Aragon MotoGP

Pedro's at down! That has torn the Claudia Lawrence or has strolled. -

The pendulum has swung the wheel of Georgi -- Jorge Lorenzo in Misano

two weeks ago. Welcome to Aragon. We're in the shade, but the sun is

shining today after a wait -- wet weekend so far. It is a crucial

opportunity for Dani Pedrosa to recover points after at the start -

- disastrous San Marino Grand Prix, where it all went wrong before

anything even started. OK, this is going to be quite a

base, I think. There was a green flag for the

first lap. A lot of exciting racing, then I shifted to first gear and

the bike went down. Maybe I did not put the clutch properly. They

pushed me, I came to the grid, it did at the same thing, the flag

went down, I showed my hand as quickly as I could because I did

not want them to start the race. that point if the red light is on

and a bike has stalled, I have no option but to delay the start.

The Moors of the teams on the grid, the personnel, they had not

experienced this. Some of the older men had not

experienced it for a long time. We were getting 27 maps, the

mechanics, everyone, every team was a little nervous at this moment.

No one knew if it was three minutes, five minutes, people were yelling,

I am looking at the front row, and I thought, I am not putting my

helmet on until they get back to their bikes.

Everyone switched their bikes of, and we were so tight on fuel, we

did not want them to run any more because you cannot refill on that

the grid. I waited for my moment, my moment

is on the track, not outside it. There had to be a certain amount of

time, I could not start of warm-up lap until such time as we cleared

the grid. That took longer than we would have liked.

When they tried to take off the warmers, my front wheel was locked

up. The mechanic tried to unlock the wheel, but it was not possible.

After one minute, you cannot touch the bike anymore, so I had to start

blast. They had to restart the procedure

again, unfortunately it happened again, I showed my hand, I went for

my second bike and tried to start. Yes, I thought it was maybe better

for him to stay in second place and follow me, because I wanted to pull

a very fast race. It was more of... It did not matter

anyway, I was useless on the first lap.

It was going to be difficult, but I tried to stay focused and not

making mistakes, and five or six corners later, again, crazy

thinking, I don't know what he was At first did not finish of the

season then, George Lawrence also had won earlier in the season. You

could say they are level on that score. 38. They gap between the two

Spaniards coming into that end this their home race. 125 points up for

their home race. 125 points up for grabs still. Further down you can

see that after the crash for Cal Crutchlow at Misano and the

wonderful second place for Valentino Rossi, the gap between

Valentino Rossi, the gap between those two for fifth place is now

two points. Salt, Steve, Charlie, absolute chaos at Misano. The race

authorities have been criticised for it by the people in the paddock

and also the person who organises the championship. Any sympathy?

it is a panicky situation. It is like missing your flight on your

way to an interview or something. It is one of the situations. Things

can easily go wrong, and quite honestly I think a lot of people

are trying to blame others, but it has a horrible situation. There was

a little confusing, because at one point we did not know whether the

latter count was 28 Aug 27, and there was pressure on the guys to

get out there straight away. The real problem was that Dani Pedrosa

paid the ultimate penalty. Everyone was tight on fuel, they had to

switch their engines off, and Dani Pedrosa's brakes welded on and that

was the end of it. It is one of those things there is

no contingency for. A as, of course the bricks situation, everything

conspired to go wrong for Dani Pedrosa and it has wrecked his

championship. Yes, on one hand, but 125 points up

for grabs, and the reason we love motorcycle racing is that trouble

is never far from the door. It also -- also caught out toddler's Enzo -

- Jorge Lorenzo. Her he saved that was quite

extraordinary, he was on his knee and pushed himself back up. That

was as close as you could want, and he had delayed behind him.

A few moments after that, Cal Crutchlow crashed on the very same

corner. According to the data, they were going at the same speed, so it

is a fine line between success and failure. It has been a bumpy ride

for Cal Crutchlow, this weekend, as well. That was even before he got

Not very nice. I feel sick. I am no good as a passenger and the thing

was rocking around. It was good for the entertainment value and it was

something different, but I am no good on boats and travelling as a

passenger, it is no good for me. The one the good thing for Cal

Crutchlow is that he was not a passenger in your vehicle, Steve,

which I have had the pleasure of -- I have had the pleasure of.

I would have rolled it over, for sure.

No points Misano. The other racer, Johnny Gray, he brought it home in

eighth place. He is being a very sensible, he has not thrown it down

the road yet. He is chipping away every time he

goes out. You have to remember what he is going through at the moment.

Superbikes, MotoGP, Superbike, MotoGP, it is like getting in a

different car every day. Everyone knows he is a good rider.

As we will see in qualifying, he is only a second of pole position. You

would not beat him on a weekend like this, would you? Be it had

been a tough one for him. We were hoping his performance at

Misano would be enough for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team to give

them a chance. These people have contract to honour, as well, so

that door closed. Jonathan rear at was signed for our -- at least one

more here at Repsol Honda. The man who knows all about that is the

owner of San Carlo Honda Gresini himself.

I guess Alvaro Bautista is in the frame for next year's ride, what

can you tell us? For next year it is very close for

Alvaro Bautista. It is very close to finalising his agreement for

next year. I guess we can expect an announcement soon then?

I don't know. We will see if it is possible to finalise this project.

Amazing what a podium place can do for your contract chances. As

Charlie mentioned before, so difficult for Jonathan Rayer and

all the riders when we have had such a mixed conditions over at the

weekend. Yet, it is horrible, he needs stability to get back into

that bike. It is a shame, I would love to see

him at MotoGP and I am sure he will get here at some point. It is a

Luddite sponsorship and what your passport is. The conditions have

been absolutely atrocious, and look at this, Jorge Lorenzo, in the rain,

it is absolutely flooded. Look at his forties in his eyes. It is

quite extraordinary. -- looked at the focus.

The trouble with that is that every second wet means it has all been

such a waste of time. The riders are taking their place

on the grid, really difficult conditions over the weekend, big

decisions now to be made by the riders and engineers as they need

to plan for a dry race after a wet This is getting ridiculous, what

happened to global warming? We had Italy, know what net -- now we have

Spain. Two sessions of qualifying and practice have been lost. They

are trying to sort out tyre compounds, gear ratios, electronics,

these are intricate machines that need sorting out, it is a nightmare.

