2012 Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Results
Spoiler Alert: 2012 MotoGP results from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca listed below
For the 14th time, the MotoGP Championship got underway at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the California circuit with the famed corkscrew, a left-right turn that drops four stories within hundredths of a second.
Heading into the race at the shortest circuit on the 2012 MotoGP schedule, Laguna Seca a mere 2.243 miles, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo was untouchable; the Spaniard not only led the championship by 18 points over Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, but also set a new circuit record of 1:20.554 while qualifying on the pole.
But though Lorenzo led most of the 32 laps at Laguna Seca, with 11 to go Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner placed his RC213V with new engine out front. The reigning MotoGP champ wasted now time and immediately opened a gap, eventually finishing 3.429 seconds ahead of Lorenzo. Taking the final podium position was Stoner’s teammate Dani Pedrosa, who finished 7.633 seconds behind Stoner.
When the race began Stoner, who started from second on the grid, fell back to third behind Lorenzo and Pedrosa, respectively. Behind were Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ben Spies, the Monster Tech Yamaha duo of Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow, LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl, San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, and the Ducati Team of Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi, respectively.
Drama began on the first lap when San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Michele Pirro crashed out on turn one. On the second lap, Pramac Racing Ducati’s substitute rider for Hector Barbera, 2010 Moto2 Champion Toni Elias, also crashed out. But up front, the action was just beginning when Stoner passed Pedrosa and began chasing down Lorenzo.
Ten laps into the race, and the grid began forming groups. Up front, Lorenzo led Stoner and Pedrosa. Nine seconds behind the top three was another group with Spies leading Dovi and Crutchlow. Further back Bradl led Hayden, with Rossi running alone in ninth.
Heading into lap 11, Stoner outpaced Lorenzo, passing him on the straight heading into turn one. On the same lap, the Texan Spies crashed at the bottom of the corkscrew, ending his chance at finishing fourth.
But the other famed America, Hayden, was slowly creeping up on Bradl. And with five laps to go, Hayden passed Bradl for fifth. But there was no such luck for Hayden’s teammate Rossi. While running in a lonely eighth, the nine-time World Champion crashed on the penultimate lap, suffering his first DNF of the 2012 MotoGP Championship.
Up front, Stoner would take the win, his fourth of the 2012 season, and his second consecutive victory at Laguna Seca. Lorenzo would finish second, followed by Pedrosa.
Dovi held off Crutchlow by 0.177 of second to take fourth, with Hayden in sixth. Rounding out the top 10 were Bradl in seventh, followed by Bautista, Power Electronics CRT’s Aleix Espargaro and Cardion AB Racing Ducati’s Karel Abraham. As for the American Colin Edwards, the Forward Racing NGM BMW Suter rider finished 13th.
With his second-place finish, Lorenzo continues to lead the MotoGP series after 10 of 18 rounds, the 2010 Champion 23 points ahead of Pedrosa. Stoner remains in third, 32 points behind Lorenzo.
The 2012 MotoGP Championship now breaks for three weeks before resuming at Indianapolis for round 11 of 18.
2012 Laguna Seca MotoGP Results:
Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 25 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 158.4 | 43’45.961 |
2. | 20 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 158.2 | +3.429 |
3. | 16 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 157.9 | +7.633 |
4. | 13 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 157.3 | +18.602 |
5. | 11 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 157.2 | +18.779 |
6. | 10 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 156.8 | +26.902 |
7. | 9 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 156.7 | +28.393 |
8. | 8 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 155.4 | +50.246 |
9. | 7 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 153.7 | +1’18.993 |
10. | 6 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 153.6 | +1’22.076 |
11. | 5 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 153.3 | 1 Lap |
12. | 4 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 152.9 | 1 Lap |
13. | 3 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 151.6 | 1 Lap |
14. | 2 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 151.4 | 1 Lap |
Not Classified | ||||||||
46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 156.2 | 3 Laps | ||
11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 157.4 | 11 Laps | ||
77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 151.9 | 13 Laps | ||
9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 151.4 | 14 Laps | ||
54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 152.2 | 21 Laps | ||
24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 134.1 | 31 Laps | ||
51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 0 Lap |
2012 MotoGP Point Standings (after 10 of 18 rounds):
Pos. | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Jorge LORENZO | Yamaha | SPA | 205 |
2. | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | SPA | 182 |
3. | Casey STONER | Honda | AUS | 173 |
4. | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Yamaha | ITA | 121 |
5. | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Yamaha | GBR | 106 |
6. | Stefan BRADL | Honda | GER | 84 |
7. | Nicky HAYDEN | Ducati | USA | 84 |
8. | Valentino ROSSI | Ducati | ITA | 82 |
9. | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Honda | SPA | 81 |
10. | Ben SPIES | Yamaha | USA | 66 |
11. | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | SPA | 60 |
12. | Randy DE PUNIET | ART | FRA | 33 |
13. | Aleix ESPARGARO | ART | SPA | 33 |
14. | Michele PIRRO | FTR | ITA | 16 |
15. | Mattia PASINI | ART | ITA | 13 |
16. | James ELLISON | ART | GBR | 12 |
17. | Colin EDWARDS | Suter | USA | 11 |
18. | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | CZE | 10 |
19. | Yonny HERNANDEZ | BQR | COL | 10 |
20. | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ioda | ITA | 9 |
21. | Ivan SILVA | BQR | SPA | 7 |