DE ANGELIS ON THE PODIUM IN AMERICA

2009-08-30 15:02
Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) scored his first ever MotoGP podium with a strong second place finish to race winner Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) in the surprising Indianapolis Grand Prix at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The San Marinese took second place on the tenth of 28 laps when Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) suffered a rare race crash out of second place. From there he withstood constant pressure from Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro). It was only in the final ten laps that De Angelis was able to pull away from Hayden to secure his first podium by a comfortable 3.7s.

De Angelis was ecstatic with the result, which comes on the heals of three finishes in the top eight, including a previous best fourth at Donington Park two races earlier. The podium for De Angelis makes it two in a row for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team, which celebrated teammate Toni Elias's first podium of the season in Brno two weeks ago.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) put in a determined charge to try to take the final podium spot. Dovizioso had started the race mid-pack before his own momentum and the misfortune of others allowed him to climb up the lap charts. The pass for fourth came at the mid-point of the race and the final 14 laps were spent pursuing Hayden. Dovizioso closed to within .289s on the final lap, but couldn't find a way past.

Elias had less to celebrate today than in Brno. The Spaniard was forced off the track in the first corner by a MotoGP debutante and completed the first lap in 17th place, nearly 14s behind race leader Dani Pedrosa, who was among the unfortunate in Indianapolis. Elias never gave up and fought his way to a ninth place finish, just in front of Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa was in the lead on the fourth lap when his front end washed away and he crashed in the penultimate turn on the fourth lap. Undeterred, the gritty Spaniard picked up his Honda RC212V and soldiered on. Cautious on his first laps, and riding with a damaged handlebar and foot peg, Pedrosa gradually sped up and worked his way up to tenth, and six valuable championship points. A seventh place or better in next week's race in Misano will elevate Pedrosa into third in the championship.

Randy De Puniet (LCR Honda) overcame the pain of his still healing left ankle to finish 12th on the predominantly left-handed track. More troublesome than the ankle was his tyre choice. The Frenchman chose the harder of the two rear tyre options and knew from the start he didn't have enough grip on the left side of the tire. He ran wide in turn two with seven laps to run and was passed by two riders was in tenth when a mistake on the 16th lap dropped him to his final finishing position.

Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) was the last of the 14 finishers. The Hungarian rider spent the race continuing to learn yet another new racetrack in his debut season in MotoGP. Though he improved over the course of the weekend, he felt that going any faster would have been imprudent and he struggled to finish 14th.

Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) extended his 250 World Championship lead with a determined ride to second place. Aoyama moved into second on the fourth of 26 laps and immediately began pressuring race leader Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera). The Japanese rider was able to keep the gap under .3s until the 22nd lap when a slight bobble in turn 11 cause him a moment's hesitation. That gave Simoncelli the impetus he needed to speed up. The Italian set the fastest lap of the race on the 24th and Aoyama had no answer. Instead he protected his second place finish, and the 20 points that go with it.

With five races remaining, Aoyama leads Alvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aprilia), third today, by 16 points, 192 to 176.

Hector Faubel (Valencia CF-Honda SAG) and Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) were battling mid-race before they went in their separate directions. Wilairot moved up as high as fifth place before a heartbreaking mechanical issue took him out of the race with less than five laps to run. Faubel was also on the move when he had a moment that wrenched his back. The Spaniard lost a few positions and wasn't able to reclaim then.

That Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) even rode is a testament to his determination. The Italian had to take a trip to a local hospital after crashing in Saturday qualifying. The damage was a slight separation of his left shoulder and a bruised left leg. Weakened by injuries, De Rosa didn't have the confidence to race at 100% and finished 11th.

