Delighted Pedrosa thanks team and fans

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa rode to victory in front of his home crowd at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit on Sunday, and duly thanked the partisan crowd for their support.

The Spaniard’s crew were also recipients of his appreciation, as he confirmed third place in the 2009 MotoGP standings with his second race win of the year.

The 24 year-old had stated in the run-up to the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana that he was desperate for a win to sign off his season, and after Casey Stoner’s crash on the warm-up lap and subsequent non-start, Pedrosa led from the front row of the grid from start to finish.

“I’m very happy with this win because I really wanted it. All through the week I was thinking only about this race,” said Pedrosa. “In practice we struggled a lot, but the team did a great job and I want to thank them for the job they did. Also to all the fans that came to the track, they supported us and it’s unbelievable. I think they enjoyed the race.”

Pedrosa added, “With Casey out of the race it was easier, but in the end we had a great race so thanks again to everyone around me.”

Turning his attention to how the season had gone after falling behind Stoner in the standings before taking third back with his result at Valencia, Pedrosa gave his assessment of 2009.

“It’s been a tough season,” he said. “Third place is good, but we are far off the top two – or even top three sometimes – so we will analyse that and work harder for next year.”