Pedrosa Scores Third Consecutive Podium

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC213V) rode to his third consecutive podium finish today, two weeks after he scored his first victory of 2017 at Jerez, to move into second place in the World Championship. Team-mate Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team RC213V) was also in with a chance of a podium finish until he slid out of fourth place on lap 18 of 28. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda RC213V) was top independent-team finisher in a well-ridden fifth place.

Round five of the 2017 MotoGP series – staged in front of a record Le Mans crowd of 104,000 fans – was a real thriller, with local hero Johann Zarco (Yamaha) leading the way for the first few laps. In the final laps the race developed into a duel between Maverick Vinales and Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi, who slid off just four corners from the flag.

Marquez was in the lead group from the beginning, running a close fourth and riding faster than anyone at one-third distance, but eventually he couldn’t hold onto the leaders and when the hard-charging Pedrosa began to catch him he slid off and his race was over.

Meanwhile Pedrosa kept pushing hard, chasing after the leading trio. He looked set for a great fourth place – considering he had started from 13th on the grid – when Rossi’s tumble promoted him to third. Pedrosa’s latest result puts him 17 points behind series-leader Vinales. Marquez now stands fourth overall, with five of 18 races done.

This was a difficult event for everyone in MotoGP. Changeable weather conditions and thoughts of Nicky Hayden, the 2006 MotoGP World Champion who was seriously injured in a cycling accident last Wednesday, dominated the weekend. The paddock now gets ready to head to Italy for the next race, with thoughts of Hayden uppermost in people’s minds.

Pedrosa was delighted with his podium finish after a challenging two days of practice and qualifying, during which he struggled in cold and damp conditions. Today was the by far the warmest day, with a track temperature of 37 degrees, a crucial ten degrees warmer than yesterday.

The 31-year-old Spaniard, who has won four Grand Prix victories here across all three categories, rode an aggressive first lap, fighting his way through from 13th to seventh. From there he kept chipping away at those ahead of him, making contact with fellow RC213V rider Crutchlow as he took fifth place from the Briton on lap 11. There’s little doubt that if Pedrosa hadn’t had a challenging time in practice and qualifying that he would have been in the podium battle from the beginning.

Reigning MotoGP World Champion Marquez, who won the Grand Prix of the Americas four weekends ago and finished second behind Pedrosa at Jerez a fortnight ago, had been aiming to consolidate his attack on the championship lead today. However, he lost the front on the entry to the tricky turn three left-hander and was unable to continue.

Crutchlow, who started from fourth on the grid, one place in front of Marquez, spent a fair amount of the race battling with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) and Pedrosa. Once Pedrosa had got ahead of the three-way fight, Crutchlow wasn’t quite able to get the better of Dovizioso, finishing two seconds down on the Italian.

Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda RC213V) deserved a medal for his gritty ride to eighth place, the day after he suffered a huge accident at turn three, which left him badly battered and bruised. The young Australian rode with a swollen right hand and knee, surprising himself with his pace until he ran out of energy in the final few laps.

Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda RC213V) scored his best result of the season, taking 11th place, just behind factory Suzuki rider Andrea Iannone.

Dani Pedrosa

“I’m super happy about this podium because I knew it would be quite tough to manage the race well starting from the fifth row on the grid. The thought of getting through that first chicane at the back of the pack meant a lot of pressure. It was a demanding mental exercise to try and be fast but not crash, being aggressive but calm! But in the end I got a good start, entered the first corner quite well, and quickly settled into a good rhythm. I recovered some positions and also touched with Cal along the way. I’m sorry for that but really it wasn’t intentional. I had just moved past Dovi and wasn’t going to pass Cal in that corner, but he made a little mistake that opened the line slightly, so I got through on the inside and we touched. I’m happy nothing really happened there. After Marc crashed, I kept pushing but I was two seconds behind the Yamahas. I was starting to feel some chattering, and I decided to stay calm as I didn’t want to make a mistake. I think we had a good race and a very good result for the Championship. It’s just a shame that this weekend we couldn’t do well in qualifying, but we’re working with the team very well and the feeling with the bike is improving little by little. We just have to continue on this path for the next races.”

Cal Crutchlow

“I was struggling today to turn the bike with the harder front tire, it was really difficult and I was losing a lot of time in mid-turn. But I felt quite good in the braking zone and I’m happy enough to finish in the top five. At least we finished and that was important after not doing so in the last race. My target today was the top six and we finished in the top five, so I’m pleased enough. At Mugello I’ll be aiming for the top six again, although there are a lot of guys riding fast at the moment, and I’m hoping the new tire might suit me a bit better.”

Jack Miller

“I was a little fortunate today with some other riders having problems but in racing you have to be in it at the finish to get the best result and that’s what we did. Considering my physical condition I think I rode a good race despite struggling to pick the bike up on corner exit. I’m happy to be back in the top ten both in the race and the points but it’s only early in the season so there’s still a lot of work to do. I had a good weekend going until my crash in FP4 so now I’ll go home and rest my body and get ready to come back stronger in Mugello.”

Tito Rabat

“This is a good result for me, the best of the season so far especially because qualifying was a disaster and the struggle I had to adapt to the bike in the variable weather conditions. What I learned today was that it is better to stay calm in the race and be in a position to see things more clearly. At the end the race I was able to be ahead of the Aprilias and KTMs and close to Andrea Iannone. Now I am looking forward to the test this week in Barcelona and then to Mugello for the race.”

Marc Marquez

“Of course today wasn’t the best for us. It’s a shame as I was really focused on trying to finish the race. Since yesterday, I haven’t felt totally comfortable with the front and it seems like the first sector of the track wasn’t ‘my’ sector this weekend! I knew what my pace was and that the Yamaha riders were stronger today, but my target was to fight for four or fifth place and just be competitive until the end. I tried to be careful but then for some reason I lost the front very quickly. I didn’t expect this mistake but the good thing is that we’re not very far back, only 27 off the lead. I hope that I’ll have more confidence in the front with the new tire Michelin is bringing. We have to work hard and try to recover but I look forward to doing better in the next races.”