The Repsol Honda team endured a bizarre race in the San Marino Grand Prix this afternoon, with Dani Pedrosa being taken out on the first lap.
A last minute yellow flag displayed due to issues with Karel Abraham's bike, created confusion on the grid as teams regrouped to prepare for a restart. When Dani's crew went to remove his front tyre warmer the wheel was locked, causing delay for the Spanish rider. The brake issue was resolved only after the permitted time and for this reason Dani had to start from the back of the grid.
Title contender Dani had a strong start from 21st and had climbed to 8th position in few corners, when Hector Barberá crashed in turn 6 and unfortunately wiped out his fellow countryman.
Dani's Repsol Honda team-mate Jonathan Rea avoided any such drama and found himself in clear space for much of the race. Jonathan, taking part in his first MotoGP race, took this opportunity to progress his already rapid learning curve on the Honda RC213V. As his confidence grew, he gradually closed in on Nicky Hayden but was unable to catch him. He finished in 8th position and scored his maiden points in the premier class.
The next race takes place in 2 weeks in Aragon. Dani will be looking to recover some important points on Lorenzo and Jonathan will continue to gain experience on the Honda MotoGP machine at a track he has already tested at in early September.
"It was a tough race and I just wanted to get into a rhythm and maintain it. I'm still nowhere near the limit, I'm not really having any moments, just a few mistakes running wide, it's a matter of trust and I'm still acclimatising to the machine. I'm really happy with the progress I made throughout the race and I learnt so much that you simply can't pick up in testing about race distance, how the tyre wear goes down, the fuel load and how the bike behaves differently. In the beginning Nicky pulled a gap and I was catching him but in the end it wasn't enough. To finish 8th is ok, but the gap to the front is a little frustrating. In general I'm really happy and I'm looking forward to the next challenge in Aragon. I want to thank all the Repsol Honda team for their hard work and support they've given me and to all the fans back home".
"It's was total chaos and many things happened at the same time. It all began with the restart because the procedure was not at all clear. Nobody knew if it was one minute, three minutes, warmers on or off… We were also getting different information about the number of laps, 26, 27… Then suddenly we were told it was 1 minute to the start of the race, with no board signage, nothing. The mechanics were rushing to prepare and when they tried to take off the warmers my front wheel was somehow locked, they tried to unlocked it but they weren't able to and due to the 1 minute warning - where they are not allowed to touch the bike anymore - they put me to the back of the grid. I tried to remain focused, not make any mistake on the first lap, make clear moves to overtake riders and I was 8th or 9th by the sixth corner when Barberá hit me from behind, and that was it. I'm very upset because even it's easy to say now, I think I could have had a chance to win this race, even starting from the last place on the grid. Now the Championship is obviously more uphill for me, but I will continue the same way. We have done everything we could so far, the bike is working well and I'm riding well, too. So it's not over for me; there are still 5 races to go and we will do our best".
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