MotoGP - Perfect Pedrosa Maintains Honda’s Clean Sweep of 2014 Wins

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) rode a superbly judged race at Brno to score his first victory of the season and thereby end the winning streak of team-mate Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V) who came home fourth this afternoon. Pedrosa’s 26th MotoGP victory strengthened his second place in the World Championship standings and moved him to within 77 points of Marquez with seven races remaining.

Pedrosa – who had already won here in MotoGP, 250s and 125s – started well from the second row of the grid and steadily worked his way to the front, setting a new lap record and then grabbing the lead from Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) at Turn Three on lap six. Although Lorenzo tried everything in his power to stay with the Honda he couldn’t quite manage it around the fast, majestic Brno circuit. At one point Pedrosa built a 1.7 second advantage over his closest rival, finally crossing the line 0.410 seconds ahead as he battled some front-end chatter issues during the final laps. After the race he strongly congratulated his team for his first win since Sepang 2013.

Marquez had won the previous ten races and looked likely to continue his winning streak after yesterday taking his ninth pole position of the year, but it was not to be. After passing Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) in the early stages it seemed that he would attempt to attack Lorenzo and Pedrosa and take the lead. But this time he didn’t quite have the set-up to challenge at the front. He was losing a fraction of second as he accelerated out of every corner due to a slight lack of rear grip. Initially he attempted to make up for the handicap by braking later into corners, but that only overheated the front tire.

As intelligent as he is fast, Marquez realized it would be impossible to win the race and eventually lost the battle for third with Rossi. He was not disheartened though. He always knew he would get beaten one day and even announced that he now feels more relaxed because he no longer has to bear the pressure of trying to win every race. With 11 rounds done and seven to go, the 21-year-old reigning champion is still to retain his title.

After crashing out at Indy last weekend, Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda RC213V) was happy to score more points today, taking seventh place despite taking a wrong turn during practice which lost him time in trying to find the perfect set-up for today’s race. The German did his best to catch Ducati duo Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso but in the later stages he struggled with front-end grip.

Dani Pedrosa

Repsol Honda Team: race winner
“I am very happy to have won this race! This year it has been a tough road to victory, but today everybody in the team is very happy. Seeing their smiling faces makes me happy as well, because you always try to get the best results but don't always manage to do so. This year we have an amazing rival in Marc, who has had great performances at every round so far. Maybe today wasn’t his best day, but I think that we also worked very well this weekend. Bringing home the win for the team feels fantastic.”

Marc Marquez

Repsol Honda Team: 4th
“Today was one of those Sundays in which I neither felt completely comfortable, nor had found the best set-up for the bike. It wasn’t down to a mistake by me or by the team, it was simply that we didn't have the same feeling as on other Sundays. In a way it’s taken a weight off my shoulders, as now people won’t be asking me if I can win every race any more. It was also important that we were able to focus on staying in fourth, even though it was tough not to be fighting for the win. We took 13 points that are important for the World Championship and we still have a big advantage. What matters is who wins the title, not who wins the most races.”