Results British Grand Prix - Donington

2007-06-24 09:23
Stoner makes it five at Donington Park

Returning to the scene of his first ever road race appearance, MotoGP World Championship leader Casey Stoner took win number five of the 2007 season and his premier class career at the Nickel & Dime British Grand Prix.

The Australian extends his lead at the top of the standings to 26 points courtesy of a great performance at a tricky circuit, prompting Ducati MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo to describe his 21 year-old protégé as 'a genius'. Like all genii, Stoner did things very much his way at Donington Park, having to make up a number of positions after an atrocious start.

Back up to seventh by the end of lap one, Stoner needed just three more laps to put himself amongst the podium spots during the 'wet weather' stage of the proceedings, finally passing leader Colin Edwards at the halfway point. From there he never looked back; knowing when to back off as a dry line was established on the track and saving his tyres to take his Desmosedici GP7 through to victory.

Once again, the rider on pole failed to win the race, but Colin Edwards at least had a better race than at Le Mans where he took his maiden top spot. Finishing second in his best result of the past two years, 'The Texan Tornado' will have confidence at an all-time high when he returns to Assen next Saturday to avenge some of his personal demons from 2006.

Having crashed three times over the course of the weekend, Chris Vermeulen rewarded the mechanics that he had kept so busy over the weekend with the final podium position. A fantastic start from twelfth on the grid gave the wet weather expert the chance to show his stuff, and he didn't disappoint with a masterful display. Overtaking seven-time Donington victor Valentino Rossi at the death, the second Australian on the rostrum held off any attempt at an immediate comeback from the Italian to earn his second top three finish of the year.

Rossi's tyres were destroyed at the end of the race, as the Italian pushed his Yamaha M1 to the limit, and he had to be wary of any mistake allowing the second Suzuki of Anglo-American John Hopkins to close him down.

Randy de Puniet followed up his fifth place at Catalunya with another top six finish onboard the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR. The Frenchman has had little time to recover from an operation on his knee, making his gritty showing all the more impressive.

Alex Barros took seventh on the last lap, ahead of 2006 race winner Dani Pedrosa. After a good start, the factory Honda rider was - in true British schoolyard style- bullied into eighth by some of MotoGP's 'bigger boys', as first the Suzuki riders and then Barros imposed themselves on the 21 year-old Spaniard.

Alex Hofmann and Marco Melandri completed the top ten, with the latter only coming into form as the track dried to suggest that perhaps his tyre choice was not quite what was required.

Making his debut for Kawasaki in MotoGP, the Nickel & Dime British Grand Prix was Anthony West's first chance to show what the premier class has been missing over the past six years. The 25 year-old had been fastest in the warm-up, and was one of the outstanding riders of the day. Showing no respect for reputations, West passed the likes of World Champion Nicky Hayden, fellow Australian Vermeulen and five-time MotoGP title holder Rossi to ascend to fourth position in the early going, and almost impressed just as much after a crash soon after. Dusting off his bike, West returned to the track and set about salvaging something from the race, eventually finishing a respectable eleventh.

250cc

In the first race of the day, Andrea Dovizioso took his second victory of the season and cut the gap between the 250cc top two to just 11 points, taking advantage of crashes by poleman Alex de Angelis and series leader Jorge Lorenzo in a soaking wet occasion.

Up until this race, every quarter litre Grand Prix of the year had been won by the rider on pole, something that looked to be on the cards up until lap 25. De Angelis had been the runaway leader since taking the holeshot, and looked to be a sure bet for the win as he undertook a cautious ride of the slippery Donington surface. Held up by backmarkers late on, the San Marino rider saw Dovizioso close him down, and then crashed when put under pressure from the Team Scot man.

With a huge gap between the top two and the remainder of the field, De Angelis was still able to rejoin the race in second place, putting himself on the podium once more. The rostrum was completed by Hiroshi Aoyama in his first top three finish of the season, engaged in a sprint to the line with compatriot Yuki Takahashi.

The crash which allowed Dovizioso to cut down the lead in the title chase came on lap 10, with Jorge Lorenzo highsiding his factory Aprilia at Coppice corner. Alvaro Bautista had given Lorenzo an early warning of the dangers of the treacherous corner two laps earlier, when he crashed out from fourth, but Lorenzo was by no means the last to fall foul of the right hander. Julian Simon was another to take a spill there, eventually finishing seventh behind Shuhei Aoyama and Mika Kallio.

Kallio added his name to the list of crashees on the final lap, but only gave up one place as the final rider to go round without being lapped.

Thai rookie Ratthapark Wilairot earned his best ever finish in eighth, ahead of home rider Dan Linfoot at the Briton's first race of the season. Cardion AB's Karel Abraham concluded the top ten in a mature ride from the young Czech.

There were also crashes for - amongst others- Marco Simoncelli, Hector Barbera, Thomas Luthi and Roberto Locatelli.


125cc

After a long run of misfortune this season, Mattia Pasini took a popular first victory from pole in a dry 125cc race to close the Nickel & Dime British Grand Prix.

The Italian had qualified at the head of the grid for the fifth time this season, and was not going to let previous events affect him as he chased down his first win since Sachsenring last year. Pasini was not about to let anyone get in his way, and after taking the lead definitively the Polaris World rider had a nervous final lap as he awaited the chequered flag. Greeted in pit lane by members of not just his team but a multitude of other mechanics, the 21 year-old was clearly delighted to break the curse which prompted him to adorn his bike with a black cat, and will hope that his season can finally begin in earnest.

The seventh different 125cc winner of the season came in just over three seconds ahead of the victor of the previous round; Red Bull KTM's Tomoyoshi Koyama. The Japanese rider was once again in the mix for the top spot of the podium in a tricky race declared dry but threatening rain.

Hector Faubel completed the 125cc podium, and leapfrogged team-mate Gabor Talmacsi to take the lead in the overall standings by just three points. Talmacsi was forced into retirement from the race with a mechanical problem, ending any chance of another podium finish for the Hungarian.

Sergio Gadea came out on top in a back-and-forth battle between himself and Joan Olive which went right down to the wire, whilst Team Scot rider Mike di Meglio rounded off the top six. British hope Bradley Smith was the highest finishing home rider of the day, but had to settle for seventh at Donington Park. The top ten was completed by Raffaele de Rosa, Pablo Nieto and Simone Corsi.

The next round of the MotoGP World Championship takes place in Assen next Saturday.

Source: Dorna Communications


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