It is pretty hard, and it has been that way two weekends in a role,

but you have to do the best you can add try and get into the mindset as

quick as you can to qualify. last thing you want is to get into

a rhythm again, then you have 60 minutes to go wide and decide you

grid position, it is tough. I am very lucky that four weeks ago we

did a day and have testing. We went to the rubber ring, I knew where I

was going. We know from the past, the radar

was saying it should be rain again -- raining again at 2pm. It was a

matter of going out the first exit and thinking about race set up,

trying to get out immediately and put a lap tie-pin in case it starts

raining. Then use the next 20 minutes to kind of do some more

maps and get ready for the race, and have caused the last 15 think

about qualifying again. It makes for a quick bar. -- hour.

Losing all surgeons to the weather means a huge job for everybody. --

all sessions. There is one hour to get it all done. In conditions like

this, even the experts were caught out. Dani Pedrosa went first. The

second lap... No great surprise when his team-

mate went down, as well, at Nicky Hayden Rhett -- wrecking another

Ducati. You can excuse a young man a late Yonny Hernandez, he was in

good company, after all. Cal Crutchlow kept his cool. Write to

the end it looked like he had pole position. Locke was not with him,

though. He was caught up by a back marker. It did not take long for

Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo, the usual suspects, to get back to the

top. Jonathan rear, a great He has never won here, but Jorge

Lorenzo just took the pole. If it was a tricky moment in the

middle, I put in some decent laps, then I forgot more about this

incident so I focused more on getting to the front row. The first

corner is very close, so I hope to get a good start. I was quite

pleased. We never did the second test here

in Aragon. We came out of the first session quite fast, so we did two

could have runs, and we seemed to be quite well up there, as well.

Hopefully tomorrow they will not catch up so much and we can be

there at the end of the race, as well.

The most important is tomorrow, there are a lot of laps tomorrow,

so let's see how the weather is. We will hope it does not rain, it is

better like this than rain conditions.

Qualifying is one thing, but there are no points for VAT. It is all

about the race, 23 laps, and if you're Engineer at its it sorted

out, its key at -- Quay is worth every penny. Some of the best races

we have ever seen is where they have no track down.

The sun is out now, a beautiful day, perfect conditions for racing, and

they have come all the way from Brazil to watch it. 245 Premier

class appearances, Alex, you have not been in the paddock for five or

six years now, but you follow the racing closely - what have you made

of the championship so far? Thank you, it is nice to be back

here at the championship. It is a chance to see some classes, and the

championship now, I know there has been a big mistake for Dani Pedrosa,

in the championships some races can change everything, so pay attention.

You finished your career on our Ducati, you have seen your old

friend Valentino Rossi moved to Ducati. He has had so many problems,

you were one of the few to beat him at the peak of his powers. Can he

still win races and championships? Are very much. He will race for the

championship. It should not be easy, at the moment he is moving to

Yamaha, but he is races are going up a lot, he has a lot more

experience, and for everyone this fight between Hoare Taylor at --

Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi should be good promotion, nice to

watch the races. Go right to see you here, Alex,

enjoy the racing today. Well, it looks certain one way or another

that the world champion this year is going to be Spanish in the

MotoGP class, and end the second class, as well, it looks more

likely that the title is coming to this country, as well. Mark Markes

has dominated his class, and is turning his attention to MotoGP. He

will be replacing Casey Stoner He may look like butter wouldn't

melt but stick him on a bike and this fresh faced 19 kwraoerbld is

as fierce as they come. With 24 wins, one world title and a second

almost wrapped up MotoGP better watch out for him. Already this

year I have pressure because the people start to say OK, this

championship is for you, and everything and every year you learn

something and next year will be interesting moment because in new

category, best category of the world, there everything is bigger,

and everything is coming bigger and bigger and will be nice. Need to

have a good team, a good persons around you. This is the most

important. And then family, everything, if you have a good

persons, it's OK around you when you are on the track, it's easy.

Always I do my 100% on the track. Always I try to respect my

opponents but then one race, the last laps, are exciting and you

need to be like that. I think back of the group they are more

aggressive than in the front. The front you know are come ras and

everything and this first two years in the World Championship I learn a

lot that and also I saw winners and I saw on the last lap need to be

adepressive, but always try to respect the opponent. In races can

happen other things and I have experience of last year that I have

injured, it will be difficult to keep same concentration, same level

but I will try to do my best and to try to keep these advantages. All

the people say to me, you can win, it will be difficult, I want to

start on the first race and from that step by step try to improve. I

don't want to arrive on the third race and just to go, my goal for

next year is try to learn everything and try to have some

line that go up and try to improve every race.

He is a massive talent. If you didn't want the Moto 2 race on the

red button before we started then you must join us for extra after

the show today and get the highlights or watch it online on

the iPlayer later in the week. It was an incredible race. The future

looks Spanish at the moment with guys like that coming through. We

don't know where the next American ride certificate coming from but we

have had one world world champion in 2006 and Nicky Hayden lines up

here. This is a good track for you, first of all, how is the hand?

a lot better. I knocked it a little bit in the crash yesterday but a

lot better. Maybe not 100%, but it's not too bad here. A lot less

braking and the crash, missing the race, do a soft track would be nice

to get a result here and get momentum going and build something,

salvage the season. We are running out of chances here so we need to

get a good result today and build on it the rest of the way. Great to

see the sun out today. Obviously it's not warm enough for you, you

have your hat on. A gamble in terms of the set-up going into this one?

I think everybody, apart maybe from the guys who tested here, a little

gamble because we have little dry time and the track's warmer than

yesterday. We are going with the harder front tyre than I used

yesterday and obviously this morning the warm-up 940, no way we

could use it. I hadn't actually been on it all weekend but most

everybody will go with it. It's a tyre we have used a lot this year.

I can't say it's a huge gamble but it's always nice going into a nice

down a few laps on the race tyres but I am going to get one warm-up

lap so hopefully that's enough. Thank you, all the best. All right,

cheers, thank you. Let's move forward to the second row, I

believe. We saw last time out a close podium

battle for Stefan missing out in the end. It seems ever closer to

reaching the podium. Hopefully. It will be not easy because you know

the guys are really experienced and really fast so I try to learn

because especially it will be very tough because at the end the tyre

will drop a lot so I have to learn to manage the situation and to

don't drop the lap time. That will be the target for the race and from

the result we will see. Just one second between the front two rows

here, do you expect it to be close again? Well, we had a good test

here. Hopefully we can use it and yeah, I try my best and then we see.

