Pedrosa ends winless streak at Laguna Seca
Added on Monday, July 6th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Pedrosa ends winless streak at Laguna Seca
Dani Pedrosa ended his injury nightmare and Honda’s 18-round winless run with a superb victory at Laguna Seca.
The Spaniard eased to victory in Sunday’s US Grand Prix ahead of Valentino Rossi to leapfrog teammate Andrea Dovizioso in the rider’s championship and end a miserable twelve months both him and Honda.
A string of injuries have killed off Pedrosa’s title chances in both 2008 and 2009, with crashes at Sachsenring and Mugello in particular leaving Pedrosa fighting for fitness but there seemed to be few signs of any physical of confidence problems in California, despite Rossi pushing close on the final corner.
Starting from fourth, a blistering start gave Pedrosa a lead which he would never relinquish whilst the likes of Rossi, Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo were left to battle it out for the remaining two podium spots. Lorenzo, who was a doubt following his crash after Saturday’s qualifying, took third ahead of Stoner, who himself was still struggling with illness.
But it was Pedrosa who took the headlines and the 23-year-old was quick to thank his team’s medical staff after the win.
“This is a fantastic win for us and it’s a great feeling after such a long time without a victory,” he claimed.
“The start to the season has been really difficult and actually it’s been tough since Sachsenring last year because I’ve had a lot of injuries and I haven’t been able to ride at 100 per cent for a long time, or train properly. But my team and Honda never gave up and I’d like to thank everyone who’s been working really hard to help me get back to this position. I’d also like to thank the doctors who have treated me because there have been quite a few of them!
“I got a good start, I was able to get into a good rhythm straight away and my pace was a little better than in practice. Perhaps my only mistake here was to slow down too much on the last lap because I didn’t realize how close Valentino was. Anyway, it was a great race, a great day and it’s a great feeling.
British rider James Toseland suffered a less successful weekend, being disqualified for failing to accept ride-through penalty for a false start.