Today was a mixed blessing for Team CIP Honda. French rider Valentin Debise equaled his best result of the season with a 13th place finish, which is better than it looks. Debise unavoidably ran into another rider off the start, tearing off his front fender and sending him backwards. Then came the resurgence that steadily moved him up the order. Had he not been handicapped at the start, he surely would have scored a career best finish. Team-mate Shoya Tomizawa didn't race today. The Japanese rider damaged the chassis on his lone Honda RS250R on Friday and the team couldn't find a replacement. Now they have a short week to return to their base in France to prepare a new machine for next week's race in Misano Adriatico.

Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda) lowered his lap time in the morning warm-up, but wasn't able to put the set-up improvement to use in the race. The Swiss rider was the victim of another rider's exuberance and he crashed on the first lap.

HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES

Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini), second-place finisher, said: "I have to thank the team for the incredible job they have done this weekend — the bike has been fantastic ever since we unpacked it on Friday and we have gone from strength to strength over the course of the weekend. They also gave me a lot of confidence this morning and honestly I think they had more belief that I would be on the podium today than I did! It is a fantastic result, but it is no fluke because we have been in great form over the last five races. It is a long time since I was on the podium back in the 250cc class and I had almost forgotten what a great feeling it was. Now I want to enjoy it and celebrate with another good performance at my home race next weekend."

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), fourth-place finisher, said: "After the warm-up today we made a radical change to the set-up and I have to say that my team has worked really well because, thanks to this modification, my feeling with the machine improved a lot in the race. I could ride faster than during the practice sessions and my rhythm in the race was also consistent. Considering how the weekend had gone up to this point, finishing fourth is quite positive result. We still have to improve though of course. I was close to Nicky and I tried to overtake him several times by taking big risks. It's a pity to finish fourth because the podium was not impossible. The important thing is that we have taken an important step forward. We are close the podium and we will start again in Misano building on this good base."."

Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini), ninth-place finisher, said: "Ninth place is not what we had hoped for before we came here, but I can't complain because after making a bad start to the weekend we have made continual improvements and we were in good shape for this race. Unfortunately I was pushed onto the grass by Aleix (Espargaro) into the second turn and it ruined my race. He came to apologise at the end of the race and I told him not to worry — it has happened to all of us in the past! It is a shame because I think we could have been on the podium today, or at least in the top five, but to take ninth under the circumstances is still a positive result."

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), tenth-place finisher, said: "This result was a real shame but sometimes it happens - it's racing. We did a great job all through practice and qualifying, I was confident for the race and of course I was hoping to win today. I was pushing very hard at the start of the race and perhaps I pushed too much. There was some cloud cover today and maybe the front tyre was a little cooler than before, but whatever the reason, I made a mistake and lost the front. I'm sorry for the team because they've worked really hard for me, and also to the fans who've given me great support. I wanted to win in American again but it wasn't to be. There was some damage to the bike - the handlebar was bent inwards and the footpeg was worn away quite badly, but actually I was able to recover and ride at a fast pace to take some points at the end. Looking on the positive side, we've been very fast here and that means we can take a lot of confidence to Misano next weekend."

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), 12th-place finisher, said: ""In yesterday's qualifying I felt better on a hard rear tyre and that was my choice for today's 28-lap race. But obviously it has been the wrong decision. From the beginning I had not enough grip on the left and I could not open the throttle where I would like. I thought that the grip would have improved after a few laps, but it did not happen and I struggled for the whole race. At seven laps to go I also went wide on turn two and (Toni) Elias and (Chris) Vermeulen were faster than me today. The ankle aches a lot like in Brno but I think that Misano race track will suite me better than Indy."

Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda), 14th-place finisher, said: "Session by session we improved - and this is OK. At the beginning of the race I was in a condition to attack, ad operated a few overtaking, and I enjoyed it. But to do so I had to ride constantly over the limit. In the second part of the race it was a struggle. This is what worries me most: We have to find something big to improve."

