Race Weekend - San Marino

A day of tragedy at Misano following the death of 19 year old Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa in a Moto2 race crash.

Seventeen year old British rider Scott Redding was also involved in the accident and received ten stitches in a back wound at the Medical Centre.

Earlier Bradley Smith finished fourth in the 125 cc race from pole position with Danny Webb in tenth spot.

Pedrosa coasts to second straight win

Dani Pedrosa took his fourth win of the season in MotoGP today at the Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, however there was a black cloud hanging over the whole Misano paddock after the tragic news of the death of Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa in the preceding Moto2 race.

Tomizawa, 19, and from Chiba in Japan, was riding in third place in the Moto2 event when he crashed and brought down Alex de Angelis and Scott Redding. The CIP Technomag rider was immediately transferred to the nearby Riccione Hospital by ambulance, before succumbing to his injuries at 2.20pm local time.

In the MotoGP race, Pedrosa went on to claim his first back-to-back premier class victories on Sunday, finishing first at Misano ahead of Championship leader and rival Jorge Lorenzo and home favourite Valentino Rossi.

Repsol Honda rider Pedrosa set a stunning pace from the start and was almost 1.5s clear of Lorenzo by only the third lap, as he set a lap record early on in the 28-lap contest. Before the action had even begun to unfold however there were two fallers at turn one as Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) went down together. The American rejoined the race but later had to retire.

With Pedrosa pulling away and Lorenzo riding a relatively lonely race in second position the real battle was for the final podium spot, with Rossi attacking Casey Stoner as he sought a result that would please the home crowd. The pair swapped positions a couple of times before the Italian made a move stick, with Andrea Dovizioso also passing the Australian later on.

Rossi and Dovizioso pulled away as they contended for the honour of highest placing Italian rider, and it was a battle the reigning World Champion eventually won comfortably. Pedrosa by that stage had crossed the finish line in first position and exactly 1.9s clear of Lorenzo, with Rossi just over a second behind his Fiat Yamaha teammate.

"There are no words to say how it feels after this victory - it feels like nothing," declared Pedrosa. "Still with my helmet on in Parc Ferme they told me about Tomizawa and I couldn't react. It was a big shock, a big contrast for me. It's so sad, terrible, and these things should never happen. As a person I can only say he was a very funny boy, always happy and making jokes, and as a rider he earned respect from everybody in a very short time, he was fast and brave. To lose two riders in a week is terrible."

"Concerning the race, I want to say thank you again to my team for doing a great job. The whole weekend has been perfect: good practices, a very high pace during the race, my second win in a row and the fourth of the season."

Following Dovizioso and Stoner in fourth and fifth respectively were Monster Yamaha Tech 3 pair Ben Spies and Colin Edwards, with Álvaro Bautista, Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar) and Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) completing the top ten. Melandri’s team-mate Marco Simoncelli crashed but rejoined the race to finish 14th, whilst Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) was forced to retire late on.

Lorenzo’s lead at the top of the standings is now 63 points over Pedrosa, with Rossi moving into fourth overall at nine points behind Dovizioso.

"I don't have many words for the race on such a sad day," declared Lorenzo. "I made a good start, but couldn't keep close to Pedrosa. Second is good, we weren't fast enough but for the championship it's another important result and that is our target. As for Shoya, it's a huge pity because he was a good guy and a strong rider. I am so sad and I just want to say how sorry I am for his family and friends. When this happens nothing else matters."

Reigning World Champion, Valentino Rossi, echoed his teammate's sentiments.

"This was a great result for us, but when something so sad like this happens everything else goes to zero and the result doesn't matter. I'm so sorry for Shoya because he was a strong rider but above all he was very 'sympatico.' He was very funny, always smiling and he always had nice things to say to everyone. He was also very young, with a great career ahead of him, so we are all very sad."

Moto2

Toni Elías won from pole position at Misano on Sunday in the Moto2 Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini to extend his Championship lead to 83 points, achieving his sixth victory of the season and his fourth in a row. Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) moved into second place in the standings with second position in the race, whilst Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki) made a return to the podium.

Andrea Iannone led from the off but a jump start meant the Fimmco Speed Up rider had to take a Ride Through penalty early on, and that allowed the trio of Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing), Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) and Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP) to run at the front.

Pole starter Elías was not far off however and after just six laps the Gresini Racing man assumed the lead, with Simone Corsi (JiR Moto2) keeping tabs on him.