Good luck in the race. It could be a real shuffle at the

front. As we saw a couple of weeks ago instead of fan -- Stefan

fighting for the podium. The important thick for you one

point second to pole position, it's not a big gap. The guys are getting

closer. I am really happy. We got closure from the leaders. Even this

track we have a long strait but even we are, as you say close from

the leaders, so we have to be happy and try to battle now with my team-

mate. You also have a couple of prototype guys behind you as well.

Are you hoping to finish in front of those guys? We will see,

yesterday we did qualifying, really fast lap but checked the time from

two years ago and time yesterday was not really fast so I think they

will improve his time during the race and we will try to follow. But

as I said, the strait is really, really long. We don't want to give

the Moto 2 result away, so close your ears for a couple of seconds,

but what a race from your brother. Unbelievable. It was really

difficult because as everybody said, Mark was unbelievable. Unbelievable

job. It was difficult to win him but Paul did a great race and I am

really, really happy. Let's hope it's a great day for the family.

will cross fingers. Thank you very much. Let's catch up with Jonathan

Rae. Just over a second off pole here

with Jonathan. Last time out you were telling Matt you were almost

hyperventilating on the grid. I guess it feels more normal now.

Honestly, I am still the same, really nervous. This morning we

made a bad change and I got into a bad rhythm, so I hope to go out and

find pace in the early laps and joining some kind of battle and

make the race a little bit, hopefully it will fly past a little

quicker. 43 seconds at the end of the winner in Mozano. The first

target is to close that gap? Yeah, that's my only target right now. To

be honest, I want to enjoy this experience and do the best job I

can and in the end if I give it my everything I can be happy enough

and walk away from this learning a lot more to take back to Superbike.

Good luck. We are all behind you once again, Johnny. There is Jorge

Lorenzo. Not won a race here at Aragon. Neither has Dani Pedrosa.

The two Spaniards fighting it out at the top of the championship and

then our own Cal Crutchlow after that crash, which was preceded by a

podium, we all have our fingers crossed for Cal today.

Steve, Charlie, tyre choice critical. Cal was saying he would

risk a hard front tyre yesterday in the press conference. The

conditions now, most guys are going to be doing the same? Yeah, the

trick is it's only 17 degrees air temp and that means the track temp

is cool as well. As soon as we get that sheet we will let you know.

There is the circuit. It is a very, very interesting track. One of my

favourites I have to say, I have been fortunate enough to ride

around it a few times. This section one is very tricky, it climbs all

the way up through section one, getting up to the top of the hill

where there is a great viewing spot. Section two, drops down to the

reverse Corkscrew area. Sector three really tight and twisty and

amazingly in the wet Her nan des is one of the quickest through that.

That's the point they're talking There is the grid. Cal Crutchlow on

the front row. Nice work as well from Bradl. If you are Jonathan Rae,

you want to frame that. Look at that Espargaro.

Terrific stuff from him. There everyone's gone for the harder

front, pretty much everyone and soft rear. They haven't tested on

them at all this weekend but going to give them a go because they give

more stability. Even though it's cool, 17 degrees air and not much

higher on the track to be honest, so they're sacrifice ago bit of

early grip so they've got that stability on the brakes. The first

lap or two will be rather tricky with cold track temperature and

watching yourself a little bit. It's the first time when you get to

turn three when you have used the right-hand side of the tyre, early

on. This man was very unlucky not to get the pole. Half a second in

front with a few minutes left on an even fast lap, he was held up, then

working down the hill, unfortunately, for want of two

seconds he would have got another lap but he just missed the flag.

And Cal is well aware that his 5th place in the championship is under

threat. Valentino Rossi who got that podium last time out just two

points behind him. 120 for Rossi. Let's hope he gets a great result

this weekend to stay 5th in the championship. You heard it from him

when he was talking to Matt at the top of the show, when he was

interviewed he said, look, I just rode a rotten first lap and as a

result of that - it seems to be a real bugbear. If dove dove gets If

Andrea Dovizioso gets past him. It will be back ard -- awkward. He

has one warm-up lap, all these guys to try that front tyre and get some

heat in it. The heat doesn't just come from leaning the bike over.

are talking about going the wrong way in set-ups and the pressure for

everybody as we look at that downhill run and this huge left-

hander. Jonathan Rae, this morning in the warm-up, that's what he was

referring to, he was 12th because he got it wrong. That fast-slow,

getting on the brakes, off the brakes, that's all Dani Pedrosa was

doing at the start of the last race but it was enough to weld them

if he had to be beyond the disc, but they were eating up the tyres,

Pedrosa nor Lorenzo have either won here, so there is a little on the

line. The answer is soon to be found. Cal

Crutchlow was third, and if he can get a clean start it will be

fantastic. The reds are up in Aragon. Good start from Lorenzo.

Lorenzo has made it to the first corner first. Ben Spies has gone

within, and Cal Crutchlow is back and forth. Carbon debt is one heck

of a climb up that hill to the top of this mountain in Aragon.

Valentino Rossi had to start from the pitch -- pit lane last year.

Jorge Lorenzo has put in his last engine for the season. He is now on

his sixth. A good start from Ben Spies. Cal Crutchlow was fourth,

lost a place of. Ben Spies has had some real pace of

the weekend. He just got a little caught out by a very fluky timing,

as we see Nicky Hayden ducking down the inside of his team-mate,

Valentino Rossi. Nicky Hayden made a very firm pass there, brilliant

to see. Aleix Espargaro holding off Alvaro Bautista for the time being.

This is the section where Hernandez, of all people, was super quick.

We just, he was, remember when Valentino Rossi did that past two

years ago, he called it the backdoor past. That is a good move

from his point of view. There is Cal Crutchlow, number 35,

nicely tucked into fourth. Nicky Hayden is looking good, way over

200 mph down that hill. That was contact! Valentino Rossi! That was

close. We are with Valentino Rossi, that was very focusing.

