2012 Misano MotoGP | Results

2012 San Marino Grand Prix

Spoiler Alert: 2012 MotoGP results from Misano listed below

The 2012 San Marino Grand Prix was a dramatic affair for many riders Sunday at Misano, round 13 of the 2012 MotoGP Championship.

The race was loaded with crashes, causing DNFs for Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow, Speed Master CRT’s Mattia Pasini, Pramac Racing Ducati’s Hector Barbera, and the man second in points, Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. Two other riders failed to finish due to motorcycle issues – Power Electronics CRT’s Aleix Espargaro and Cardion AB Ducati’s Karel Abraham.

It was also dramatic for Yamaha Facotry Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo, though his drama was positive. The Spaniard took his sixth win of 2012 MotoGP at Misano, helping him extend his lead against the man who crashed out, Pedrosa, by 38 points.

Joining Lorenzo on the podium were Ducati Team’s Valentino Rossi and San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista; Lorenzo would finish 4.398 seconds ahead of Rossi, the Italian having his best finish of the year at Misano. Bautista would finish 6.055 seconds behind Lorenzo.

Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing YZR-M1 MotoGP) says: “It’s been a very tough weekend because Dani and I have been very close in the qualifying and the warm up. Unfortunately today he had really bad luck, first with the lights at the beginning of the race and then Hector took him out. This was really unfortunate for him.

“In Holland we were unlucky and today he was unlucky, anything can happen in these races. We have to be happy with our result and the point advantage we now have, for sure we are much more calm now than before the race! The race was difficult for everyone, only having qualifying was not enough when you have to set up the chassis and electronics and everything for the race. It was hotter during the race so there was less grip too. I almost crashed in turn one but managed to save it too!”

The race began with problems when Abraham’s Ducati GP12 had some bike issues. This prompted a restart, officials shortening the race to 27 laps.

Pedrosa then suffered some mechanical issues, and due to not getting the bike to restart in time, he started from back of the grid. But things only got worse…a few laps into the race, Barbera’s front wheel hit Pedrosa, causing a crash. Afterwards, an apologetic Barberá cited missing his braking marker as the reason he locked up his front wheel, causing him to slide into Pedrosa.

Up front, Lorenzo had nothing but clear track ahead, and immediately began opening a gap of the field. Behind was Rossi and LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl. More drama began, as Pasini and Crutchlow both crashed out of the race on the opening laps.

Meanwhile, Crutchlow’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso was in fourth, sticking with Bradl, and Bautista moved pass Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ben Spies for fifth. As Lorenzo continued to pull away, Rossi was working at keeping his Ducati GP12 ahead of Bradl.

With 12 laps remaining, Bautista caught up to Dovizioso, and made a pass to take fourth. Baustia kept pushing, and made quick work of Bradl for the final podium spot. Behind the Spaniard, Bradl, Dovizioso and Spies were all closing in with seven laps to go to battle it out for third spot.

With three laps to go Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaró was

forced to retire from the race, as Dovizioso and Spies had made their

was past Bradl. Dovizioso would battle intensley with Bautista, but

could not get pass.

Lorenzo would take the checkered flag, followed by Rossi and Bautstia,

who took his first-ever MotoGP podium after a photo finish with Dovi. In

fifth was Spies, who finished ahead of Bradl and Ducati Team’s Nicky

Hayden. Casey Stoner’s replacement on the Repsol Honda, Jonathan Rea,

finished eight. Rounding out the top ten were Power Electronics Aspar’s

Randy de Puniet and San Carlo’s Michele Pirro.

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team GP12 MotoGP) says: “It was a really nice race, and I’m very happy. It’s a great result, which I’d like to dedicate to Sic and his family, Paolo, Rossella, and Martina. I’d also like to thank all the guys who work with me and everyone at Ducati Corse who are giving their best, like me: after two difficult years, we really needed that. I’m very pleased because we did a dry race at a high level, always with a fast pace, and with a limited gap to Lorenzo. We worked well.

