DANI PEDROSA romped to an emphatic victory at Misano earlier today, but the Spaniard's celebrations were dampened by the announcement that Moto2 rider Shoya Tomizawa had lost his life at the track earlier that day during the Moto2 event.
Pedrosa's win gave the Repsol Honda rider his first-ever consecutive MotoGP win; the Spaniard took victory at last weekend's Indianapolis GP.
Dani Pedrosa:
“There are no words to say how it feels after this victory - it feels like nothing. I arrived at parc fermé very happy with the win and I immediately felt that the atmosphere among my mechanics was really strange, everybody was serious. Still with my helmet on they told me about Tomizawa and I couldn’t react. It was a big shock, a big contrast for me. I asked three times if it was true because I couldn’t believe it. It’s so sad, terrible, and these things should never happen. As a person I can only say that he was a very funny boy, always happy and making jokes, and as a rider he earned respect from everybody in a very short time, he was fast and brave. To lose two riders in a week is terrible. I believe everybody in the World Championship is feeling the same now and I want to send my condolences to the family.
"When you are born, life gives you the chance to choose what you want to do. Tomi chose to be a rider and in fact he was doing great. I just want to think that he’s been happy making his dream come true. Concerning the race, I want to say thank you again to my team for doing a great job. The whole weekend has been perfect: good practices, a very high pace during the race, and the second win in a row and the fourth of the season. I want to keep my feet on the ground though and just concentrate on one race at a time. The feeling on the bike is very good now and my goal is to continue in this way. But to be honest I’m not really thinking about that at this moment.”
MISANO MotoGP Race Results
1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 44'22.059
2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team + 1.900
3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team + 3.183
4. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda Team + 6.454
5. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team + 18.479
6. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 + 28.385
7. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 34.934
8. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 38.157
9. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team + 40.943
10. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 42.377
11. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Pramac Green Team + 45.906
12. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Interwetten-Honda MotoGP + 46.394
13. Randy de Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP + 50.481
14. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 1'23.143
DNF
Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Green Team 11 Lap
Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 25 Lap
Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 28 Lap