I ensure that was the back of Jonathan rear there. -- I am sure.

Told about never dull, that was a ride on debt of action for you.

That was extraordinary. Valentino Rossi will keep an eye on where

that leaves him. Backs looked on that -- let's look

again at this from the outside. Jonathan rear once the line, he is

following Nicky Hayden. Rossi tried on the outside, he will come right

back. He started from the slip road last year, he will now have to

start from the slip road at the end of the straight. It is a long

enough lap, you do not need to make it any longer.

His speed down there was 335 kilometres per hour, 210 mph when

he weaned the side of Jonathan rear. For Cal Crutchlow, frustration

again. You were riding with Rossi and we have light years back to the

next bike. They're having a heck of a job

fighting their way back. 22 laps remaining of this. Cal Crutchlow,

number 35 per, won the Yamaha, it right up on the factory bike of Ben

Spies. He is going to the Ducati team next year. He has had a

corners where you can carry a bit too much speed of then sorted out

on the return leg. Yes, it is an apex, let it run out wide, then

clipped the apex again. If you get the first Park on it ruins the

whole thing. We have a race on here, because Dani Pedrosa, who had a

torrid time and practice with a crash in the only part of the

session, he just needs to settle down. His tyres are fully up to

temperature, running at around 120 degrees.

That is a piece of Ducati, I think that is Nicky Hayden. Let's hope he

is all right. He had his hand a little yesterday. We heard him

saying it was not too bad. I can tell you already, by the way, apart

from Nicky Hayden's crash, Lorenzo has just done a 43 -- 49.1, and

still has been four. 1.49 0.0 is the lap record here. It

-- they are on 1,000 cc's this year, as opposed to 800 last year. He has

got to jump, because he is going to the wall. Get off, Nicky, it is

going to hurt. Why didn't he jump- off?

There grass is still wet, slippery as you like, he was trying to get

the power down. I don't know if he thought that was

more of an airbag then it was, but it fired over the top fare, and

that was horrible to look at. Like Opie is all right. -- I hope he is.

All it was was a minor error, and as you have said so many times, the

silliest little thing and you pay an enormous prize. All he did was

run a little bit wide and he could not this sort it added.

Pedrosa has closed down Jorge Lorenzo, 49.1, he has taken three-

tenths out of Lorenzo. I remember Jorge Lorenzo...

He has caught Cal Crutchlow. I heard Jorge Lorenzo last you're

talking about and the fact he was second in the championship to Casey

Stoner. He said it was going to be easier for him as Casey Stoner had

to defend the lead. That is what he has to do now. He is trying to be

smooth and camp, but he us that 38 points lead. Pedrosa must win here

to have any chance of clawing it back.

This is a real day of attrition. Here is the run down the hill. Then

four has got out real well, but no, no, not on your life. Then we have

the fiddly bit before the big drag race, and that is maybe where Dani

Pedrosa will line him up. Let's watch them down the hill. I think

it is a matter of time. I think Jorge Lorenzo will get himself into

a rhythm to see what is going on, let Pedrosa get through, that is my

feeling. Stefan Bradl has now made a move on

Ben Spies. Ben Spies is having none of it, keeps the door firmly shut.

But he has let it swing back open again! Stefan Bradl up into third,

that was not in Ben Spies's script. Not at all.

He just pulls it up before he hits the Astroturf, and looked who is

working, his old buddy, number four, Andrea Dovizioso.

To talk about success to failure in 30 seconds flat! But move, podium

position, in the gravel. That is unreal.

My goodness me, lost the front end, it dug in, standing up around 30

kilometres per hour. The bike is finished, the handlebars are gone,

I am sure. This is the battle for the lead, Dani Pedrosa I believe

can pass at will. It is very close indeed, but what you were about to

say, I think, is what is happening here is everyone is still brand-new,

struggling, their first day of sunshine. All their settings are

all over the place. A big difference with the Bridgestone

tyre is the harbour compound they are all running out as much stiffer

can touch -- construction, it is better on the bricks, there is

better feedback. They are learning their braking points now. Ben Spies

lost a place there and I think that is because he did not have it

worked out a right. I reckon the only way Lorenzo is going to hold

the moth is with our blowgun. -- called him off. 23 laps, but they

are long laps, and Pedrosa looks very comfortable. Andrea Dovizioso

trying to put a move on Cal Crutchlow. That is not going to

happen. I think Cal Crutchlow suffered from

trying to brake deeper. He went deeper into the corner, he came

very close to collecting Ben Spies and Ben Spies's clock has not been

with him. He needs a podium finish, it would be like a win for in the

season. Ben Spies has given himself a

fright by running today, then Cal Crutchlow did exactly the same

thing, and Andrea de that sealed still has a taste of this now,

thinking he can take the pair of them. -- Andrea Dovizioso.

Andrea Dovizioso can carry some serious speed down the hill here.

The lap times have sought it -- sort of settled down,...

Nicky Hayden is up and talking, that could have gone either way

when he pirouetted over that fence. He'd just needed to put the back

brake on and put the bike down. It would be a pile of tyres, he hit it

straight on and did fired him over the top.

That was awful, but we are still glad he is OK.

Andrea Dovizioso is in the biding his time at the moment.

He is going to sides this up and think whether he can mug him. There

is no dividend in just getting past Lorenzo, you can only do it if you

think you can get some miles down the road from in.

There is Mattia Pasini. The there are some run-off areas,

but the disappointment of this circuit is everything you can see

off the track is wet, wet dirt, wet grass, so it is a mud fate if you

sounds like tearing metal. Dani Pedrosa seems to have the

speed through there. Up to turn 12, he is going to have a chance.

there are a couple of lines through there, Steve. Not worth the risk,

we now continue to fall, turn right, and then a big turn laughed. --

left. That run, as he got it up the hell

out of turn 10 through 11, he got the grip early on, got the drive,

really laid it down and drove up the hill there. He was on the

inside there, so that shows the Honda really has the balance of the

bike work out. They are both will running identical tyres, they are

both running the medium compound at rear tyre. Honda seem to be able to

transfer her the power. They have enormous amount of power. It was

nothing to do with horsepower, because you're not using maximum

horsepower, it is just grip. Very impressive from Danny because a,

and they are pretty pleased. Then as some very good support for

them both around the circuit. Stefan Bradl will be thinking well,

or what if? But it doesn't matter any more. No, and he has had such a

consistent ear, but unfortunately for him... He lost the front going

in, and then it came round. You can here at the foot rest and

handlebars being ground away. It is second and at that point.

A major moment for Lorenzo, he found a little adhesion and

realised that Pedrosa has some serious squirt and may disappear

into the distance. Lorenzo can afford to let him do that because

Jorge Lorenzo has a good lead, but what he cannot afford to do is fall

off. No, he is sitting with 20 points at

the moment, he will live at -- lose five points of that championship

lead. Valentino Rossi is clawing his way through, he is back up to

12th place, no mean feat. He is in front of Hector Barbera now. A good

think anyone was to blame, it was just walk of the drop, Jonathan

rear saw someone coming down the roadside.

Law, after coming into that corner round the inside of the track,

Valentino Rosso was gaining, the track narrowed and he had nowhere

to go. Very unfortunate for him, the final factory Ducati, of course,

Nicky Hayden, is out of this race. We have heard from the pit lane he

is talking, that is good news, but it was a horrible looking accident.

There is Aleix Espargaro, a builder -- who lost the lead CRT bike. He

is in eighth place, a huge achievement. The man behind him,

Alvaro Bautista, really has his head down, and he is getting up to

sixth place, having just got himself past Jonathan, who still

seventh. Alvaro Bautista is getting a wriggle on, which is good. He is

time out. One thing we have to remember about him, they're the

only team in the elite class of MotoGP running, or not running only

in suspension systems. There we saw a focusing moment from Lorenzo.

Have another look at this. That's making a mess of the seat! Too much

information from you! Yeah, but it shows he is trying. He doesn't at

this stage, 15 laps left, he doesn't have the pace to go with

Pedrosa. This is great news for Pezrosa -- Pedrosa. Jorge Lorenzo

is a smart cookie, he knows that the pace is too hot for him. He

knows he has 20 points in his pocket. Who cares, you lose five,

he has a 28-point lead. There is Johnny Rea. Having a good ride, he

knows what he wants to do, he wants to finish closer than 43 seconds at

the end. Valentino Rossi is saoeuting through there. Now up to

8th place. That's the battle at the top.. Espargaro fighting back.

These are the class of the CRT field. They're starting to make the

slower of the works bikes look silly. He is lapping 1.512, up

around Bautista times. The doctor is coming in to play at the moment.

8th position. Abraham 9th. James Ellison in 13th at the moment..

Pasini also hit the return road. Check that out. Now around the

final corner. Look at the top speed of Pedrosa. That's little Dani and

big horse power. That will be terrific news for Dani Pedrosa as

far as his pit board's concerned and race pace, he might even switch

the electronics down so he hasn't as much horse power, conserving

fuel and tyres. He can monitor that on board, as such. He has a switch

on the the handlebars that will make the bike easier to ride. Help

conserve the tyres a little bit more now. Coming up to half race

distance. If you thumb through Dani Pedrosa's career, what happened to

him last time out will go down as one of the most disappointing of

all the things that's ever happened to him and he has had bad luck. He

had two wins on the row. We both felt, I think, that he was on a

roll and likely to win that race as well. This would have been four in

a row the way we are looking now. You say that - oh, here we go.

grip on the Astraturf. Thank you very much, through. That's Cal's

biggest nightmare. He ran wide. Spinning out. That caused the

wheelie. Came back and got some grip. Going back to Dani Pedrosa, I

agree, his championship really through no proper fault of his own

went wrong last time out. Arguably, at least it didn't hurt, when you

think of some of the other catastrophic things that have

happened to Dani Pedrosa. Broke his coal hrar -- collar bone badly. He

has had some dire situations and things that have gone horribly

wrong for him. Andrea Dovizioso is through comfortably on Cal

Crutchlow. He will now set his sights on Ben Spies. He will be

trying to get rid of him will be a tall order for Andrea Dovizioso.

Ben Spies desperate to get on the podium. This is effectively the

battle for third place. Bautista is 6th. Rea still there. He is pretty

much in touch. Nice work. He is definitely within the grasp of

beating the difference that he had last time around. There is dePuniet.

The more experienced, showing who is Petrucci. As we often speak

about, it's not just weight. If we get a shot of Dani Pedrosa, you can

hardly see he is on the bike. aerodynamics, top speed and

acceleration and braking. The amount of energy that 35kilos

brings. We were having this discussion earlier today about how

it helps you, but also I have to have the greatest admiration for

Dani Pedrosa able to muscle one of these horse power motorcycles

around being that light. You are moving yourself around on a

motorcycle. See if Cal Crutchlow can come back now on his team-mate

there, number four, Andrea Dovizioso, properly outqualified

him. Andrea Dovizioso we have seen him take podiums across this year.

He is pressuring bike number 11, the blue and grey Yamaha of Ben

Spies. My prediction on the BBC website this week was for Dani

Pedrosa to win. Jorge Lorenzo to get second. A shot there of

everyone waiting outside the Medical Center to see how poor old

Nicky is. On the the Radio this morning I had I had Dani Pedrosa

and Cal Crutchlow and Jorge Lorenzo. I prefer if it's Cal Crutchlow, I

have to say. It's my heart speaking. You never know. I haven't got a

heart! I know. Conscious with full mobility. That's great to hear.

That was the freakiest, unluckiest accident I have ever seen. It was

extraordinary. Ben is well aware of what's going on behind him. We saw

him have a quick look over his should tore see that there was a

number four, he knows who that is, it's Andrea Dovizioso, the man that

is going to Ducati next year. will be an interesting move. It's a

great team. For them to get back on two bikes, very smart of Ducati to

focus two bikes in a team, rather than than diluting effort. It's

very good. Performance-wise, I have said before Yamaha are good at

having their satellite team with similar equipment. It's a credit to

Tech 3 and the guys. Great engineers in there. They put very

good motorcycles underneath their riders. There they are in formation

behind Ben Spies. This would be his first podium of the year. A couple

of 4ths so far. He's obviously been walking under ladders or running

over black cats or whatever he's been doing because it's not even

been funny this year some of the things that have gone wrong for Ben

Spies. Not possible really how somehow have happened. Fantastic to

watch. Yeah, this is where it drops down.

