2012 Indy MotoGP | Qualifying Results

2012 Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix Qualifying

Qualifying for the 2012 Red Bull Indianapolis was plagued by multiple crashes Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

And one rider involved in one of these wrecks was the home favorite, Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden. The Kentuckian crashed at turn 14, and examinations revealed two small, non-displaced fractures to the second and third metacarpal on his right hand. But things got worse when his CAT scans came back negative, showing Hayden had a slight concussion. Due to this, he has been ruled out of Sunday’s race.

Another top rider may be missing from tomorrow’s race also – Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner. The Australian, who previously complained of the surface at Indy, was victim to a huge high side with just eight minutes remaining in the hour-long session. During the wreck, Stoner suffered a ligament strain to his right ankle, and its unknown if he will start tomorrows Indy GP.

But on the other side of the Repsol Honda paddock, things were much different. Stoner’s teammate, Dani Pedrosa, put in a new fastest lap at Indy with a 1:38.813. This gave him the pole, the Spaniard finishing ahead of his fellow countryman Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo.

Lorenzo trailed Pedrosa by 0.100 of a second, the current points leader struggling with his bike in the preceding sessions.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso completes the front row, having improved steadily all weekend on his satellite machine. Heading up the second row in fourth is Lorenzo’s teammate Ben Spies, who did incredibly well to walk away from a big crash whilst pushing hard on a hot lap. LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl will be very pleased with his day’s work, after the German rookie managed to put his bike fifth on the grid.

Although Stoner crashed, he’s got a sixth-position start if competing in tomorrow’s MotoGP. In seventh place on the grid, Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow was unable to match his teammate’s feat, but will no doubt be pleased with his session, after having suffered two crashes in previous outings.

Hayden’s crash moved San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista into eighth, with Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet putting in a terrific performance to place ninth on his CRT machine.

Ducati’s Valentino Rossi could only manage 10th place, after suffering a scare in turn 13 with his bike, causing him to abort his fast lap. Attack Performance’s Steve Rapp and GPTech’s Aaron Yates, both CRT wildcards this weekend, managed to qualify for the race, in 22nd and 23rd place respectively. Many of the riders spoke out about the track surface after the qualifying session sighting safety concerns after the three heavy crashes.

Pramac Racing Team’s Héctor Barberá, who has been replaced by Toni Elías after fracturing three vertebrae in his back, is currently on his way back to Barcelona for further medical assessments.

Photos by Ara Ashjian

2012 Indy MotoGP Qualifying Results: