Reverend
March 30th, 2008, 17:07 PM
Honda rider Dani Pedrosa took the championship lead after powering to victory in front of his home crowd at the Spanish MotoGP in Jerez.
Pedrosa, last year's championship runner-up, took the race lead early from the front of the grid and finished ahead of Valentino Rossi.
Jorge Lorenzo came third, as defending champion Casey Stoner finished 11th after twice running onto the gravel.
Pedrosa passed his compatriot on the first corner and was never seriously challenged in the rest of the race.
Stoner was trying make up ground from the start, having begun the day seventh on the grid, but his chances of a decent finish took a knock on lap three when he ended up in the gravel and was relegated to the back of the field.
By the end, he had battled his way through to 11th place but another misjudgement as he tried to pass Shinya Nakano and Chris Vermeuelen saw him end up in the gravel again.
Jerez MotoGP result:
1. D Pedrosa (Sp) Honda
2. V Rossi (It) Yamaha
3. J Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha
4. N Hayden (US) Honda
5. L Capirossi (It) Suzuki
6. J Toseland (GB) Yamaha
7. J Hopkins (US) Kawasaki
8. A Dovizioso (It) Honda
Championship standings:
1. D Pedrosa 41 pts
2. J Lorenzo 36
3. V Rossi 31
4. C Stoner 30
5. A Dovizioso 21
6. J Toseland 20
7. L Capirossi 19
8. N Hayden 19
Constructor standings:
1. Honda 41 pts
2. Yamaha 40
3. Ducati 30
4. Suzuki 19
5. Kawasaki 13
BBC Sport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/7321486.stm)
Pedrosa, last year's championship runner-up, took the race lead early from the front of the grid and finished ahead of Valentino Rossi.
Jorge Lorenzo came third, as defending champion Casey Stoner finished 11th after twice running onto the gravel.
Pedrosa passed his compatriot on the first corner and was never seriously challenged in the rest of the race.
Stoner was trying make up ground from the start, having begun the day seventh on the grid, but his chances of a decent finish took a knock on lap three when he ended up in the gravel and was relegated to the back of the field.
By the end, he had battled his way through to 11th place but another misjudgement as he tried to pass Shinya Nakano and Chris Vermeuelen saw him end up in the gravel again.
Jerez MotoGP result:
1. D Pedrosa (Sp) Honda
2. V Rossi (It) Yamaha
3. J Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha
4. N Hayden (US) Honda
5. L Capirossi (It) Suzuki
6. J Toseland (GB) Yamaha
7. J Hopkins (US) Kawasaki
8. A Dovizioso (It) Honda
Championship standings:
1. D Pedrosa 41 pts
2. J Lorenzo 36
3. V Rossi 31
4. C Stoner 30
5. A Dovizioso 21
6. J Toseland 20
7. L Capirossi 19
8. N Hayden 19
Constructor standings:
1. Honda 41 pts
2. Yamaha 40
3. Ducati 30
4. Suzuki 19
5. Kawasaki 13
BBC Sport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/7321486.stm)