The highest part of the circuit here and immediately they drop down

here. This is what we call the reverse corkscrew. Second gear. And

flick it left. It's a big drop down. This is the run, this is where we

saw Dani Pedrosa get the grip out of here. Just here, you nail the

throttle in about third gear. And that's where you need all the grip

you can get. Then you don't even see this next corner, turn 12,

until you are over the top and there it is. That's why we see to

many people in practice and qualifying go down the slip road.

It's a blind entry into that corner. This is turn 13. That's where we

saw a few crashes in the wet sessions. Dani Pedrosa crashed

there in qualifying. Then we have turn 15, probably the most

important corner on the circuit, getting the drive out of there and

then this amazingly long strait, nearly a kilometre long. We saw

Johnny Rea and Valentino Rossi. Ben Spies is up on the kerb there.

sounded marvellous. It's almost given like number four, Andrea

Dovizioso, - Cal Crutchlow is back with that as well. This is the

thing that sounds awesome. They use saoeulers on the yam -- silencers

on the Yamahas. But these just rip and tear. Here is the start again.

Jorge away perfectly. Ben Spies slots into third in front of Cal

Crutchlow. Went wide but nevertheless, managed to hold that

position all the way through there. Jorge, look at the trust he has in

his rear tyre, the way he got away from that and drove up the hill out

of turn two. Spies is interesting to watch. Cal has to make sure he

negotiates out wide. He is in too tight. It's such a tricky job on

the first corner because you never ever practise off the start line,

you don't know how much grip you have got. You are trying to work

out what you have got on that first corner. You don't want anyone

passing you. It's a real balancing act. He's done it! You don't want

anyone passing you. It's taken him about 14 laps but Andrea Dovizioso

is now up into yet another potential podium, Steve. He is a

bit of a consistent boy. Ben Spies is want ago bit of that back again!

He was very close. He has had a look over his shoulder, hi, Cal. I

think he's got out of there quickly, at least to hold Cal Crutchlow at

bay. That was a close old shuffle. It didn't quite work for him. Out

of that turn 14 had a run on him, but he was baulked - meanwhile,

Dani Pedrosa has 4.852 seconds. He had his birthday yesterday, this

would be a nice present for him. That was optimistic! Just couldn't

get it pulled up in time and didn't want to run wide, of course. He's

forced himself a little bit deep there, as you can see and lost a

bit of time because he was square to that corner as he approached it.

You but he was having a stphaoeuf and -- sniff and that was worth a

try. Spice trying to get -- Spies trying to get this back quick.

Crutchlow will not want to see Andrea Dovizioso disappearing away.

But this would be another nice podium position for Andrea

Dovizioso. He is having a strong season from his point of view. He

had a third in Holland, in Germany, in Cataluna. Let's have a look.

Ben knew he had made a mistake. That was where that happened. Ben

worked out he had made a mistake. He looked over his shoulder. It was

sort of gifted to Andrea Dovizioso. He did about three corners there at

right angles and in the end, he lost a bit of space. This guy is

just fluid. He is doing a belting job. As I suspected he would. Great

pace here. Hasn't won here either. This is a Stoner circuit really.

That's great. Declared OK in the Medical Center. Fantastic news.

That is superb news because you couldn't meet a nicer man than

Nicky Hayden. He gives his best the whole time. I am sure the reason he

stayed on the bike he didn't want to damage it but he should have

jumped earlier, he will look back and wish he had. They're saying in

the Medical Center, explain how you just trunk 20th -- just drunk 27

yesterday. A seasoned campaigner by seemed to Roy against M Misano two

weeks ago, everyone will be pointing fingers, and everyone will

hope it wasn't them, and whatever it was, but this is nearly worse,

the fact that had that not happened he would have been... Three points

away from Lorenzo at the end of this. As we heard from the race

director, if someone has put their hand up, it doesn't matter that all

the red lights are on, he cannot have it start with a guy in the

middle with a stalled engine, he will get really at in that

circumstance. -- wheelie hat. Still four races after this, anything

could happen, but it would be a bolt of lightning to stop the

Lorenzo juggernaut now. It does seem a little unfair that Pedrosa,

such a competitive guy, he got to the championship before Lorenzo,

has yet to win a title. A Yes, about a five-second advantage, that

is what five seconds looks like, it does not take long to get down that

street when you're doing 200 mph. It is not over yet, who has the

tyres left? We are into the tyre degradation area. It is who has

guessed the right setting, quite honestly, who has the suspension

that will give that? A bit lonely, but it's useful points and a top-

six finish is no disgrace at this level. He is a little further down

the road than he should be, because he had anything to do to get past

people. He is 24 seconds adrift of Dani Pedrosa, so he is giving away

1.5 seconds per lap. Jonathan Rea, really good job, very close to the

time of Espargaro. He is 28 seconds back, he wants to beat 43 come and

I think he is going to, and you have to say I -- this is a fast

race. Faster than Misano, because Lorenzo after the first scare

settle down and did not have to pitch -- have good pitch. George

Lorenzo will be a bit upset by this, it is too big a gap for him to be

behind Pedrosa. We still have Japan, Malaysia, Australia and the final

round in Valencia yet to go. He will not want to keep finishing

second. He will know that, apart from the last race where Pedrosa

was taken out, this will be the third race in a row where Pedrosa's

1. -- were patrolled -- where Pedrosa has won.

Ben Spies has been dropped off by Cal Crutchlow, Cal Crutchlow now in

front and pressuring his team-mate as he can sniff a podium. There

must have been an error from Ben Spies somewhere.

He has dropped about a second from these boys.

Yes, last time around Ben Spies, this time we will see a very slow

lap for him. Ben Spies last time around was a 55.7, compared to Cal

Crutchlow 49.7. That is looking good, has he got another podium in

him? That is a great move.

He yes, kind of plot of Ben Spies's path. That terrific pass for Cal

Crutchlow. He is showing his intention see it,

it looks like in this closing stage of the race he still has some

serious pace, Cal Crutchlow. He has a point to prove, because he hopped

off his bike the last time. I want to see a shot of the manager,

I have been there. It is horrible. There is a good old race with Yonny

Hernandez. Yes, the manager will be there,

fumbling with his chequebook worrying about that.

