MotoGP World Championship Grand Prix 2012
The World Championship hopes of Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) received a huge blow at the Misano Grand Prix, where the Spaniard was taken out by another rider on the very first lap.
But there was joy for Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC213V) who scored his first-premier class podium with a stirring ride to third place behind local hero Valentino Rossi (Ducati) and winner Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha).
Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP RC213V) enjoyed another impressive ride, the young German spending much of the race chasing Rossi before slipping back to sixth place with grip issues. Jonathan Rea (Repsol Honda RC213V) – substituting for injured champ Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC213V) – had an excellent MotoGP debut, finishing in eighth spot.
Expectations of another great duel between title rivals Pedrosa and Lorenzo were high as Pedrosa lined up on pole position, with just 13 points between him and the championship leader. But the start was aborted when Karel Abraham (Ducati) stalled his machine on the grid. During the preparations for the delayed start, Pedrosa’s front wheel became locked, and when the one minute board was shown his mechanics had to move the machine to pit lane to fix the problem. He was then told he had to start the race from the back row of the grid.
Already charging through the pack after his usual strong getaway from the grid, Pedrosa was hit by Hector Barbera (Ducati) at the Quercia hairpin. Neither rider was injured in the collision. However, Pedrosa’s title hopes sustained significant damage. With five rounds remaining he now sits 38 points behind Lorenzo.
Bautista’s first MotoGP podium – at his team’s home circuit – followed some crucial set-up tweaks to his RC213V, as well as a suspension upgrade from Showa. These changes allowed the Spaniard to get back to his usual all-attack riding style. Seventh at the end of the first lap, he picked off his rivals one by one, taking third place from Bradl on lap 19 of 27. On the last lap Bautista came under attack from Andrea Dovizioso (Yamaha) who dived inside at the final turn, then ran wide. The pair raced towards the finish line side by side, the difference just 0.003s.
MotoGP rookie Bradl rode another terrific race, riding in Rossi’s wheel tracks lap after lap, looking good for his first premier-class podium. In the closing stages he had Bautista and Dovizioso closing in on him and was unable to defend his position because he had run out of front-end grip.
Rea had a promising MotoGP debut, complicated by the miserable weather that dominated the three ‘free’ practice sessions. The Ten Kate World Superbike rider needed dry track time more than anyone, but on/off drizzle made sure that the circuit was not fully dry until yesterday’s qualifying session. In the difficult circumstances Rea kept his head and rode an intelligent race, learning plenty for his next MotoGP outing at Aragon in two weeks time.
Michele Pirro (San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR-Honda) completed an excellent day for Fausto Gresini’s squad, finishing in tenth place. He was the second CRT machine to cross the line.
Magnificent Marc Marquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol-Suter) once again came out on top of another thrilling race in the Honda-powered Moto2 World Championship.
Marquez and rival Pol Espargaro (Pons 40 HP Tuenti-Kalex) swapped the lead no less than five times during the last lap, Marquez finally making it stick at the turn 14 hairpin, with just two corners to go. The Spanish pair crossed the line separated by 0.359s. Italian Andrea Iannone (Speed Master – Speed Up) finished third, a further 1.2s down, after leading more than half of the race.
Marquez was brilliant as ever. He had been pushed back to fourth at one point during the early stages, but planned his race perfectly, working his way back towards the front and taking the lead from his compatriot as they attacked turn eight for the final time. Espargaro got back in front twice after that – briefly at turn ten and again at turn 13 – but whatever he did, Marquez always had the answer.
The shortened race – stopped and restarted after Gino Rea (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2-Suter) struck trouble and dropped oil on the track – gave Marquez his seventh victory of 2012 and his first hat-trick of the year. He now leads Espargaro by 53 points with five races remaining.
Iannone led the first ten laps, but in the closing stages he did not have the pace to hold off the Spaniards, so he had to be content with his fifth podium of the year.
As usual, the competition further back was just as intense, with the next six riders separated by less than 2.5 seconds. Finnish star Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team – Kalex) led the battling group from Esteve Rabat (Pons 40 HP Tuenti – Kalex), Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP Suter), Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team-Kalex), Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing – Tech 3) and Thomas Luthi (Interwetten-Paddock-Suter).