“The new frame and swingarm allow us to make more changes to the geometry, and in fact here the feeling with the front was improved and the bike also seemed to be better balanced on acceleration. The setup that we found was also good, as I managed to be fast and consistent for the whole race. It will be important to continue working well and do our best to take the Ducati as high as possible in the next races as well.”

Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC213V MotoGP) says: “It is always nice to finish on the podium but especially for me today with this being my first in MotoGP. Above all this is a very special weekend for me and the team because our memories of Marco are so strong coming here to the circuit named in his honor.

“After a few tough races we have worked well here and managed to fight for the podium at last. I am so happy for the team and for Marco because I am sure that wherever he is right now he was pushing us along. I could feel his hand on my shoulder today and I realized at the end that my name had come loose from my leathers so you could say it was Marco that was with us today. It has been an extraordinary day and I almost crashed at the start – I picked myself up on my right elbow. I am happy for everybody who has believed in me and I want to dedicate this very special podium also to them.”

With his win, Lorenzo now has 270 points, 38 ahead of Pedrosa with five rounds remaining. Casey Stoner is in third, with a 186 points.

The 2012 MotoGP Championship now breaks for three weeks before heading to Motegi for the Japanese Grand Prix.

2012 Misano MotoGP Results:

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1.	25	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	159.8	42’49.836
2.	20	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	159.6	+4.398
3.	16	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	159.5	+6.055
4.	13	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	159.5	+6.058
5.	11	11	Ben SPIES	USA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	159.4	+7.543
6.	10	6	Stefan BRADL	GER	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	159.0	+13.272
7.	9	69	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Team	Ducati	157.3	+40.907
8.	8	56	Jonathan REA	GBR	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	157.2	+43.162
9.	7	14	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	Power Electronics Aspar	ART	155.6	+1’09.627
10.	6	51	Michele PIRRO	ITA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	FTR	155.4	+1’13.605
11.	5	5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	Suter	155.2	+1’16.695
12.	4	68	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Avintia Blusens	BQR	155.1	+1’19.073
13.	3	77	James ELLISON	GBR	Paul Bird Motorsport	ART	155.1	+1’19.408
14.	2	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Came IodaRacing Project	Ioda-Suter	152.0	1 Lap
15.	1	44	David SALOM	SPA	Avintia Blusens	BQR	150.7	1 Lap
Not Classified
		41	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Power Electronics Aspar	ART	155.8	4 Laps
		35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	157.7	23 Laps
		54	Mattia PASINI	ITA	Speed Master	ART	145.5	26 Laps
		8	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Pramac Racing Team	Ducati		0 Lap
		26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda		0 Lap
		17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Cardion AB Motoracing	Ducati		0 Lap

2012 MotoGP Championship Points (after 13 of 18 rounds):

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1.	Jorge LORENZO	Yamaha	SPA	270
2.	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	SPA	232
3.	Casey STONER	Honda	AUS	186
4.	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Yamaha	ITA	163
5.	Cal CRUTCHLOW	Yamaha	GBR	122
6.	Valentino ROSSI	Ducati	ITA	120
7.	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Honda	SPA	118
8.	Stefan BRADL	Honda	GER	115
9.	Nicky HAYDEN	Ducati	USA	93
10.	Ben SPIES	Yamaha	USA	77
11.	Hector BARBERA	Ducati	SPA	60
12.	Randy DE PUNIET	ART	FRA	48
13.	Aleix ESPARGARO	ART	SPA	45
14.	Karel ABRAHAM	Ducati	CZE	25
15.	Yonny HERNANDEZ	BQR	COL	25
16.	Michele PIRRO	FTR	ITA	24
17.	Colin EDWARDS	Suter	USA	22
18.	James ELLISON	ART	GBR	17
19.	Mattia PASINI	ART	ITA	13
20.	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ioda-Suter	ITA	11
21.	Ivan SILVA	BQR	SPA	11
22.	Toni ELIAS	Ducati	SPA	10
23.	Jonathan REA	Honda	GBR	8
24.	Steve RAPP	APR	USA	2
25.	David SALOM	BQR	SPA	1