A terrific run for James Ellison there, very pleasing to see that.

Yonny Hernandez is pretty handy, sought to be holding her moth

you're doing something right. -- so over this man, George Lorenzo. --

a Cal Crutchlow. For Max -- four laps left. Whatever is going to

faster than Pedrosa. Rossi is doing a good job, he is at -- he is still

in eighth position, Jonathan Rea is comfortable in seventh position.

Rossi is a wealth seconds further back.

-- 12 seconds. Yes, Rossi is breathing down the

neck of Pedrosa in the points. They Valentino Rossi having a bit

of a moment there, missing the corner completely, banning of the

track. He has ridden further than anyone else today, Valentino.

if you check the mileage on that bike it will be high.

Pedrosa is now showing off, he is doing absolutely brilliantly. These

lapse are within Nothing of Each think his riding style is more

animated than ever before. He is normally a Wales in line man. --

but useful ride in second. Yes, Pedrosa was the 250 world

champion in 2004-2005. Look at the heat haze. It is still a bit fresh

down at the pit lane. It looks like a picture I would take. The no, I

the focus. He will know that when he tried to go with Pedrosa he had

a moment almost straight away. The limit of his bike is lower than

that of Pedrosa's. A one more thing to remind ourselves of, the next

race in Japan, who are we expecting back? Casey Stoner. Whose side is

he on? Repsol Honda. I would suspect that Casey Stoner could be

in that envelope of time, meaning Lorenzo would go back to third

place, meaning 16 points. Still plenty to play for. That sort of

thing, even if it is not material, put a lot of pressure on.

Cal Crutchlow, now, there is a podium in front of him. He does not

want to fall off again with the manager holding onto his chequebook

tightly. If you slip down on the slowest corner of the track it will

do around �5,000 worth of damage. This is a ringside seat with Cal

Crutchlow. He is good down the bottom here,

but he knows how hard it is to pass Dovizioso on the brakes. Dovizioso

has an amazing ability to brake less at the beginning of the

braking area. He is very late on the brakes, he

carries so much speed into the apex. Generally at the middle of the Apex

Cal Crutchlow is faster, but that is no good.

212 mph for Stefan Bradl. If anyone has been up to that speed on a

motorcycle, it is quite extraordinary, it just about blows

number four is good out of the top corner and runs down the straight.

He is as close as you can be there. This is the claim up the hill where

you need the grip. He will have to flick back to the inside if he is

going to have a go at it. It is a blind entry. Not this time, he is

definitely not close enough, Dovizioso is tentatively putting

his foot boat. His best chance is probably turn 1, or out of turn

times. He squared that call off but Dovizioso was carrying more speed.

And a smooth but Dovizioso had it covered and that has penalised him.

Two lapse remaining. -- two laps minutes pointed to last time. He

the climb up the hill. Getting some tablets and a glass of

water, please! And glass of water you can almost taste that bike!

That is Colin Edwards getting out of the way, and ignominious end,

but at least he is still rolling. Dovizioso is well aware that Cal

Crutchlow is right up his exhaust pipe. He has got to be crafty, he

has got to be smart. This is the best opportunity he might have

coming over the top of the bill. Cal Crutchlow is round the outside.

He get the bike on the inside. he can slam the door shut because

he carries so much speed. Here is the point where Dovizioso pulls it

up so late. Cal Crutchlow carrying some speed in. Everyone is getting

tired running down the hill. A couple more chances, then it is all

done. He has to be somehow faster down the hill. I think that was a

bit of contact! A bit closer this much in momentum.

At the front, Dani Pedrosa does it again.

Another 25 points, he will be thinking about grid, happy with

those points but not with that of at -- deficit.

That is as close as you like, Dovizioso picks up by a tenth of a

second. Nice try, Cal Crutchlow. Ben Spies is fifth. Espargaro, a

bully but useful ride into sixth, and Jonathan Rea coming up behind

him. 10 seconds faster than he was the last time. He will be very

pleased with that, he has acquitted himself extremely well, Jonathan

Rea. Valentino Rossi comes in in eighth place, not bad considering

how far he has gone down the slip road. There will still be more

people waiting for his autograph at the end of the day. And rightly so,

he is one of the greats. He goes right in front of it -- his team-

mate, Randy De Puniet, in the last lap. Valentino Rossi has done so

much mileage that everyone else has not. Dani Pedrosa, apart from when

he was taken out, this is his third win in four races. There is a track

thinking, I want to race. He wouldn't be so envious in the wet.

Let's hope he is back for Japan. He is going to be there, even though

Casey Stoner's missed three races, he will be back, I am certain of

that and will be fast. You made an important point about Stoner, as it

stands without Stoner all Jorge has to do is keep finishing second and

it's job done. If Stoner starts finishing first and second and he

gets shuffled back to thirds, that will be a little more seering.

points every time then. Yeah. ride from Dovizioso, did a great

job again with Cal Crutchlow, terrific to see those two battling

it out. Cal Crutchlow stays where he is next year, will be joined by

Bradley Smith. Two UK riders in the team next year. Dovizioso off to

take over where Valentino Rossi is leaving, to go where Ben Spies is

now, if you can follow that. think I got it! That was a very

good ride from Dovizioso. He withstood everything that Cal

Crutchlow could throw at him and they both did a fantastic job. In

the end, the team-mates didn't take each other out, finished a 10th of

a second apart. One on the podium. If you are running a team you can't

be happier than that. I completely agree. Nice little birthday present

for Dani Pedrosa from yesterday. Will he win a championship? On the

form he is now, yes he will. Talking about Wayne Gardner who was

here over the weekend, said yesterday he was surprised how Dani

Pedrosa has picked his game up. He said he didn't think he was as

strong as he is, and Pedraza petd this -- Dani Pedrosa this year has

been phenomenonly good. Good day for Spain. You have to say Jorge

Lorenzo, lowest position this year is second position, first or second

positions for Jorge Lorenzo. He and Pedrosa had one of those each, and

all round. As you were saying at the top of all of this, it's so

much to do with who can pump the best set-up because nobody really

knew. We saw from Jonathan Rea, tried something in the warm-up and

it was a nightmare. Jonathan finishing 7th in front of Valentino

Rossi. If I was him I would have that framed. Good job there. It's a

lot to do with the engineers. They guess what settings you are going

to want. You are you have to work out the track temperatures. You

couldn't ask for more from Cal Crutchlow. That's helped him with

that championship as well, he's pulled further away from Valentino

Rossi. He certainly has. He is now 135. Seven points breathing space.