Romano Fenati (Team Italian FMI – FTR- Honda) finished third in a breathtaking Moto3 race that ended with the first seven riders covered by just 1.3s. No one had the speed to escape from the leading pack, so the result was in doubt throughout. Only in the last half lap did Sandro Cortese (KTM) gain a gap when the riders right behind him slowed themselves up in their efforts to get to the front.
After leading much of the race, Fenati dropped a few positions, then grabbed third place at the very end, getting past Maverick Vinales (Blusens Avintia – FTR Honda) and Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0.0 – Suter Honda). The Italian teenager crossed the line right behind runner-up Luis Salom (KTM) and 0.037s ahead of Rins who rode superbly, bravely taking second place from Salom on several occasions and setting the fastest lap along the way.
Title-challenger Vinales rode a fantastic race, fighting through the pack after starting from the third row of the grid. On the final lap it looked like the Spaniard might even score his sixth victory of the season, but in the end Cortese had too much speed and then Vinales lost three places in the final few corners. The Spanish teenager still holds second place in the championship, but 46 points behind Cortese.
Efren Vazquez (JHK T-Shirt Laglisse – FTR Honda) was also in the lead group throughout, eventually finishing a close-run seventh. Niccolo Antonelli (San Carlo Gresini – FTR Honda) went with the front-runners in the early stages, but slipped back to take eighth place, a fraction ahead of Miguel Oliveira (Estrella Galicia 0.0 – Suter Honda).
The MotoGP circus now travels back to Spain for the Aragon Grand Prix on September 30 before heading east for three flyaway races in Japan, Malaysia and Australia. The season ends at Valencia in Spain on November 11.
|1||Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha Factory Racing)|
|2||Valentino ROSSI (Ducati Team)|
|3||Alvaro BAUTISTA (San Carlo Honda Gresini)|
|4||Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Monster Yamaha Tech 3)|
|5||Ben SPIES (Yamaha Factory Racing)|
|6||Stefan BRADL (LCR Honda MotoGP)|
|7||Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati Team)|
|8||Jonathan REA (Repsol Honda Team)|
|9||Randy DE PUNIET (Power Electronics Aspar)|
|10||Michele PIRRO (San Carlo Honda Gresini)|
|11||Colin EDWARDS (NGM Mobile Forward Racing)|
|12||Yonny HERNANDEZ (Avintia Blusens)|
|13||James ELLISON (Paul Bird Motorsport)|
|14||Danilo PETRUCCI (Came IodaRacing Project)|
|15||David SALOM (Avintia Blusens)|
|1||Marc MARQUEZ (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol)|
|2||Pol ESPARGARO (Pons 40 HP Tuenti)|
|3||Andrea IANNONE (Speed Master)|
|4||Mika KALLIO (Marc VDS Racing Team)|
|5||Esteve RABAT (Pons 40 HP Tuenti)|
|6||Dominique AEGERTER (Technomag-CIP)|
|7||Scott REDDING (Marc VDS Racing Team)|
|8||Bradley SMITH (Tech 3 Racing)|
|9||Thomas LUTHI (Interwetten-Paddock)|
|10||Johann ZARCO (JIR Moto2)|
|11||Takaaki NAKAGAMI (Italtrans Racing Team)|
|12||Julian SIMON (Blusens Avintia)|
|13||Alex DE ANGELIS (NGM Mobile Forward Racing)|
|14||Claudio CORTI (Italtrans Racing Team)|
|15||Nicolas TEROL (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2)|
|1||Sandro CORTESE (Red Bull KTM Ajo)|
|2||Luis SALOM (RW Racing GP)|
|3||Romano FENATI (Team Italia FMI)|
|4||Alex RINS (Estrella Galicia 0,0)|
|5||Maverick VINALES (Blusens Avintia)|
|6||Jonas FOLGER (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3)|
|7||Efren VAZQUEZ (JHK t-shirt Laglisse)|
|8||Niccolo` ANTONELLI (San Carlo Gresini Moto3)|
|9||Miguel OLIVEIRA (Estrella Galicia 0,0)|
|10||Arthur SISSIS (Red Bull KTM Ajo)|
|11||Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN (AirAsia-Sic-Ajo)|
|12||Danny KENT (Red Bull KTM Ajo)|
|13||Hector FAUBEL (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3)|
|14||Alberto MONCAYO (Andalucia JHK t-shirt Laglisse)|
|15||Jakub KORNFEIL (Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta)|