Dani Pedrosa took his first victory of the season at Sachsenring in an extremely high level race with team mate Casey Stoner, who were head above the rest field with a hammering rhythm that not even Jorge Lorenzo could keep up with them.
For the entire 30 lap, the two Repsol Honda riders lead the race, Dani Pedrosa got the holeshot but just a lap later Stoner passed the Spaniard almost ripping off the stickers from the #26 Honda.
The two continued this way until the 18th lap when Pedrosa put in the decisive overtake and Stoner would follow him until the penultimate turn of the last lap and then disaster struck.
The Australian trying to find a place to pass his team mate lost the front of his Honda and lowsided out of the contention.
Stoner’s first DNF not only handed a very distant Jorge Lorenzo a second place podium, but also the lead in the standings, with Pedrosa picking up the second spot just 14 points from the Yamaha rider.
In a highly entertaining scrap for what later would become for third, went down between Andrea Dovizioso and Ben Spies, with Cal Crutchlow in the battle until the 25th lap when the Brit, probably hitting a neutral ran off track and had to rejoin the field to find himself entangled in another battle further down the field.
With Crutchlow no longer pressuring him, Andrea Dovizioso would resist Ben Spies to the finish line and take third by just 0.
071s and his third podium of the season.
Stefan Bradl took fifth after resisting race long pressure from the three Ducati’s who exchanged positions and battled each other constantly, until Alvaro Bautista and Cal Crutchlow entered the fray in the final laps.
In the end it was Valentino Rossi who took 6th ahead of Bautista – who had too push through the field after starting last following his Assen penalty – and Crutchlow, while a highly aggressive Hector Barbera beat Nicky Hayden for the ninth spot and avoided the ignominy of being the last prototype rider (Cardion AB replacement rider 39-year old Franco Battaini who came out of retirement to substitute Karel Abraham doesn’t count).
Randy de Puniet was the fastest CRT rider taking the 11th spot with Colin Edwards in 12th and more than 5 seconds from the Frenchman.
Many expected the CRTs to be closer to the MotoGPs on the tight and twisty circuit instead were almost a minute off pace and three riders were lapped.
MotoGP Sachsenring Race results:01- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – 30 laps in 41’28.
396 02- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 14.
996 03- Andrea Dovizioso – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 20.
669 04- Ben Spies – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 20.
740 05- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 27.
893 06- Valentino Rossi – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 28.
050 07- Alvaro Bautista – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 28.
246 08- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 28.
447 09- Hector Barbera – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 29.
053 10- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 29.
226 11- Randy De Puniet – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP12 – + 53.
176 12- Colin Edwards – NGM Mobile Forward Racing – Suter BMW – + 58.
204 13- Aleix Espargaro – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP12 – 1’04.
654 14- Yonny Hernandez – Avintia Blusens – BQR MotoGP – + 1’13.
543 15- James Ellison – Paul Bird Motorsport – ART GP12 – + 1’30.
31816- Franco Battaini – Cardion AB Motoracing – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – 1 lap 17- Ivan Silva – Avintia Blusens – BQR MotoGP – 1 lap 18- Danilo Petrucci – CAME Iodaracing Project – Ioda TR003 – 1 lap
