Death of Tomizawa overshadows Pedrosa win

Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa died when he lost control of his machine at high speed before colliding with the bikes of Alex De Angelis and Scott Redding.

The Suter team rider was taken to the Hospital of Riccione but later died of his injuries.

The MotoGP competitors were informed of Tomizawa's death after their race, and Pedrosa admitted the news had soured the euphoria of claiming his second victory in a week.

"It feels so strange, there is a big hole inside me," said the Spaniard.

"I was so happy and then I was told and this big hole opened up inside me."

Reigning MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi, who finished third yesterday afternoon, said he had feared the worst after seeing the crash.

"When it happens like this nothing else matters," the Italian said. "I saw the crash on TV and it was terrifying. I thought he was dead.

"When something so sad like this happens everything else goes to zero and the result doesn't matter.

"He was very funny, always smiling and he always had nice things to say to everyone. He was also very young with a great career ahead of him so we are all very sad."

Pedrosa was never troubled in yesterday's race as the Repsol Honda rider converted his pole position into a crushing triumph to register his first ever back-to-back wins in MotoGP.

His win in Indianapolis last weekend coupled with yesterday's maximum has seen Pedrosa claw back Jorge Lorenzo's championship lead to 63 points with six rounds of the season remaining.

Lorenzo has minimised the impact of Pedrosa's surge by securing podium finishes both in Indianapolis and this weekend, but he admitted he was struggling to take any positives from a black weekend.

"I don't have many words for the race on such a sad say," he said. "I made a good start but I couldn't keep close to Pedrosa. Second is good, we weren't fast enough.

"As for Shoya, it's a huge pity because he was a good guy and a strong rider. I am so sad and I just want to say how sorry I am for his family and his friends. When this happens nothing else matters."