MotoGP – The MotoGP Chinese Grand Prix turn-based –

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Round-based MotoGP Chinese Grand Prix

MotoGP - The MotoGP Chinese Grand Prix turn-based -

It is finally on a dry track that the stars of MotoGP will face each other. Crowning a different winner in each race, the 2008 season promises to be extremely hotly contested: will China allow the predictions to be refined? ? MotoGP lap by lap.

Zoom on…

The absence of Jorge Lorenzo (21 years old on Sunday!) At this test session, following his fall that very morning. Raised after a huge high side, he would suffer from a fractured malleolus and several bruises. Wishing despite everything to take the start on Sunday, the n ° 48 will have to bite the bullet all weekend.

Friday: second free practice session
Stoner took the fastest time followed by Rossi, Pedrosa, Nakano, Hopkins, Hayden, De Angelis, Capirossi, Dovizioso, Edwards, Elias, Vermeulen, Toseland, Melandri and West. Sylvain Guintoli is 16th, Randy de Puniet 17th.

Zoom on…

Shanghai traps : Dovizioso, Hayden, Nakano, Hopkins and de Puniet all made mistakes, while Pedrosa and Lorenzo had a nice "rodeo" session at the exit of the same turn !

Saturday: qualifying session
Colin Edwards takes pole by shattering the 2007 record of his ex-teammate Valentino Rossi by almost 3 tenths of a second! Said Rossi and his Bridgestones are placed just behind, while Stoner completes the first row. Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Capirossi, Toseland, Vermeulen, De Puniet, Hayden, Dovizioso, Melandri, Nakano, Hopkins and Elias follow. Sylvain Guintoli is 18th.

Sunday: race
Departure : It’s Stoner who springs first from his place on the grid, but Edwards passes him the next turn! Rossi, Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Hayden and Melandri follow. Anthony West, last one, goes to garden with Alex de Angelis.

As usual, the HRC pilots had a very good flight: would the official RCV212s have a magic wand? "We improved the clutch a little bit, but it didn’t really affect the departures", relativizes Pete Benson, chief engineer of the prestigious team:"the starting systems we use are always the same since the arrival of the five cylinders".

Edwards tries to build a slight gap as Pedrosa tries an outside on his rival’s Yamaha in the hairpin, but he widens and Rossi takes the lead.

2nd round : Casey Stoner passes Colin Edwards in the pit straight, but the Australian fails under braking and is passed by the n ° 5 as well as by Dani Pedrosa who has just passed Rossi.

Valentino sees the danger and immediately overtakes Stoner from the inside, then sticks to Edwards not to let go of the obstinate Pedrosa. He passes his former teammate on braking the hairpin, but is forced to widen and "Texas Tornado" sneaks past !

3rd round : Rossi returns to Edwards immediately, because during this time, Pedrosa has already taken a second lead … Sylvain Guintoli is 13th and Randy de Puniet 15th, following a straight ahead … "I am really very disappointed !", explains the Honda LCR rider."I didn’t have a good start and at the end of the first lap Hopkins tried to pass me but he made a big mistake which forced me to widen so as not to risk a crash. Following that, I took to the track to continue my race, but my sensations with the front end of the motorcycle were not adequate. Honestly, we were hoping to get a better result here and I have high hopes for the next race at Le Mans.", regrets Randy who was not in the coup of the weekend.

Meanwhile, Nicky Hayden gradually returns to Casey Stoner’s Ducati which does not seem able to keep pace … At the end of the long straight line, the amazing Dovizioso brakes the confirmed Capirossi and Lorenzo.

A Lorenzo diminished by his injury, but who seems to be able to save a few points: the determination of the Spanish rider is admirable, because to handle his Yamaha of 148 kg and 220 hp in this way with a fractured malleolus and another very painful ankle, it is necessary a hell of a dose of … willpower !

"Friday I didn’t even think I could run", confides the Mallorcan pilot,"then gradually it got a little better and today I realized that not only will I be able to run, but also be competitive! I lost a lot of places at the start of the race, but in the second part I found my rhythm and I came back to the front lines".

4th round : The HRC Spaniard leads the race ahead of Valentino Rossi, who is chasing him with the fastest lap in the race.

