Dani Pedrosa happy with 20 point take and Marc Marquez apologizes for DNF at Mugello

from Twowheelsblog

For 12 laps Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez were able to shadow Jorge Lorenzo and keep his pace but then on the 13th lap Lorenzo suddenly pushed the NOS button on his M1 and speed away leaving the two Repsol Honda riders almost a eight tenths behind in one single lap and to fight over the second spot on the podium.

With rear grip issues slowing him - the new Bridgestone tire for the race forced him to change his setup - Pedrosa had to contend with the unwanted attentions of his team mate who was much faster than him and with five laps to go Marquez put in a simple pass and ran away for exactly two laps but got caught out at the Savelli and crashed out for the fourth time this weekend and giving Pedrosa 20 points.

Here’s what Pedrosa said about his Mugello race: “I didn’t feel fully comfortable in the race today, but I’m happy because I was able to gain a large number of points. In general, this was a difficult weekend. The back tyre was giving me a lot of problems with grip but taking 20 points from this race and maintaining the lead the World Championship is something positive.”

Marc Marquez may have been battered and bruised, but up until the time of his race crash he certainly did not show any wear or tear, but his fall at the Savelli saw him off the podium for the first time after four rounds which is nothing short of spectacular for a rookie rider.

Despite his crash in the race, which he doesn’t understand how it happened, Marquez said he learned a lot following Pedrosa and Lorenzo and now will use that knowledge in the upcoming rounds.

“Today we finished with our first DNF of the season, but after three difficult days of setbacks and hard work, I finally felt good during the race. I don’t fully understand why I crashed, as I lost both the front and the back at the same time and was unable to save it. It’s clear that we made a mistake, but we can’t go looking for excuses. We’ve looked at the telemetry and it shows that I was going at the same speed and on the same line as before but, anyway, you learn from these mistakes.”

“We can’t forget that this is my first year in the class and I am here to learn how things are in MotoGP. In spite of everything we were still fighting for second place, which is a reason to be happy. I want to apologise to Honda and to the team, as they always support me and work so hard. Now we are turning our focus to Montmelo, and I can’t wait to race there.”

Highlights - 2013 WRC Acropolis Rally of Greece

Alvaro Bautista and Valentino Rossi collision at Mugello declared racing incident

from Twowheelsblog

Following the crash that involved Alvaro Bautista and Valentino Rossi at the Poggio Secco chicane of the opening lap of the Italian GP, the race direction immediately investigated the incident and came to the conclusion that it was just a ‘racing incident’ and that no action will be taken against either of the riders.

Bautista was on the inside while Rossi rode around him on the outside and was ahead of the Spaniard as the Honda rider tipped in for the next corner in acceleration and found Rossi and the two touched. Bautista immediately slid of his Honda, while his bike remained attached to the Yamaha M1 for several yards and when it snapped off, Rossi jumped off, but he slided towards the air fence where he then flipped into the air to the shocked horror of his fans, as you could almost hear the collective breath holding above the roar of the engines.

Neither Bautista or Rossi required the Clinica Mobile, but the Italian would later say that one of his buttock cheeks hurt as did his right hand and foot, and he was lucky that he wasn’t more seriously injured. He also declared it was possible that Bautista didn’t see him and that it was an unfortunate racing incident, and also stated that he had a bad start because his clutch slipped.

A racing incident with Rossi at Mugello - home of the Italian rider - couldn’t have been easy for Bautista - with everyone remembering what happened at Assen last year. The Gresini rider denied any culpability and said that he didn’t see the Yamaha rider.

This is the statement released by the FIM and Race Direction:

“Regarding the incident between Valentino Rossi (ITA) and Alvaro Bautista (ESP) in the MotoGP race of Mugello on 2 June. The Race Direction has reviewed the incident and held a hearing with both riders where all available evidence was reviewed. Based on this evidence the Race Direction decision is that it was a racing incident and no further action will be taken.”

Jorge Lorenzo's Italian masterpiece at Mugello

from Twowheelsblog

Over 76,000 fans were at the spectacular Mugello circuit today to see Jorge Lorenzo break the current Repsol Honda hegemony and take a forceful and masterful victory in the Italian GP and take his third consecutive victory at the Italian track and his second victory of the season, with Dani Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow completing the podium.

Pedrosa was the polesitter but at the the first turn at the San Donato ran slightly wide with Jorge Lorenzo taking the lead, but the first dramatic suprise of the race was when at turn 3 of the first lap at the Luco and Poggio Secco, Alvaro Bautista lost the front of his Honda and crashing involved a hapless Valentino Rossi who ended up slamming heavily into the air fence, with the incident being investigated.

At the front Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Marc Marquez broke away leaving a huge gap behind them. Halfway through the race Lorenzo changed speed and began distancing the Honda riders and on lap 13 he hammered out a stunning 1.47.929 that was the game changer, as the Yamaha rider speed away no longer contested, and would win with a highly comfortable 5.4 second margin.

With Pedrosa and Marquez left alone, the rookie began pressuring his veteran team mate who was suffering with technical issues and with just five laps to go Marquez passed his team mate with one of the easiest passes that we’ve seen the rookie do and then peel away only and seem heading for a second place podium only to crash out with three laps to go as he lost the rear and throw away a perfect podium record.

With Marquez out of action Pedrosa inherited the second spot and Cal Crutchlow who was riding in a lonely fourth, until the Repsol Honda’s riders crash, which let him take second podium of the season needed and if the race was just a few laps longer he might have caught Pedrosa as he was fastly closing in.

Stefan Bradl finished fourth spending the entire race with Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden on his tail, but the two Ducatisti never really worrying the LCR Honda rider. Dovizioso and Hayden swapped places twice, but Dovizioso was slightly faster as Hayden began to fade and the two factory riders finished fifth and sixth.

In a very distant seventh Ducati’s test rider Michele Pirro finished ahead of CRT rider Aleix Espargaro while injured Bradley Smith finished 9th and Hector Barbera closed out the top ten.

2013 MotoGP Mugello Race Results:

01- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – 23 laps in 41’39.733
02- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 5.400
03- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 6.412
04- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 19.321
05- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 19.540
06- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 26.321
07- Michele Pirro – Ducati Test Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 38.144
08- Aleix Espargaro – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP13 – + 39.802
09- Bradley Smith – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 40.243
10- Hector Barbera – Avintia Blusens – BQR FTR – + 48.392
11- Randy De Puniet – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP13 – + 48.480