Race Weekend - Donington

After the sunny day at the Saturday qualification today it was typical British weather with showers. The race was split in two races after a red flag in the 14^th lap of the race. For Danny Webb the race was short because of a crash in the chicane in the first lap together with five other riders. Randy Krummenacher had a good first race but had an innocent crash and could participate in the second race over 5 laps. The second race Krummenacher finishes just outside the points on an 18th position. 

During the first race there was some light rain dropping down and there were some wet spots at the track like the chicane. Danny Webb did not survive the first lap and was involved in the crash with several riders. Some of the riders rode over Webb’s Aprilia and the race was over for the little British rider.

Danny Webb (DNF):

“I just don’t have words for this. Again a crash and no points. It seems that this has to happen always to me. Several riders crashed out in the chicane the first lap and some of the other riders hit my bike and I couldn’t continue the race. The only good thing today is that my mate Scott Redding scored a podium. Good job for him! We have a three weeks break now and my second half of the season it has to be better and score a lot of points.”

TOSELAND SIXTH IN MOTOGP DONINGTON FAREWELL

British rider James Toseland placed sixth at the British Grand Prix, just pipped to fifth by reigning MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi. The Sheffield star had a much more successful time of things than at his premier class debut at Donington Park last year, where he crashed on the opening corner.

The Monster Tech 3 Yamaha rider moved up to twelfth in the standings courtesy of the result, his joint best in 2009.

PODIUM AND DISAPPOINTMENT IN 125cc

Gloucester’s Scott Redding followed up his 2008 victory at Donington Park with a podium finish in a race of two parts, having started from eleventh on the 125cc grid. The Blusens Aprilia rider managed to work his way up to the leaders early on, and was on the second row when the race was restarted due to heavy rainfall.

The five-lap sprint was won by Julián Simón, with Simone Corsi second. Redding held his nerve in the rain for a great comeback and the only home podium of the day.

Poleman Bradley Smith had led the restart, but crashed on the opening lap. He remounted for twentieth place, but now has a mountain to climb if he is to catch up with Simón in the overall standings.

Kent-based Danny Webb crashed out on the very first lap of the race in a multiple rider incident, but escaped unharmed.

Dovizioso takes first MotoGP victory in eventful Donington swansong

Andrea Dovizioso closed the MotoGP stay at Donington Park with a first ever premier class victory, coming out on top in what became a ‘semi flag-to-flag’ race. The Repsol Honda rider made sense of the madness that ensued with steady rainfall to earn 25 points and the honour of being the last premier class winner at the Midlands circuit.

The race was one of the most unpredictable of recent years, with twists and turns every step of the way. Besides the maiden triumph there were falls for the top two in the World Championship, a disastrous pre-race decision from a title contender and riders holding on instead of coming in for a bike change.

Dovizioso had been in the chasing group on the opening laps, but was thrust up to the front courtesy of his superior pace and mistakes from his rivals. After battling with World Championship leader Valentino Rossi at the head of the field, the young Italian found himself alone out in front as the more experienced Rossi fell at the Fogarty Esses with eleven laps remaining.

Also benefitting from consistency were podium finishers Colin Edwards and Randy de Puniet, who engaged in an entertaining battle as the chequered flag came closer to being waved. Monster Tech 3 Yamaha man Edwards took second from the LCR Honda rider on the final hairpin, ending the race just under 1.5 seconds behind Dovizioso. For both riders the top three result was their first podium of the 2009 season.

The early going saw uncertainty and instability as rain fell upon the lights going off. Early leader Jorge Lorenzo had been talked out of running wet tyres and took the lead after just a handful of laps, but took a fall when he clipped a slippery rumble strip and was unable to restart his Yamaha M1. The crash had been foreshadowed by a tumble for Toni Elías, the leader of lap one and a faller at the same spot on lap seven.

The Ducati Marlboro team of Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden were the only riders to go with full wet tyres on the grid, although a lack of heavy rainfall and the durability of Bridgestone’s dry tyre meant that they were immediately off the pace. The duo were lapped by the leaders two laps before the halfway point of the race, their gamble definitively failing to pay off.

With eight laps remaining the first riders came in to change machines, but it was too late for the switch to make an impact. Alex de Angelis placed fourth, ahead of the remounted Rossi and home rider James Toseland –with whom he dueled on the last lap. Rossi now leads the World Championship by 25 points from Lorenzo.

