Spaniard Dani Pedrosa rode his Honda over the finish line to victory in the Catalunya leg of the MotoGP world championship here on Sunday. Pedrosa took an early lead on the track which is only 20km from his home and finished well ahead of Italy's Valentino Rossi, who dominated a tight battle for second with Australia's reigning world champion Casey Stoner.
Rossi, a seven-time world champion, pushed his Yamaha over the line to finish just over two seconds behind Pedrosa in second with Stoner, on a Ducati, in third having begun the race on pole.
Pedrosa began the race in second on the grid and had the best start by far, forging an early lead and taking his advantage over the pack to over eight seconds at one point. The Spaniard thus picks up his second victory of the season having won the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.
However as he savoured triumph Rossi showed that his recent resurgence is no fluke, his hard-fought second place - after starting ninth on the grid - cementing his top spot in the championship standings.
Rossi, on 142, now leads Pedrosa by seven points.
British rider James Toseland continued his good form in his rookie season, posting his fourth sixth-place finish.
The next Moto GP is at Donington Park in England on June 22.
Earlier, Italian Marco Simoncelli on a Gilera capped a last-gasp overtaking manoeuvre with a stunning victory in the 250cc race. Spaniard Alvaro Bautista finished a close second with another home rider Hector Barbera coming home alone in third.
Finland's Mika Kallio still leads the championship on 106 points, although Simoncelli, on 103, has closed the gap to just three points, with Mattia Pasini of Italy in third. In the 125cc category Frenchman Mike Di Meglio claimed his third career victory after finishing ahead of Spaniard Pol Espargaro, in second, and Gabor Talmacsi of Hungary in third.
Comments
Comments are closed.