In a soaking wet race —stopped seven laps from the end due to the amount of water on track— the Repsol rider took victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner. It was Pedrosa’s first ever wet win in the World Championship.
As happened at the last two Grands Prix in Aragon and Japan, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa started from first and second on the grid and broke away together. At the mid-race point, Pedrosa went on the attack, passing Lorenzo on the brakes at the final corner.
Keeping up his pace, the Repsol rider was steady en route to his sixth win of the year, leaving Lorenzo behind in the space of a couple of laps. His rival almost crashed out on lap 15, losing him further time and allowing Casey Stoner to catch him up, but at that moment Race Direction red flagged the race due to the amount of surface water on track.
With two thirds of the race completed and the asphalt completely flooded, there was a wait to see if the remaining seven laps would be contested. However, a restart was deemed impossible and the riders were awarded full points. Pedrosa won from Lorenzo and Stoner, as the Spaniard beat his record of 13 podiums in a season and continues to chase the title with two races remaining. He is level on victories with Lorenzo in both 2012 and overall (44).
After claiming five wins from the last six races, Pedrosa’s run at the title will continue next weekend in Australia, where he will start the penultimate round with Lorenzo ahead of him on by 23 points. Pedrosa’s current tally is 307 —another personal milestone.
Dani Pedrosa
1st - 29:29.049
"This victory is really amazing for me; it's the first time I've won in the wet in my life and I'm really, really happy. I want to thank my team and the people who helped me to get here because when I started racing in these conditions I was weak and they know how difficult it's been during all this time! Jorge set a really high pace at the beginning of the race and I remained calm to stay with him. I knew he was on a soft rear tyre and he could pull out some good laps at the start. Lap by lap I got a little more confident and I could still push and at half way in the race I overtook him and built a good gap.
Some laps later the rain came down heave and it was hard to stay on the bike. I was lucky to be able to win this race, and also Jorge to finish second because he was almost on the ground. So, I'm happy for the victory, but especially happy to be able to dedicate it to Ginés, a good friend and member of the Repsol Honda Team that sadly passed away yesterday. This one is for you!"
Casey Stoner
3th at 7.144 sec.
"At the start of the race, I would have been very happy for a podium. I was considering not taking part in the rain at all as the risks were very high —if I had come off the bike again and hit my ankle, it would have been game over for the rest of the season. As the race progressed I slowly got my confidence back and I was working on different things as I hadn't ridden in the wet in quite some time. I slowly began to catch the front two but unfortunately ran out of time as the red flagged the race. In a lot of ways I'm disappointed, but I'm happy with the points haul we took today and another podium.”
Results
1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 29'29.049
2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha Factory Racing + 3.774
3. Casey Stoner (AUS) Repsol Honda Team + 7.144
4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Team + 10.518
5. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Ducati Team + 16.759
6. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Honda Gresini + 17.276
7. Hector Barbera (SPA) Pramac Racing Team + 50.282
8. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Power Electronics Aspar + 51.585
9. James Ellison (UK) Paul Bird Motorsport + 56.676
10. Karel Abraham (CZE) Cardion AB Motoracing + 57.622
11. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Came Iodaracing Project + 1'02.805
12. Michele Pirro (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 1'02.891
13. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Yamaha Tech3 + 1'28.989
14. Stefan Bradl (GER) LCR Honda Not classified (2 laps)
15. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha Tech3 Not classified (3 laps)
16. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Power Electronics Aspar Not classified (3 laps)
17. Ivan Silva (SPA) Avintia Racing Not classified (3 laps)
18. Colin Edwards (USA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing Not classified (3 laps)
19. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing Not classified (5 laps)
Championship Standings
1 Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha Factory Racing 330
2 Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 307
3 Casey Stoner (AUS) Repsol Honda Team 213
4 Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Yamaha Tech3 195
5 Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Honda Gresini 154
6 Valentino Rossi (ITA) Ducati Team 148
7 Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha Tech3 135
8 Stefan Bradl (GER) LCR Honda 125
9 Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Team 114
10 Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing 88
11 Hector Barbera (SPA) Pramac Racing Team 79
12 Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Power Electronics Aspar 63
13 Randy De Puniet (FRA) Power Electronics Aspar 53
14 Karel Abraham (CZE) Cardion AB Motoracing 43
15 Michele Pirro (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 30
16 James Ellison (UK) Paul Bird Motorsport 28
17 Yonny Hernandez (COL) Avintia Racing 28
18 Colin Edwards (USA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 25
19 Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Came Iodaracing Project 16
20 Mattia Pasini (ITA) Speed Master 13
21 Ivan Silva (SPA) Avintia Racing 11
22 Toni Elias (SPA) Pramac Racing Team 10
23 Katsuyuki Nakasuga (JPN) Yamaha YSP Racing Team 7
24 Steve Rapp (USA) Attack Performance 2
25 David Salom (SPA) Avintia Blusens 1