HONDA 250cc RIDER QUOTES

Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda), second-place finisher, said: "All in all, I'm satisfied. My crash in the morning was not huge, but the bike was badly damaged in some parts, and my crew had to show all their ability to fix it. Nevertheless, we lost time and were not able to check all the aspect of the new set-up that we had prepared for the race. So, in the last laps, when I saw that to get the victory I had to risk a mistake, I decided that getting these 20 points was too important. Yes, it is a very good result".

Hector Faubel (Valencia CF-Honda SAG), eighth-place finisher, said: "Today I started really good. In the beggining I was in the top six, but in the second corner of the second lap a piece of a bike hit me and I nearly crashed and I lost a lot of positions. After this I caught the riders in front of me and I passed (Lucas) Pesek, but after this I made a mistake opening the throttle too fast and I made a whiplash that hurts my back. After this I couldn't ride the bike at the maximum and I was losing a lot of positions. It is a pity because I thought that I could fight for the top five in this race. Anyway, I'm happy because I get good point for the championship and I'm not losing the option of finishing the championship in the top five."

Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda), 11th-place finisher, said: "The shoulder was not a problem, but my left leg was. Bruised and battered as it was, I could not use it as I wanted. I was forced to take no risks. It was a pity because my feeling with the bike was great and my Honda was very strong on the brakes. But I was not in the condition to take advantage from it. In my opinion, in a normal situation, a fifth, sixth place could be mine."

Valentin Debise (Team CIP Honda), 13th-place finisher, said: "I had quite a good start and I went on the outside, but unfortunately I had (Alex) Baldolini in front of me and it looked like Baldolini jumped on the brakes, so I couldn't avoid him. So I touched him and I just tore off the front mud guard. And then I lost some time, so I was about ten seconds behind the guys then had to catch up a little bit. Fortunately, as the race goes on, some riders crashed and I was able to move up. But from lap four the rear was sliding around and to the end it was like this. So it was quite a difficult race."

Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG), DNF, said: "I made a very good start and I was riding between the seven first riders, but when (Jules) Cluzel crashed, I nearly crashed because all the pieces of the bike were hitting me. And after this I touched (Alex) Debón, and also I nearly fell down. But at this moment it seems that the exhaust pipe was a little bit damaged and also I was riding with the carburetion at the limit and all of these handicaps made that the second cylinder lose the performance. It is a pity because the bike was working really good in terms of chassis and engine. Also I was riding really good and confortable and I could predict to be in the top five. Now we must study what happened and look forward to the next race."

Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda), DNF, said: "The morning warm-up was really good. I was 18th. Sure it would be better at the beginning to start in 18th place, but it's like that. So I was happy about that. The race was really difficult, because I take a good start. I was all the way on the outside on the start and I was on the inside in the first corner and somebody crashed just behind me and I go out and my motorcycle was broken. It was very difficult, because we had a new setting with the bike and I can't say now if it's better. Not the American dream."


Results

MotoGP
Race Classification MotoGP : (28 laps = 118.048 km)
Pos/ Rider / Nat / Team / Motorcycle / Time/ KM/H / Gap
1 / Jorge LORENZO / SPA / Fiat Yamaha Team / YAMAHA / 47'13.592 / 149,976 /
2 / Alex DE ANGELIS / RSM / San Carlo Honda Gresini / HONDA / 47'23.027 / 149,478 / 9,435
3 / Nicky HAYDEN / USA / Ducati Team / DUCATI / 47'26.539 / 149,294 / 12,947
4 / Andrea DOVIZIOSO / ITA / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 47'27.070 / 149,266 / 13,478
5 / Colin EDWARDS / USA / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / YAMAHA / 47'39.846 / 148,599 / 26,254
6 / James TOSELAND / GBR / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / YAMAHA / 47'46.000 / 0.148 / 32,408
7 / Loris CAPIROSSI / ITA / Rizla Suzuki MotoGP / SUZUKI / 47'47.992 / 148,177 / 0.034
8 / Mika KALLIO / FIN / Ducati Team / DUCATI / 47'48.448 / 148,154 / 34,856
9 / Toni ELIAS / SPA / San Carlo Honda Gresini / HONDA / 47'58.597 / 147,631 / 45,005
10 / Dani PEDROSA / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 47'58.969 / 147,612 / 45,377
11 / Chris VERMEULEN / AUS / Rizla Suzuki MotoGP / SUZUKI / 47'59.070 / 147,607 / 45,478
12 / Randy DE PUNIET / FRA / LCR Honda MotoGP / HONDA / 48'05.886 / 147,259 / 52,294
13 / Aleix ESPARGARO / SPA / Pramac Racing / DUCATI / 48'17.144 / 146,686 / 1'03.552
14 / Gabor TALMACSI / HUN / Scot Racing Team MotoGP / HONDA / 48'28.678 / 146,105 / 1'15.086

