and ends Honda win drought with a a dominant win at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday
After more than a year without a victory for Honda, since his own win at Catalunya last season, Dani Pedrosa triumphed at Laguna Seca on Sunday, taking the holeshot from fourth on the grid and not looking back - to cross the finishing line ahead of his closest rival Valentino Rossi.
Following a string of crashes and injury problems Pedrosa was finally back to his very best, lapping at a pace which none of his opponents could match. At one stage he had built up a significant gap at the front and although Rossi chased him down on the final lap there were no mishaps this time.
Pedrosa still has some way to go if he is to challenge at the head of the standings however, as current leader Rossi picked up more good World Championship points in second place, whilst Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner were third and fourth respectively.
Riding with an injured shoulder and foot, Lorenzo had a chance to overtake Rossi for second with four laps to go but got his move wrong and had to settle for the final podium place. Stoner ran with the frontrunners for most of the race but although he tired in the final stages he stayed within touching distance of Fiat Yamaha pair Rossi and Lorenzo at the top of the standings courtesy of his fourth place.
A good ride from Nicky Hayden at his favourite track saw him register his first top five result since joining Ducati, the American rider finishing just ahead of a similarly revitalised Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini).
Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) and Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) completed the top ten.
There was disappointment for Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) who lost ground in the championship when he crashed out for the second race in succession on lap seven. Indeed only twelve riders completed the race as the likes of Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Racing), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), Sete Gibernau (Grupo Francisco Hernando) and James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) went home with DNFs to their names.
RED BULL U.S. GRAND PRIX
MotoGP Race Classification
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Total time Km/h Gap
1 25 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 44'01.580 157.433 2 20 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 44'01.924 157.412 0.344 3 16 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 44'03.506 157.318 1.926 4 13 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team Ducati 44'14.012 156.695 12.432 5 11 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 44'23.243 156.152 21.663 6 10 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 44'23.621 156.130 22.041 7 9 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 44'31.781 155.653 30.201 8 8 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 44'34.437 155.498 32.857 9 7 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 44'41.905 155.065 40.325 10 6 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 44'49.608 154.621 48.028 11 5 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 44'50.390 154.576 48.810 12 4 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 45'20.111 152.887 1'18.531
Not classified 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 8'23.703 26 Lap 59 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando Ducati 8'32.190 26 Lap 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 4'19.395 29 Lap 41 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 4'22.278 29 Lap
Excluded 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha
