2012 MotoGP Championship
For the first time all weekend, the 21-ride MotoGP grid was able to lap Jerez under dry conditions Sunday for qualifying.
And although he couldn’t top the times in the free practice sessions held under wet conditions, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo fought a back-and-fourth battle with his compatriot Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) to take the pole for Sunday’s Jerez MotoGP.
Lorenzo, who won the last two years at Jerez, secured the pole with a quickest final lap of 1:39.532. But Pedrosa, who led Free Practice 2 and 3, was only 0.132 of a second behind. But what’s more amazing is that these two were over a second ahead of the remaining riders.
Completing the front row is the American Nicky Hayden. The Ducati GP12 rider put in a surprise effort to take the third-spot, although he was 1.031 seconds slower than Lorenzo. As for Hayden’s teammate, Valentino Rossi, who has won at Jerez eight times, the nine-time World Champion will start from 13th on the grid, 3.429 seconds behind his former teammate Lorenzo.
Heading up the second row is Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow, although he crashed at the end of the qualifying session. Crutchlow was just 0.007 of a second behind Hayden, and 1.045 seconds behind Lorenzo. Joining Crutchlow on the second row will be the reigning MotoGP Champion, Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda), and Lorenzo’s teammate, Ben Spies.
Making up row three will be Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso, San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista and LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl, respectively. The top-qualifying CRT machine was the Power Electronics Aspar bike piloted by Randy de Puniet.
As for the top row, it’s the first time since the 2010 Valenica MotoGP that three separate manufacturers will start from the front.
SPEED TV will cover 2012 Jerez MotoGP at 8 a.m. EDT Sunday, April 29.
2012 Jerez MotoGP Qualifying Results:
Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 282.1 | 1’39.532 | |
2. | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 283.5 | 1’39.667 | 0.135 / 0.135 |
3. | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 282.3 | 1’40.563 | 1.031 / 0.896 |
4. | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 281.7 | 1’40.570 | 1.038 / 0.007 |
5. | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 285.9 | 1’40.577 | 1.045 / 0.007 |
6. | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 280.9 | 1’41.090 | 1.558 / 0.513 |
7. | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 284.0 | 1’41.180 | 1.648 / 0.090 |
8. | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 286.9 | 1’41.447 | 1.915 / 0.267 |
9. | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 287.3 | 1’41.550 | 2.018 / 0.103 |
10. | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 265.6 | 1’41.700 | 2.168 / 0.150 |
11. | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 284.2 | 1’41.724 | 2.192 / 0.024 |
12. | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 288.8 | 1’41.871 | 2.339 / 0.147 |
13. | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 282.3 | 1’42.961 | 3.429 / 1.090 |
14. | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 267.7 | 1’43.135 | 3.603 / 0.174 |
15. | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 268.2 | 1’43.363 | 3.831 / 0.228 |
16. | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 266.5 | 1’44.308 | 4.776 / 0.945 |
17. | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 269.5 | 1’44.467 | 4.935 / 0.159 |
18. | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 257.4 | 1’44.645 | 5.113 / 0.178 |
19. | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 261.4 | 1’44.717 | 5.185 / 0.072 |
20. | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 264.8 | 1’45.724 | 6.192 / 1.007 |
21. | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 264.5 | 1’46.200 | 6.668 / 0.476 |