2012 Catalunya MotoGP
Casey Stoner, who finished on the podium in the first four rounds of the 2012 MotoGP Championship, including two wins (Jerez, Estoril), began round five in dominate form Friday.
The Repsol Honda, who dominated the race in 2011 en route to his second MotoGP title, piloted his RC213V to a 1:42.775 in the first of three free practices.
Only a tenth of a second behind was his teammate, Dani Pedrosa, making for two Hondas up front. But lurking 0.233 of a second back in third was round-four Le Mans race winner Jorge Lorenzo aboard the Yamaha Factory Racing YZR-M1.
Two more Yamaha’s followed Lorenzo during FP1 – Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow, who is now running the same spec brakes as teammate Andrea Dovizioso, and Lorenzo’s teammate Ben Spies.
Spies will be looking for a solid weekend, after much discussion about his below-par form this season. In sixth place, LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl continues to impress with his satellite machine, as he was just over four tenths off the top, despite a small crash early in the session.
Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden was the fastest of the Ducatis as he finished within the same hundredth as Bradl. Cardion AB Racing’s Karel Abraham looked to have regained some confidence after coming in just behind Hayden in eighth. Crutchlow’s teammate Dovizioso was ninth quickest, with San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista rounding out the top ten. Ducati’s Valentino Rossi finished in 11th.
Apart from Bradl’s crash, there were only minor incidents in the session, as Bautista’s teammate Michele Pirro and Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy De Puniet ran off track briefly, while Avintia Blusens’ Yonny Hernandez had to switch bikes after a mechanical issue.
2012 Catalunya MotoGP: Free Practice 1 Results:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 335.3 | 1’42.775 | |
| 2. | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 335.1 | 1’42.875 | 0.100 / 0.100 |
| 3. | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 332.9 | 1’43.008 | 0.233 / 0.133 |
| 4. | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 333.2 | 1’43.182 | 0.407 / 0.174 |
| 5. | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 334.2 | 1’43.191 | 0.416 / 0.009 |
| 6. | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 334.9 | 1’43.245 | 0.470 / 0.054 |
| 7. | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 335.1 | 1’43.246 | 0.471 / 0.001 |
| 8. | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 331.8 | 1’43.315 | 0.540 / 0.069 |
| 9. | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 335.4 | 1’43.371 | 0.596 / 0.056 |
| 10. | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 333.4 | 1’43.493 | 0.718 / 0.122 |
| 11. | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 337.2 | 1’43.537 | 0.762 / 0.044 |
| 12. | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 329.1 | 1’43.624 | 0.849 / 0.087 |
| 13. | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 318.7 | 1’44.915 | 2.140 / 1.291 |
| 14. | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 313.9 | 1’45.281 | 2.506 / 0.366 |
| 15. | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 313.0 | 1’45.939 | 3.164 / 0.658 |
| 16. | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 315.4 | 1’46.234 | 3.459 / 0.295 |
| 17. | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 308.9 | 1’46.748 | 3.973 / 0.514 |
| 18. | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 316.4 | 1’46.848 | 4.073 / 0.100 |
| 19. | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 312.3 | 1’46.908 | 4.133 / 0.060 |
| 20. | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 299.7 | 1’47.149 | 4.374 / 0.241 |
| 21. | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 313.8 | 1’47.181 | 4.406 / 0.032 |