MotoGP takes a brief break before returning in the Czech Republic on August 16th.

Sixteen year old Scott Redding returns to the scene of his greatest triumph when he returns to Donington Park to ride in the 125 cc race at the British Grand Prix on Sunday. The Gloucestershire teenager re-wrote the history books last year when he became the youngest ever rider to win a grand prix race with a stunning victory round the 2.50 mile Parkland circuit in damp difficult conditions.

Redding has had a tough season beset with technical problems on his Blusens Aprilia. He lies 13th in the World Championship at the halfway stage with his best result, a fourth place in the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. Despite the problems he’s been on the pace when the bike has worked well and a trouble free weekend could see him on the podium once again.

Bradley Smith has been the British star this year with two grands prix wins but he approaches the British Grand Prix after a bad day in Germany where he crashed twice and scored no points. However, there is no better place than his home race for Smith to bounce back to winning ways after slipping to third place in the Championship behind his Aspar Aprilia team-mates Julian Simon and Sergio Gadea.

Danny Webb has also had a tough year but unlike Redding and Smith he goes into his home race with great confidence following his moral boosting eighth place in Germany. The result was badly needed by the 18 year old Kent rider and his Dutch-based DeGraff Aprilia team after a series of crashes pushed him down to 14th in the Championship.

James Toseland will never forget his much heralded MotoGP British debut last year. The then World Superbike Champion crashed at the very first bend to the disappointment of his vast legion of British fans. The Yorkshire man returns on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha determined to make it up to those supporters and has been encouraged by his tenth place in Germany before returning home for his one and only appearance of the year.

QUOTES

Bradley Smith

“Three crashes in one day in Germany is not the best preparation for Donington but you have to take days like that on the chin and look forward to the next one. Of course it’s a vital race for me, the family and my sponsors and I’ve already put the Sachsenring behind me.”

Scott Redding

“Another mechanical problem when the bike seized in Germany but up till then I was encouraged that I could run at that pace. It makes me more confident for the home race which I will never forget last year. It’s time for a change of luck and Donington would be the best place to start.”

Danny Webb

“At last a finish and a good result in Germany. It could not have come at better time for me and the team. Let’s hope we can continue at Donington to give the home crowd something to cheer about.”

James Toseland

“I was satisfied with another top ten finish in Germany and I’m looking forward to my home race at Donington. It has given me a bit of a boost and I’ll be looking to make amends for the disappointment of last year when I didn’t make it through the very first corner. The support of the British fans is humbling and they have stuck with me through a very difficult year.”

ROSSI SEEKS FINISH TO FOUR YEAR DONINGTON DROUGHT

Valentino Rossi rolls into Donington Park for the British Grand Prix looking to end a four year drought on British soil. The 30 year old Italian, who is the current World Champion, has won six times at the undulating Parkland circuit but the last of those came in 2005.

He arrives in superb form after another titanic battle with his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo at the Sachsenring. Rossi won that particular battle by one tenth of a second to open up a 14 point lead in the Championship and the British crowd should be in for another great battle at Donington which stages its last British Grand Prix for at least five years.

Lorenzo finished sixth last year at Donington but has been a 250cc winner. He’s won two grands prix this year but is desperate to put one over his team-mate as their rivalry intensifies with Lorenzo threatening to move to Honda next season.

Australian Casey Stoner cut his teeth racing in the British Championship before embarking on the World stage. The Ducati rider chases a hatrick of wins at Donington after two superb wins in the last two years. He’s been hit by a mystery illness during the last month that has cost the chance of wins both at Laguna Seca and Barcelona. He looked much better in Germany but was dropped to fourth with rear tyre problems.

Dani Pedrosa also arrives at Donington full of confidence after a third place in Germany just two weeks after his first win of the season at Laguna Seca. Despite an injury hit year the Repsol Honda rider, who has won at Donington both in the 250 and MotoGP classes is fourth in the Championship but 68 points behind Rossi.

Marco Melandri, Andrea Dovizioso, Randy De Puniet and Mika Kallio are all previous 250 cc winners at Donington as they line up for the 30 lap race. Former 250 cc World Champion Melandri has had a remarkable season on the Hayate Kawasaki and lies sixth in the Championship behind former World Superbike Champion Colin Edwards in fifth place.

