The European GP for motorcycles was first hosted by the Barcelona circuit in 1992, a year after the venue opened. With Spain being a hotbed of motorcycle racing fervour, it later became the race of Catalunya, and there have in fact been three races annually in the country since 1998. The track is a fast one, with only a couple of slow corners and one or two places for overtaking.

Spain’s GP riders in 2008 are Pedrosa (for Repsol Honda), Lorenzo (for Fiat Yamaha) and Toní Elías (for Alice Ducati); but this would be reduced by one during the Friday practice session, as Lorenzo had a crash which resulted in head and hand injuries. He was hospitalised and would not start the race. That would mean no points for the second race in a row, denting his championship hopes.

Kawasaki rider John Hopkins also crashed, but would carry on despite a back injury. Marco Melandri continued a difficult year with Marlboro Ducati by crashing during qualifying. His team-mate’s fortunes were much the reverse, as reigning champion Casey Stoner secured his first pole position of the season. Marco was right down in 16th.

Next to Stoner there were good signs for Honda. Pedrosa and his team-mate Nicky Hayden joined the Australian on the front row of the grid, which was the first time all year for Nicky - the works guys were not yet using the pneumatic valve engine. A customer Honda was fourth, piloted by LCR rider Randy de Puniet, also his best showing so far in 2008. Then it was a pair of Yamahas. In the absence of Lorenzo, and with Rossi only ninth, the Tech 3 boys led the way with the 800cc M1. Colin Edwards headed James Toseland in fifth and sixth.

Honda’s fourth man was JiR Scot rider Andrea Dovizioso, seventh, and then came the first Suzuki of Chris Vermeulen. After Rossi came the two Gresini Hondas of Alex de Angelis and Shin’ya Nakano. In his 275th GP entry, twelfth went to 35-year-old Loris Capirossi on the second Rizla Suzuki, then came Elías and Hopkins. Sylvain Guintoli (Alice Ducati), Melandri and Anthony West (Kawasaki) completed the field.

Football fan Rossi was celebrating the start of the Euro 2008 tournament. His Yamaha livery was predominantly blue, in the shade of the ‘Azzurri’, Italy’s national team. His crash helmet was disguised as a football, and his leathers were coloured to look like one of the players, with blue shirt, white shorts, and lobster pink for the arms and legs. It didn’t seem to work that well, but Valentino was happy with it.

Bright and warm conditions greeted the riders on race day, and it was Pedrosa who took the lead from the start, chased by Stoner. Dovizioso jumped to third, from Edwards, de Puniet, Hayden, Toseland, Rossi and Melandri. Capirossi would soon pass his compatriot, and then Nakano and de Angelis were next in line. Stoner was pressing Pedrosa to begin with, but the Ducati rider lost second to Dovizioso at the Seat corner, an acute left-hander. Casey was on the attack to try and recover his place into lap two, for the right-left Elf chicane at the end of the main straight.

Pedrosa was soon setting the pace, delighting the fans by moving clear of the rest, and improving on Hayden’s 2006 lap record, set with the 990cc Honda. There was more of a contest for second in these early stages, with Stoner using Ducati acceleration to take second from Dovizioso along the main start-finish straight. Close behind them were Edwards, de Puniet and Hayden, with Toseland pushed back two places as Rossi and Capirossi headed the pursuit.

After two laps, Pedrosa already had a 2.4s lead. The next group became a six-way affair, with Capirossi falling back into a more lonely eighth, behind Stoner, Dovizioso, Edwards, de Puniet, Hayden and Rossi. Toseland led Melandri, Nakano, de Angelis, Vermeulen, Hopkins, West, Elías and Guintoli. Vermeulen would soon move up to run behind Toseland, while Elías was judged to have jumped the start, and would receive a pitlane ride-through penalty.

With Pedrosa’s lead going out to three seconds and beyond, Rossi was also on the move. The Italian went sixth using the slipstream effect to pass Hayden on the inside for Elf. The same heavy braking corner saw him also pass de Puniet, as it would do Edwards, again using the tow and getting on the brakes later. Dani’s advantage was approaching five seconds at that stage, but Stoner, Dovizioso, Rossi, Edwards and de Puniet were still close; although Hayden was starting to lose touch.