Colin Edwards will obviously not benefit from the first pole achieved by a Tech 3 driver since 2002: he is gradually losing ground on the leading men. Current World Champion Casey Stoner precedes Nicky Hayden, the 2006 champion. "We knew that starting in 10th position on the line was not going to make things easier for us", recognizes the American at the end of the race."I fell with my n ° 1 bike in qualifying, but still managed to start with it. But I had a lot of problems in the race, especially in the fast corners where my speed was not good."…

Behind the n ° 69, Dovizioso precedes Capirossi who manages to get rid of Jorge Lorenzo. The Spaniard is followed like his shadow by Marco Melandri who seems to have – finally! – found the manual for his GP8! James Toseland is 10th on a circuit he is discovering.

5th round : Pedrosa starts the lap ahead of Rossi, Edwards, Stoner, Hayden, Dovizioso, Capirossi, Melandri, Lorenzo and Toseland. The M1 of the septuble world champion is only 4 tenths behind the Honda of Pedrosa, picking up the Texan Colin Edwards in the process, then Rossi passes Pedrosa in the straight line of 1202 m and takes the lead..

6th round : From the start, "Vale" sticks tenth on tenth to Dani Pedrosa: ze Doctor is back! Edwards shoots straight ahead, trying to force the pace and has to give up his place. Warning also for the leader who moves away a little, being picked up again by "Asimo" Pedrosa…

"I’m not particularly happy with my run, if I’m honest"admits Colin Edwards:"I knew I had a good pace and tried to push as hard as I could at the start to try to let go of the guys behind me. I thought Casey was going to be in front, but I don’t know what Valentino and Dani had, but they were literally flying! When they passed me, in some bends I no longer saw them !"

7th round : Rossi is still leading in front of a Dani Pedrosa who is determined not to give up. Stoner secures the big points just behind, followed by Hayden, Dovizioso, Melandri and Edwards. Sylvain Guintoli is only 13th, Randy de Puniet still 15th and Anthony West 17th.

Chris Vermeulen brings his Suzuki back to the pits after shooting straight: "I had a technical problem with my machine since the start of the race", explains the Australian, forced to retire: the revenge at Le Mans, where the n ° 7 signed the victory last year (read)?…

8th and 9th rounds : Marco Melandri tries the inside on Dovizioso at the entrance to the first right. The n ° 4 resists … then must capitulate to a raging Super Marco !

10th round : Valentino Rossi continues to lead, followed by Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner who is already six seconds behind! A snub for the world champion who does not take advantage of his excellent top speed (+10 km / h compared to the 2007 edition!) … Worse: Casey will not manage to go below the 2 mark ’00 during the event, two tenths slower than his fastest lap in the 2007 race. His teammate passes Nicky Hayden who contains Dovizioso, Edwards, the courageous Lorenzo, Capirossi and Nakano.

11th round: Dani Pedrosa sets the fastest lap in the race and continues to watch Rossi: would the young Spaniard wait to take advantage of a possible wear of the Bridgestones? Casey Stoner is far behind, then Marco Melandri follows within seconds.

Hopkins and West are respectively 16th and 17th: the Kawasaki riders have been struggling throughout the weekend and one can wonder about the rest of their season … "We approached this weekend with optimism following positive tests at Estoril, but the disappointment is once again at the rendezvous", deplores Anthony West, visibly more and more lost in the handling of his machine."I have the impression that we have the same problem that has followed us since the start of the season, with the bike spinning as soon as I put the gas on the exit of the turn … John doesn’t have this problem, we know that this is not a fundamental problem, but now we are struggling to find a solution", explains the unfortunate Australian.

12th round : Jorge Lorenzo is inside at n ° 69 which seems to be turning less and less quickly. Valentino Rossi is five tenths ahead of his pursuer and looks much faster than the Honda official on the twisty part of the circuit.

13th round : Rossi slams the lap record in 1’59.650 (or already two tenths faster than the 2007 record!) To try to let Pedrosa go for good. Stoner always precedes Melandri.

Randy de Puniet and Sylvain Guintoli are fighting for thirteenth place: "what can I say, except that I expected much better", Sylvain coward, annoyed, at the end of the race. The Drômois hoped for the appearance of rain to shine at the forefront, but nevertheless admitted"also like to be competitive in the dry".

