Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa completed the 2008 MotoGP World Championship with a strong ride to second place in front of 117,000 sun-blessed fans at Valencia this afternoon. The Spanish star, who qualified second fastest yesterday, led into the first corner and then held second place for the rest of the race, pulling clear of his pursuers but not quite able to go with race-winner Casey Stoner.
Today’s result gave Pedrosa his 11th podium result of 2008. During this year’s 18-race calendar the former 125 and 250 World Champion won two races (Jerez and Catalunya), finished second on five occasions and third on four occasions. He also led the World Championship before falling at July’s German GP and breaking bones in his left hand.
Pedrosa, team-mate Nicky Hayden and their RC212Vs wore a special one-off livery today to celebrate Repsol’s 40 years of motorsport sponsorship.
Dani Pedrosa, finished 2nd, 3rd in World Championship
“I am happy with second place today. I pushed Casey as hard as I could but he had something a little extra and he managed the gap very well. We worked hard all weekend, so my thanks to my team and also to Repsol, the bike I rode today was one of the best-looking bikes I’ve ridden. The crowd was great, it was fantastic to see so many fans here, packing the grandstands and obviously really enjoying the spectacle and pushing us along. Overall, I am also happy with the last few races, because we were able to come back from a difficult period during the middle of the season. We changed tyres and I came in for some criticism, but finally we got back on the pace at the last few races, running close to the front in the wet and in the dry. It hasn’t been the easiest of years. I broke my right hand during preseason testing, I broke my left hand in Germany and I injured my left knee at Phillip Island. These injuries caused me to lose my rhythm and they interrupted our development work, while everyone else was racing and improving their bikes. I have had to push really hard to come back from all these injuries. Tomorrow we start testing for 2009 – I am looking forward to it because things are going well now. I hope to have a good off-season and stay healthy.”
Kazuhiko Yamano - Team Manager
“Today was very difficult because Casey was so fast. Dani did a good job, taking second position in the last race. During the race we gathered plenty of data which will be useful in our preparation for 2009, which begins here tomorrow, with two days of testing. My thanks to Dani and to all members of the team staff for all their hard work this season.”
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