2012 MotoGP Championship
Spoiler Alert: 2012 MotoGP Championship results from Jerez, Spain, listed below
Although dark skies loomed in the Spanish horizon, the 21-rider MotoGP grid was able to complete round 2 at Jerez under dry track conditions.
This situation was not the best scenario for the riders, though, considering the teams had limited time to optimize dry setup at the 2.748-mile circuit due to rain plaguing the free practice sessions.
But with a dry track, the riders slipped into an immediate comfort zone on their 1000cc machines and CRTs, and many passes occurred on the opening laps as the riders ran in tight formation.
But when the 27-lap event was complete, it would be the reigning MotoGP Champion Casey Stoner’s smooth consistency that helped propel his RC213V to a win.
Stoner took the race from his main rival by almost a second, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo. Taking the final podium position was Stoner’s Repsol Honda teammate, Dani Pedrosa, giving him and fellow countryman Lorenzo two podiums for Spain.
Starting from second on the grid behind pole-man and Qatar race-winner Lorenzo, Pedrosa got to turn one of 13 first, followed by Lorenzo, Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow and Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden. As for Hayden’s teammate, Valentino Rossi, who won at Jerez eight times, the Italian started from 13th on the grid and didn’t make any headway on the start.
The action up front was intense on the first lap. While running in third, Crutchlow almost ran into the back of Lorenzo, forcing the Brit to go wide. This allowed Hayden to take third, but soon the man who got off the line in fifth, Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizoso, forced Hayden to go wide, and got into second ahead of Lorenzo.
On the second lap, Stoner was charging through the grid, and passed Lorenzo for second. The Australian, who had never won at Jerez before Sunday’s 26th MotoGP at the circuit, then passed Pedrosa for the lead on the third lap. A few turns later, Lorenzo took second off Pedrosa, and soon Hayden also passed Pedrosa.
Once Stoner and Lorenzo got out front, they rode like a well-organized orchestra, seeming to come within an inch of the optimal line on every lap.
Hayden, who qualified third on the Ducati GP12, ran with Stoner and Lorenzo for the first seven laps, but began falling back, struggling with the Desmo. The Kentuckian would continue this trend, and eventually finish the race in eight ahead of his teammate Rossi in ninth.
As Stoner and Lorenzo pulled far ahead of the remaining riders, a race-long battle for the final podium position began between Pedrosa and Crutchlow. The battles up front came down to the last lap, but Stoner would hold off Lorenzo by 0.947 of a second for the win. Behind, Pedrosa would hold off Crutchlow for the final podium position, with both riders finishing just over two seconds behind Stoner.
Taking fifth was Dovi, who finished alone 18.1 seconds behind Stoner. Sixth went to San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, with LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl in seventh. The Ducati Duo of Hayden and Rossi finished in eighth and ninth, respectably, with Pramac Racing Ducati’s Hector Barbera taking 10th.
With his second-place finish, Lorenzo was able to retain the 2012 MotoGP Championship points lead, now having 45 points after 2 of 18 rounds. But only four points behind is Stoner. In third with 36 points is Pedrosa.
The MotoGP series continues next week for the Portugal GP at Estorial.
2012 Jerez MotoGP Results:
Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 25 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 157.3 | 45’33.897 |
2. | 20 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 157.2 | +0.947 |
3. | 16 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 157.1 | +2.063 |
4. | 13 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 157.1 | +2.465 |
5. | 11 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 156.2 | +18.100 |
6. | 10 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 156.0 | +21.395 |
7. | 9 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 155.6 | +28.637 |
8. | 8 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 155.6 | +28.869 |
9. | 7 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 155.3 | +34.852 |
10. | 6 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 155.3 | +35.103 |
11. | 5 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 155.1 | +38.041 |
12. | 4 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 153.2 | +1’12.728 |
13. | 3 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 152.9 | +1’18.669 |
14. | 2 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 152.3 | +1’29.142 |
15. | 1 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 152.1 | +1’32.478 |
16. | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 151.7 | +1’40.577 | |
17. | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 150.6 | 1 Lap | |
Not Classified | ||||||||
14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 153.7 | 2 Laps | ||
77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 152.7 | 3 Laps | ||
51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 152.6 | 9 Laps | ||
Not Starting | ||||||||
68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 0 Lap |