An increasingly worrying situation for "Syl", as for all the other Ducati riders, since no one other than Stoner manages to properly exploit the beastly GP8 (read) … Certainly, Marco Melandri will finally finish in the top five of this race, but his best time is 1.2 seconds behind Rossi’s fastest lap…

Toni Elias, for his part, claims that there is too much weight on the front of the machine, while Sylvain explains having to drive it like a 250: will the arrival of Max Biaggi as a luxury freelancer improve? things ? Stay connected…

14th round: Lorenzo overtakes Edwards and seems able to get back on Dovizioso and Melandri. Dani Pedrosa sets the fastest lap to avoid being knocked out by Valentino Rossi.

15th round: Jorge Lorenzo brakes Dovizioso in the first straight of the circuit and passes Melandri in stride, all despite his injuries !

16th round : Rossi is a solid leader ahead of Pedrosa, Stoner, Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Melandri, Edwards, Hayden, Capirossi, Elias, Nakano, Toseland, Guintoli, De Puniet, De Angelis and Hopkins.

Andrea Dovizioso is more and more pressing on Marco Melandri while Sylvain Guintoli achieves his best lap in the race: will the n ° 50 be able to come back to James Toseland, who evolves with 2.5 seconds in advance? ?

17th round : Rossi and Pedrosa are running in the same lap times: the tires of both pilots seem to stand out at this end of the race, but will it be the same until the last lap ?

18th round : Rossi sets the fastest lap in the race: the ogre de Tavullia slams an impressive 1’59.273, six tenths faster than the 2007 stopwatch set by Stoner, and above all 45 hundredths faster than Dani Pedrosa’s absolute circuit record in 2006 with its 990 cc !

Pedrosa is now half a second behind the Doctor, who seems to challenge him to return to the charge: each attempt by No.2 results in an acceleration in Rossi’s pace! Lorenzo makes his best lap in the race.

19th round : Pedrosa second is thirteen seconds ahead of Stoner and continues to hang on to one second behind Rossi! Dovizioso and Hayden fight like hell, but the American ends up grabbing sixth place. Edwards and Capirossi follow a little further.

20th round : Valentino Rossi is still maintaining an impressive pace: the Bridgestone bet seems to finally pay off! Pedrosa has let go and contains Stoner – who is fifteen seconds behind the leader! – ahead of Lorenzo, Melandri, Hayden, Dovizioso, Edwards and Capirossi.

21st round : Loris Capirossi passed the Honda of Dovizioso and the Yamaha of Edwards. Rossi is now 3.5 seconds ahead of Dani Pedrosa’s official RCV212.

Last round: The famous n ° 46 begins the last loop in front of a resigned Pedrosa. Follow Stoner, Lorenzo, Melandri, Hayden, Capirossi, Edwards, Elias and Dovizioso, who seems to have difficulty keeping pace at the end of the race.

Rossi crosses the finish line and signs his 63rd success in the premier class … five lengths from Agostini’s record! He raises his fists on the line, then stops – visibly moved – to be congratulated by Graziano, his father, and kiss his machine.

Pedrosa just behind is beaming: the Spaniard knows he takes the lead of the championship with his second place, thus preceding Lorenzo, Rossi and Stoner in the provisional general classification.

They explain

Valentino Rossi (1st) : "I’m very, very happy, because it’s been a while since I last won! It was a tough time, we changed tires and had to work really hard. I knew we had good potential and felt good on Friday. It’s the first time I’ve managed to keep a good pace after the fifteenth lap. This morning I was disappointed that it was raining, but when we realized that we were going to run in the dry, I thought I could win. I had to push really hard to beat Dani: turning in 1’59 in the last laps is incredible! This is a great victory for us and it rewards all of our work and effort with Bridgestone !"

Dani Pedrosa (2nd) : "it was a tough race, each lap was faster than the last! At the end, I decided to slow down, realizing that I couldn’t catch up with Valentino and I chose to finish second. I am very happy with this result !"

Casey Stoner (3rd) : "we knew it would be a dry track race from the warm-up lap, although we had been advised to use a softer compound. I don’t know if we could have done better with a harder eraser. As always, the team worked hard, we still have room for improvement and I’m not entirely satisfied with this result."…

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR

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