Tomizawa’s tragic crash, which also brought down Alex De Angelis (JiR  Moto2) and Redding, left a gap in the field that was quickly filled by Simón.

As the battle continued at the front Simón went through on Corsi to move into second, whilst wild card Mattia Pasini and Sergio Gadea’s races ended early with crashes. Yuki Takahashi (Tech 3 Racing) was another faller as he pushed hard to maintain fifth position.

As Elías continued to lead comfortably the impressive Lüthi reeled in Corsi and passed him having been over six seconds adrift at one stage, and also having started from 15th on the grid. Iannone’s day was then capped off with a mechanical fault that forced his retirement as he sought a points-scoring finish further back. Xavier Simeon, a replacement for the injured Fonsi Nieto, crashed when flying high in seventh.

Elías crossed 1.969s clear of Simón with Lüthi securing his fifth podium of the campaign in third, and Elías now stands on 211 points in the Championship with Simón moving up to second on 128 and Lüthi remaining in third on 124.

"All I feel is sadness right now and my victory today is irrelevant," declared Elias. "I was talking and joking with Shoya Tomizawa only yesterday in the Clinica Mobile and to think that he is no longer with us is truly awful. He has left an indelible mark on my life."

Corsi took fourth, with Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing), Cluzel, Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up), Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP), Claudio Corti (Forward Racing) and Roberto Rolfo (Italtrans STR) completing the top ten.

125cc

Marc Márquez (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) took his sixth win of the season – his first since Sachsenring – at Misano on Sunday as he opened up a nine-point advantage over Nico Terol in the 125cc title race, with the Bancaja Aspar rider crossing the line in second position.

A poor start off the front row for Terol saw the Spaniard drop down to 12th as the race got underway, but he soon regained ground and within a few laps had recovered to slot into second behind early race leader Márquez.

Pol Espargaró had made a good start and led for a short while at the front, with Tuenti Racing teammate Efrén Vázquez aiding his cause by getting in front of Márquez. However, by only the third lap it was Márquez and Terol who were the leading two and they swapped first position for much of the 23-lap contest.

Espargaró, who had trailed Márquez by just five points going into this race, looked to be keeping up in third but the leading pair upped the pace midway through the race with Terol and then Márquez setting new lap records as they pulled away. Meanwhile Espargaró began to drop down the order.

With four laps remaining Márquez had opened up over a second on Terol and he maintained a healthy distance until crossing the finish line in first, 2.185s ahead of the Bancaja Aspar rider. A fine scrap for the final podium spot was won by Vázquez for his first top-three result since the opening round in Qatar.

Missing out on the podium having been involved in that battle were pole sitter Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar) who came in fourth, Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo) in fifth and Espargaró, who eventually crossed the line sixth as his title hopes were dealt a significant blow.

Márquez now has 197 points at the top of the standings with Terol on 188 and Espargaró 20 off the leader on 177.

Riders failing to finish the race were Khairuddin Zulfahmi (AirAsia - Sepang International Circuit Team), Luis Salom (Stipa-Molenaar Racing), Alexis Masbou (Team Ongetta), Giovanni Bonati (Junior GP FMI), Lorenzo Savadori (Matteoni C.P. Racing), Sturla Fagerhaug (AirAsia - Sepang International Circuit Team) and Luca Marconi (Team Ongetta).

Seventeen year old Scott Redding races back across the Atlantic to compete in round 12 of the Moto2 World Championship determined at least to repeat his brilliant third place in the previous round at Indianapolis

The Aperol Grand Prix of San Marino and the Riviera of Rimini is staged at the 2.626 miles  Misano circuit on the Adriatic coast of Italy on Sunday and the Gloucestershire teenager, who is the youngest ever rider to finish on a Moto2 podium is in great form.

Bradley Smith will want to forget Indianapolis after crashing out of the 125 cc race while lying in second place. The Oxfordshire teenager held onto fourth place in the title chase but will require some much needed podium finishes to fight off the pack headed by German Sandro Cortese.

In the same 125 cc race Kent-based Danny Webb grabbed his best result of the season. Despite a big crash in qualifying he finished sixth which lifted him into tenth place in the Championship with seven rounds remaining.

QUOTES

Scott Redding:

“That was a wicked result for me and the Marc VDS team and roll on Misano. I’m so pleased with Indianapolis and there is no reason why we can’t carry on in Misano. It can be very hot down there but please not as hot as Indianapolis which was really tough.”

