Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1545477
Donington Park Circuit Donington Park, England Round 8 July 2, 2006 JULY 12, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 24 World Championship Road Race Series BY MICHAEL SCOTT PHOTOS BY GOLD & GOOSE D ani Pedrosa became the third person to win more than one race this season, with a near-perfect pole- to - f l a g r u n a t t h e G a s British Grand Prix. The Repsol Honda also took the lap record, after waiting until the 12th of 30 laps of the 2.49-mile Donington Park circuit to pass fast starter Marco Melandri and his Fortuna Honda decisively, and open up a huge margin. It was a superb display by the 20-year-old class rookie, whose consistently faster lap times (including a new record) put him in a class of its own. But his win was almost overshadowed by a towering performance by the, appar- ently utterly indomitable, defending champion Valentino Rossi. Still racing with a broken and bandaged wrist after crash- ing barely a week before, starting from a distant fourth row of the grid, the Camel Yamaha rider overcame physical and machine problems to pick his way through after finishing the first lap 10th. He arrived with a three-strong pack, disputing second, with eight laps to go - and raised the temperature immediately. In the end, he and Melandri changed places twice on the last half lap alone - and it was Rossi in front at the flag. Two other rostrum contenders, LCR Honda's Casey Stoner and KR211V's Kenny Roberts Jr. were outpaced in the final rush, with the Australian less than two seconds adrift, and Roberts dropping by five more seconds. The weather was fine all weekend, but for morning rain on race day, and the race, hot and sunny, was watched by an enthusiastic crowd of almost 70,000. They saw all three GP races won in dom- inant fashion by Spanish riders - with only the MotoGP being actually exciting. Pedrosa made only one slip, early in the race, outbraking himself into the penultimate hairpin to run wide and let front-row starter John Hopkins and his Rizla Suzuki by, and then almost slipping off as he got going again. "I braked and couldn't stop the machine," Pedrosa explained. "I was inside [Marco] Melandri and I was think- ing, 'Please don't hit me.' Then the rear tire slipped when I opened the gas, and I don't know why. I had some more prob- lems from the rear for the next few laps, then it went back to normal and I could go again. I think maybe rain in the morn- ing changed the surface a little." Tire choice had been hard, with Pedrosa rejecting his usual softer choice for a medium rear (of the Michelin run- ners, only Stoner chose a soft tire). "It was hard to decide, but in the end we did it," said Pedrosa. Rossi was jubilant after a major set-up gamble had paid off. "My wrist was painful, but the biggest problem of the weekend has been the bike," Rossi said. "It's a surprise for us, not. We had real problems finding the right settings and tire, and after qualifying yesterday, we were quite worried. We had some new things to try in the warmup, especially tires... then it rained, so we had no chance. We had to make a gamble, and decide whether to make a big change or keep it small. In the end, we decided to take a big risk It took me eight Marco Melandri (33) led Dani Pedrosa (26) and John Hopkins on the opening lap of the British MotoGP. Dani Pedrosa runs off and hides in winning his second MotoGP of the season Pedrosa Dominates!