Bautista is right up Valentino Rossi's exhaust pipe. Nicky Hayden

is 9th and poor old Ben Spies, he had so much bad luck, as you were

saying across the year, even with the finish in 5th place there, he

is still in 10th place in the series which does not reflect the

man. No, it doesn't. Not at all. Down there with Nicky Hayden, also

doesn't reflect. We heard, if you hadn't seen it, he had a nasty

accident, but is OK according to the Medical Center. This is the

pass. It's tyre grip, sus suspension set-up. It was just the

way that Dani Pedrosa just got it out of turn ten, climbing up the

chanced his arm about 16 laps to go. We saw Jorge struggling, losing the

back a couple of times. Having focusing moments out there. That

gives him his 4th win of the season. Jorge Lorenzo still on 6th. Thanks

to the Yamaha guys for making that a thoroughly absorbing race. It was

really interesting how it played out. As indeed the Moto 2 and 3

races, really, really interesting plots and subplots. Jorge Lorenzo,

a useful day, I guess. A bit of a moment there after Dani

passed you, did that make you refocus and sit back a little bit?

Yeah, I make a mistake at the top of first corner, I almost crash.

But at that moment I knew that I couldn't be at the same pace that I

was the first three laps that I was so fast, maybe too much, lost

energy and waste tyre and then it was impossible to follow Dani. Race

for the championship, and nothing more. Congratulations, Jorge.

was a race for the championship. It was sensible, take the points home,

keep it done. It's pretty comfortable. Looking back, I think

if you were young Bradl, you would be cross with yourself. You would,

but he hasn't really made mistakes prior to this, I am a fan as far as

he has taken to a Moto bike this year. Dovizioso, another podium.

Good day at the office for him. Congratulations on the podium. I

guess it was quite a nervy last few laps at the end, did you have any

sort of plan? I wanted to stay in front because I wasn't so fast. My

strategy was to try to in front of Ben and Cal as soon as I can

because I was slow in place so I made good strategy and I knew car

14 before back strait, Cal try to overtake me, but I try to close the

door so you have to brake later so on exit he wasn't so perfect and I

can overtake him and I am happy about the battle. Cal is aggressive,

really clean in battle. So it's a good battle with him and and it is

really important to come back for us. Congratulations. There are the

tactics, as we said. OK, Cal Crutchlow, oh so close. Close but

no cigar today. Fantastic ride. Great for to us watch. So close

once again. Yeah, it's good for me and the team. Obviously I am

disappointed not to get a podium. And to be beat by him again. He is

a class act. No, I am really pleased considering last year's

race here. We came back and finished strong again and just off

the podium, but it will come again before the end of the year I am

sure. I lost a lot on acceleration down the back strait and as we know

I am bigger than the other riders and also we have a slow engine.

Hopefully I will improve on that that next year and come back

stronger. A nice boost now and confidence to take into a tough few

weeks. Yeah, it's I nice to get out of here in the top four again, make

a good solid race and also takes points off Valentino Rossi again.

No, I think - Australia, you know, no reason why we shouldn't be up

there. But I will be trying my best whatever happens and it's good.

Thanks for all the support at home. Well done today. Let me see if I

can say anything to take the mick out of... I am spotless today, I

made sure! We had to do his wardrobe for him this morning.

back in 10th. DePuniet just hanging on over his team-mate. Jonathan Rea,

done himself no harm. But Dani Pedrosa, has he won a lovely race.

Congratulations on the win, after everything that happened in Mizano

all you can do is keep winning and that's what you have done today.

Well, it was a tough weekend because, you know, with cold

conditions and the rain and yesterday, all the things in my

head from the last race and some discussions with race direction and

everything, you know, so it was hard to keep calm in the weekend

but today it was good. I had a good race. I push in the beginning to

stay with Jorge. I see medley I can -- immediately I can go faster and

then I could pull up some gap and it was fine. I had some problems

with shifting in braking but other than that, the bike was working

well. Good ride through the corners and happy to win here in front of

my fans and front of my family and, yeah. Happy birthday, as well.

picking up your point, Steve, he got the drive and that was the key

to that pass. He was super neat over the top of the mountain.

looks a great bike at the moment, the Honda. It's working extremely

well. They've come up trumps with it. They've a bike that's balanced.

It seems to wear the tyres nice and evenly and smoothly and still have

grip at the end. And it has a lot of horse power and he is a little

guy. It's all working for them at the moment. What a screamer of a

circuit, it's absolutely... It just needs a city built around it and we

have the job sorted out! A large international April just over there

to save the drive! Espargaro, he is the boy to watch.

Another battle between you and Randy and you came out winner again.

At home as well. Yeah, it was tough. Another race not easy to beat him

in last lap, tpwhu race was unbelievable difficult. We had a

little bit of problem in the strait. I lose a little bit of speed in

compare to other races and I do my best to beat him. I brake as late

as I can and finally I did it and I am really happy because today also

my brother win and it was - unbelievable weekend and I would

like to continue like this all the weekends. Congratulations.

Now, I know I will get into trouble for letting the cat out of the bag

if you are going to watch highlights, but two wins for the

Espargaro brothers. There you go. But at the top of the very top it

doesn't look very tall even on the top step of the podium, Dani

Pedrosa, the little mighty pocket rocket that he is, did a belting

job today. Always looked like he had the pace. This pains me a lot

but Steve was right, it was Dovizioso dove third, not Cal

Crutchlow. Jorge Lorenzo, he's still a comfortable lead. He has to

make sure he doesn't concede 25 points by hopping off anywhere and

he didn't today. So he boxed clever. There are some circuits he is

better at than others. He's never won here. Last year he had a rot on

time, by his -- rotten time, by his standards. Just made it on to the

podium. It's damage control race for him here, I think. Dani Pedrosa

will go to the long hauls, high speed circuits with his tail up. I

think it's the Dani Pedrosa juggernaut for a bit now, Matt.