Bradley Smith:

“I gave it absolutely everything at Indianapolis. We were down on top speed and so I had to make up in the corners, take risks and paid the ultimate price. Let’s hope we can find a bit more for Misano.”

Danny Webb:

“After the big crash in qualifying the top of my leg really hurt in the Indianapolis race but I held in there. It was great to eventually finish sixth and hopefully the injuries will have cleared up by Misano. Another sixth place would be brilliant.”

PEDROSA AIMS TO CONTINUE WINNING WAY AT MISANO

Fresh from his Indianapolis triumph Dani Pedrosa chases his fourth MotoGP victory of the season at the Aperol Grand Prix of San Marino and the Riviera of Rimini at the Adriatic circuit at Misano on Sunday.

The Repsol Honda rider trails Championship Jorge Lorenzo by 68 points going into round 12 around the 2.626 miles Misano circuit that returned to grand prix racing just three years ago.

It will not be easy for Pedrosa with World Champion Valentino Rossi living just 10 kms from the circuit at which he has won for the last two years to the delight of the locals. It has been a tough couple of races for the Italian who lies fifth in the Championship but he’s determined to sign off his Yamaha career with a win before defecting to Ducati next season.

His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo finished out of the top two for the first time in Indianapolis albeit with a third place. He won the 250 cc race at Misano three years ago and likes the circuit which runs in the opposite direction to the original track which staged its last grand prix in 1993.

Pedrosa’s team-mate Andrea Dovizioso moved into third place in the Championship after finishing fourth at Indianapolis and his cause was helped by the crash of Casey Stoner. The Australian, who won for Ducati at Misano three years ago, dropped to fourth in the Championship following the fall.

There is a tremendous all American battle for sixth place with Indy hero Ben Spies just one point in front of Nicky Hayden after his second place in front of the home crowd. It will be his first MotoGP ride at the circuit but he improves every race on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha. Two podium finishes and a pole position in his Rookie MotoGP season for the rider who will replace Rossi in the factory Yamaha team next season.

Ducati and Hayden agreed a new two year deal at Indianapolis and the former World Champion will be looking for a change of fortune after being hampered by a broken knee slider at Indianapolis where he finished in sixth place.

For Frenchman Randy Du Puniet the race comes too quickly after Indianapolis. The LCR Honda rider is struggling to recover from the broken leg he sustained in Germany but held onto eighth place in the Championship 15 points in front of former 250 cc World Champion Marco Simoncelli.

It’s a big weekend for his San Carlo Gresini Honda team who are based at Misano and their other rider Marco Melandri will be looking for a change of fortune after crashing out at Indianapolis.

Loris Capirossi won the 250 cc race on the old circuit in 1993 and his Rizla Suzuki team-mate Alvaro Bautista won the same race two years with Hector Barbara victorious last year.

Toni Elias secured his third consecutive victory at Indianapolis in the Moto2 class. It was his fifth win of the season riding the Gresini Honda and he leads the Championship after ten rounds by 67 points. He has the look of a Champion elect but will be fighting to recover from the flu that caused him some much discomfort in America. Second placed Andrea Iannone will be looking for a repeat of his home soil victory at Mugello. Despite a big crash in qualifying at Indianapolis he finished a brave fourth and holds an 11 point lead over third placed Thomas Luthi.

The 125 cc Championship was blown wide open by the crash of Marc Marquez and then his subsequent 20 second penalty that dropped him to tenth place after he remounted. He held onto his championship lead by just four points from Nico Terol, who has won the last two grands prix with Pol Espargaro just one point behind. 

EVENT TIME SCHEDULE

Friday 3 September

12.40 – 13.40              125cc Free Practice 1

13.55 – 14.55              MotoGP Free Practice 1

15.10 – 16.10              Moto2 Free Practice 1

 

Saturday 4 September

09.00 – 09.40              125cc Free Practice 2

09.55 – 10.55              MotoGP Free Practice 2

11.10 – 12.10              Moto2 Free Practice 2

13.00 – 13.40              125cc Qualifying

13.55 – 14.55              MotoGP Qualifying

15.10 – 15.55              Moto2 Qualifying

 

Sunday 5 September

08.40 – 09.00              125cc Warm Up

09.10 – 09.30              Moto2 Warm Up

09.40 – 10.00              MotoGP Warm Up

 

11.00                           125cc RACE (23 laps)

12.15                           Moto2 RACE (26 laps)

14.00                           MotoGP RACE (28 laps)