Pole Position: Dani PEDROSA 1'39.730 152.186 Km/h
Fastest Lap (New record): Lap 4 Jorge LORENZO 1'40.152 151.545 Km/h
Circuit Record Lap: 2008 Valentino ROSSI 1'49.668 138.395 Km/h
Circuit Best Lap: 2009 Dani PEDROSA 1'39.730 152.186 Km/h

World Championship Positions:
1 ROSSI Valentino 212, 2 LORENZO Jorge 187, 3 STONER Casey 150, 4 PEDROSA Dani 141,
5 EDWARDS Colin 123, 6 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 120, 7 DE ANGELIS Alex 88,
8 CAPIROSSI Loris 86, 9 DE PUNIET Randy 84, 10 MELANDRI Marco 79,
11 VERMEULEN Chris 77, 12 HAYDEN Nicky 73, 13 TOSELAND James 72, 14 ELIAS Toni 70,
15 KALLIO Mika 42.


250cc
Race Classification 250cc (26 laps = 109.616 km)
1 / Marco SIMONCELLI / ITA / Metis Gilera / GILERA / 45'43.599 / 143,832 /
2 / Hiroshi AOYAMA / JPN / Scot Racing Team 250cc / HONDA / 45'45.542 / 0.144 / 1,943
3 / Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Mapfre Aspar Team / APRILIA / 45'48.260 / 143,588 / 4,661
4 / Mike DI MEGLIO / FRA / Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc / APRILIA / 45'56.375 / 143,165 / 12,776
5 / Roberto LOCATELLI / ITA / Metis Gilera / GILERA / 45'59.074 / 143,025 / 15,475
6 / Hector BARBERA / SPA / Pepe World Team / APRILIA / 46'03.070 / 142,818 / 19,471
7 / Lukas PESEK / CZE / Auto Kelly - CP / APRILIA / 46'06.281 / 142,652 / 22,682
8 / Hector FAUBEL / SPA / Honda SAG / HONDA / 46'16.408 / 142,132 / 32,809
9 / Thomas LUTHI / SWI / Emmi - Caffe Latte / APRILIA / 46'32.920 / 141,292 / 49,321
10 / Karel ABRAHAM / CZE / Cardion AB Motoracing / APRILIA / 46'33.444 / 141,265 / 49,845
11 / Raffaele DE ROSA / ITA / Scot Racing Team 250cc / HONDA / 46'37.166 / 141,077 / 53,567
12 / Alex BALDOLINI / ITA / WTR San Marino Team / APRILIA / 47'13.316 / 139,277 / 1'29.717
13 / Valentin DEBISE / FRA / CIP Moto - GP250 / HONDA / 47'21.436 / 138,879 / 1'37.837
14 / Axel PONS / SPA / Pepe World Team / APRILIA / 47'30.271 / 138,449 / 1'46.672
15 / Vladimir LEONOV / RUS / Viessmann Kiefer Racing / APRILIA / 47'30.420 / 138,441 / 1'46.821

