and for one reason or another, the package just wasn't as good as before. I made a good start, and I was happy with that. But even in the first corner I couldn't get the bike turned, Colin Edwards came past me, and that was the story of the race. As the race wore on, my lap times improved, but it was too little too late, and in any case it wouldn't have been enough for me to stick with the lead guys. I'm disappointed this has happened today - not so really for third place, which is a good result but for the big gap from the lead."

***

AMERICAN RIDER QUOTES

NICKY HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, sixth): "We knew starting 10^th was never going to be easy. I crashed my number-one bike in qualifying, then this morning I rode the other bike, so I started the race with the bike I'd crashed, but it was fine. I got a really good start and a good first corner, too, but I just couldn't go with the lead group today. We had a huge tailwind on the back straightaway, so I was running out of gear. It made it so hard to get it stopped for the corner at the end of the straight, so a lot of guys were running wide. Mid-race, I had a few problems, felt a few drops of rain, and my corner speed in the long corners wasn't so good. Toward the end, I changed a few little things with my lines and the traction control settings. I started to move forward, and at the end I was going pretty good. There was a lot of good battling going on but it would've been better to have been battling for a better position. I didn't give up, kept pushing and picked off a few guys near the end."

COLIN EDWARDS (Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Michelin, seventh): "I'm not particularly happy with that, if I'm being honest. I knew what pace I could run and was just pushing as hard as I could in the beginning to try and get away from the guys behind me. I knew Casey was going to be there, but I don't know what Valentino and Dani had, but they were flying. As soon as they passed me, they were gone. I was running third, and I came into the hairpin after the back straight and braked at the same place, but the rear end came up and I did the longest nose-wheelie I've ever done in my entire life. I kept waiting for it to come back, but at the end, I had to let the brake off to get the rear wheel on the ground and I ran wide. I only lost three seconds, but it was the places I lost that mattered. I rode as hard as I could, and I'm tired of saying it, but I could not do anything else. We just missed something in the package today. At the end, we needed to refine a couple of things to make it a little bit better, but at the end of the day, I made a mistake. But if I hadn't made it, I still wasn't going to be on the podium. It just wasn't going to happen today."

JOHN HOPKINS (Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki/Bridgestone, 14^th): "We went out in the wet warmup session this morning with high hopes of a good result in the rain or dry today. By the time we got to the race, the circuit had started to dry out, and we had to make a decision on tire choice, which maybe wasn't the best. I struggled right from the start with rear traction problems, and I pushed hard to make my way through the field. I made a few mistakes and ran off the track in places; it was a really tough race. I'm very disappointed, as it's not the result I wanted for my 100^th Grand Prix."

***

MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS

250cc: Mika Kallio, Finland, Red Bull KTM 250

125cc: Andrea Iannone, Italy, I.C. Team. American Stevie Bonsey finished 14^th and is 10^th in series points.

***

NEXT RACE

Grand Prix of France, Le Mans, May 18. Round 5 of 18.

***

Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets: Tickets are on sale for the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sept. 14, 2008.

Tickets can be purchased either online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time; on the phone by calling (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area or (317) 492-6700 locally between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday; or visiting the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ticket Office on the first floor of the IMS Administration Building at 4790 W. 16^th St. in Indianapolis from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

All tickets for this event are three-day tickets, with both reserved and general admission seating available.

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