Former 125 cc World Champion Dovizioso has not scored any points for the last three races with tyre problems costing him in Germany. De Puniet had a massive crash in the first lap in Germany but will be fit to ride at Donington while Kallio, who won the 250 race last year, made a welcome return to finish 14th in Germany after missing Laguna with a finger injury.

Australian Chris Vermeulen is well known to British fans after riding in the British Championship but is having a tough time on the Rizla Suzuki after injuring his shoulder in a practice crash in Germany.

Hiroshi Aoyama still leads the 250 cc World Championship despite finishing fourth in Germany in the race won by World Champion Marco Simoncelli. The Japanese Honda rider holds a ten point advantage over Spanish Aspar rider, the former World 125 cc Champion Alvaro Bautista who has won two 125 cc races at Donington. Simoncelli is fourth behind Hector Barbara, 32 points behind the leader Aoyama.

The 125 cc Championship leader Julian Simon scored his first ever grand prix victory at a rain soaked Donington four years ago. Following his second win of the season in Germany he leads Aspar team-mate Sergio Gadea by 25 points in the Championship with Bradley Smith dropping to third.

At the British Donington Park the free practice started dry but within three laps the showers started. Just like the free practice at the Sachsenring the rain breaks in into o this session. The DeGraaf Grand Prix riders could only run in their bike in the dry spare moment and switch after the running in laps on rain tires. These running in laps were there classification of this session. British rider Danny Webb ended at a 15^th position and Randy Krummenacher at a 33^rd position.

After ten minutes Danny Webb and Randy Krummenacher went out in the rain. Both riders build up their laps and didn’t want to force a fast lap time in the rain. Halfway the session the rain stopped but the track didn’t dry fast. 

Danny Webb (15^th, 1:49,125):

“Today it was typical British weather. Then the sun is shining and a minute later it can heavily rain. Also in this session today we started at a dry track and a couple of minutes later we had heavy showers.

The lap times of today are the running in laps. At the dry track. In the rain I had a good feeling and could build up my pace every lap. I have a lot of confidence for the rest of the weekend and I hope the qualification session on Saturday will be dry.”

Exciting qualifying session at Donington Park brings DeGraaf Grand team 4th and 6th starting row The weather was perfect today at Donington Park. After the heavy showers on the Friday today it stays dry and sunny. The home race for Danny Webb isn’t successful yet. In the qualification session the British rider qualified at the 4th row with a 14th position.  De thuis wedstrijd van de DeGraaf Grand Prix rijder Danny Webb is tot nu toe nog niet succesvol verlopen. De Brit kwalificeerde zich op de vierde startrij met een 14^e positie. The Swiss rider Randy Krummenacher had some set-up problems and couldn’t be further to the front than the 21st position at the 6th row.

The free practice session in the morning didn’t go good for the DeGraaf Grand Prix Team. The team was struggling with the set-up for both riders. Danny Webb and Randy Krummenacher tried different type of tires and were looking for a better set-up. At the end of the session both riders had to give in one and a half second compare to the fastest rider of the session Julion Simon. Danny Webb finishes at the 15^th position while Randy Krummenacher ended the session at an 18^th position.

The qualification session has been ridden in dry and Sunny weather circumstances. De kwalificatie werd gelukkig in droge en zonnige weersomstandigheden gereden. It was an exciting qualification session with 14 riders in the 1,1 seconds of the fastest rider Bradley Smith. Also the DeGraaf Grand Prix rider and British citizen Danny Webb was one of these 14 riders. Webb has some difficulties with the two hairpins of the track and will focus of these turns in the warm-up session tomorrow morning.

Danny Webb (14^th, 1:38,570):

“It didn’t went very good today. It isn’t bad but I expected some more than the 4th row. It is very close and with one tenth of a second I could be on the second row but I’m not. The first three sections of the track go well. In the last section I lose a lot. Especially the last two hairpins I lose much time. We will try to adjust the suspension for these hairpins but I think I also have to adjust a little my riding style for these corners.

Still I have faith in a good race because I want to have a good result of course at my home Grand Prix. Tomorrow I will go for a top 10 result and if you look at my lap times it shouldn’t be a problem.”