Pole Position: Mike DI MEGLIO 1'44.341 145.461 Km/h
Fastest Lap (New record): Lap 24 Marco SIMONCELLI 1'44.720 144.935 Km/h
Circuit Record Lap: New circuit
Circuit Best Lap: 2009 Mike DI MEGLIO 1'44.341 145.461 Km/h

World Championship Positions:
1 AOYAMA Hiroshi 192, 2 BAUTISTA Alvaro 176, 3 SIMONCELLI Marco 165,
4 BARBERA Hector 133, 5 PASINI Mattia 100, 6 DE ROSA Raffaele 82, 7 FAUBEL Hector 79,
8 LOCATELLI Roberto 78, 9 LUTHI Thomas 74, 10 DEBON Alex 73, 11 DI MEGLIO Mike 63,
12 PESEK Lukas 53, 13 CLUZEL Jules 48, 14 WILAIROT Ratthapark 43,
15 ABRAHAM Karel 39.


125cc:
Race Classification 125cc (23 laps = 96.968 km)
Pos / Rider / Nat / Team / Motorcycle / Time / KM/H / Gap
1 / Pol ESPARGARO / SPA / Derbi Racing Team / DERBI / 42'07.925 / 138,091 /
2 / Bradley SMITH / GBR / Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc / APRILIA / 42'08.045 / 138,084 / 0.000
3 / Simone CORSI / ITA / Fontana Racing / APRILIA / 42'08.373 / 138,066 / 0,448
4 / Nicolas TEROL / SPA / Jack & Jones Team / APRILIA / 42'09.538 / 138,003 / 1,613
5 / Julian SIMON / SPA / Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc / APRILIA / 42'09.726 / 137,993 / 1,801
6 / Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Red Bull KTM Moto Sport / KTM / 42'27.270 / 137,042 / 19,345
7 / Stefan BRADL / GER / Viessmann Kiefer Racing / APRILIA / 42'27.283 / 137,042 / 19,358
8 / Joan OLIVE / SPA / Derbi Racing Team / DERBI / 42'33.536 / 136,706 / 25,611
9 / Takaaki NAKAGAMI / JPN / Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. / APRILIA / 42'37.165 / 136,512 / 0.029
10 / Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Ajo Interwetten / DERBI / 42'37.632 / 136,487 / 29,707
11 / Danny WEBB / GBR / Degraaf Grand Prix / APRILIA / 42'38.389 / 136,447 / 30,464
12 / Jonas FOLGER / GER / Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. / APRILIA / 42'52.385 / 135,704 / 0.044
13 / Luis SALOM / SPA / Jack & Jones Team / APRILIA / 42'52.474 / 0.136 / 44,549
14 / Tomoyoshi KOYAMA / JPN / Loncin Racing / LONCIN / 42'53.253 / 135,658 / 45,328
15 / Sergio GADEA / SPA / Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc / APRILIA / 42'53.360 / 135,653 / 45,435

Pole Position: Julian SIMON 1'49.337 138.814 Km/h
Fastest Lap (New record): Lap 23 Bradley SMITH 1'49.039 139.194 Km/h
Circuit Record Lap: 2008 Stefan BRADL 1'50.460 137.403 Km/h
Circuit Best Lap: 2009 Bradley SMITH 1'49.039 139.194 Km/h

World Championship Positions:
1 SIMON Julian 185, 2 TEROL Nicolas 132,5, 3 SMITH Bradley 131,5, 4 GADEA Sergio 112,
5 IANNONE Andrea 109,5, 6 ESPARGARO Pol 104,5, 7 MARQUEZ Marc 74,
8 CORTESE Sandro 65, 9 FOLGER Jonas 62, 10 BRADL Stefan 62, 11 OLIVE Joan 55,
12 AEGERTER Dominiqu 50,5, 13 CORSI Simone 48, 14 REDDING Scott 45,5,
15 VAZQUEZ Efren 32.

Source: Honda Pro Image

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