Stoner lost second to Dovizioso when the Ducati ran wide at Seat, but Elf corner saw the positions reverse again. Moments later, Rossi passed Andrea in the looping Repsol right-hander, and then passed Casey at the following Seat. ‘The Doctor’ was 6.5s behind Pedrosa when he got through to second, but that gap continued to grow, and Stoner continued in close pursuit of the leading Yamaha.

Things were happening down the field as the race approached half-distance. Firstly, Elías was shown the black flag for not taking his penalty. He hadn’t noticed any signals directing him to the pits, but now when he went in it was to be excluded from the race. Then the battle for tenth turned sour, as de Angelis tried to re-pass Capirossi. There was a collision that put both riders out. Then an encouraging performance for de Puniet ended when the Frenchman crashed out of sixth.

Half way through, Pedrosa led by just over seven seconds. Rossi was still pursued by Stoner, with a bit of a gap opening to Dovizioso and Edwards. Hayden had lost touch, and now there was a race on for seventh, between Vermeulen and Toseland. James had passed Capirossi before the Italian’s accident, and now he would also overtake the other light blue Suzuki. These two would begin to catch up to Hayden.

Pedrosa was almost eight seconds clear, or the length of the back straight, as the battle for second intensified. Stoner slipstreamed Rossi along the main straight, but the Italian used his late braking skills to fend off this attack. The next time he tried it with more success, moving right and pulling ahead so as to be first into Elf. The gaps behind had been growing, with Edwards dropping back from Dovizioso, and the rookie also getting left by the two champions.

With five laps remaining, the race for second was between just two men. Stoner looked to be pushing hard, and the gap to leader Pedrosa was coming down, but Rossi was staying with the Australian. Valentino attacked Casey’s position at the Renault curve, a long right-bend between Elf and Repsol. But with two laps left he managed to out-brake the Ducati rider at Elf and go through with a pass on the inside. Going onto the final lap, Rossi carried just enough advantage over Stoner to avoid a slipstream challenge, and he went on to take second. Stoner would talk of some rear grip problems, but meanwhile Pedrosa was the winner, letting his lead fall to four seconds by the flag.

Dovizioso equalled his best result with fourth, and Edwards was a consistent fifth. The last laps had seen both Toseland and Vermeulen pass Hayden, with James also equalling his best result in sixth. After a good start, Melandri had quickly dropped down the field, and he regained a position from West to take eleventh, behind Nakano and Hopkins, and with Guintoli last behind the second Kawasaki.

Dani Pedrosa carried a flag to help him celebrate in front of his home supporters, and of course he now holds all the Spanish Grand Prix trophies - having won in Valencia at the end of last year, and in Jerez and now Barcelona in the first half of this year. Second for Valentino Rossi kept him in front in the title race, now with a seven point lead. And Casey Stoner had another good podium result, which brought him right onto the tail of third man Jorge Lorenzo.

Following their MotoGP début in 2003, Ducati secured their 50th podium result with Casey Stoner today. Marlboro-sponsored works riders to have that honour are Loris Capirossi (23 times), Stoner (18), Troy Bayliss (five) and Carlos Checa (two). There has been one each for riders with the d’Antín team customer bikes - Rubén Xaus and Alex Barros.

The challenge for rookie of the year continues between Andrea Dovizioso and James Toseland, with both men on form today. As a newcomer to Grand Prix racing, James has done well even while learning most of the tracks raced so far. He has competed at both of the next two tracks though, and will have high hopes next time out for the race at Donington Park, where he aims to be the first British rider to be on the podium there since 2000. He might even have a chance of being the third home GP winner in a row.

Standings after seven races: Rossi 142; Pedrosa 135; Lorenzo 94; Stoner 92; Edwards 69; Dovizioso 57; Toseland 53; Capirossi 51; Hayden 48; Nakano 42; Vermeulen 40; Hopkins 32.
Yamaha 160; Honda 135; Ducati 97; Suzuki 63; Kawasaki 35.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

Related Articles:

• Three GP wins in a row for Valentino Rossi
• Two GP wins in a row for Valentino Rossi
• Valentino Rossi back to GP winning ways

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

• Think you know your sport? Click here to try the Sportnetwork Prize Quizzes