2013 Qatar MotoGP Pre-Race Stats/Warm Up
The 2013 MotoGP Championship is at WOT now, with all pre-race practice and qualifying sessions at Losail International Circuit complete, including the 20-minute Warm Up ahead of the race.
Leading the warm up that wrapped up moments ago was Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow. The Brit, who also led Free Practice 4 on Saturday, was 0.137 of a second quicker than the man on pole, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo (qualifying results here).
Next was the top Honda of the group, Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. The Spaniard was 0.138 of a second slower than Crutchlow, and only a 0.001 of a second behind his fellow countryman, two-time MotoGP Champion Lorenzo.
Fourth went to Rossi, who trailed by 0.207 and led during the early moments of Warm Up, with LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl in fifth, 0.255 of a second back.
Next was the rookie Marc Marquez on the other factory Repsol Honda, who was followed by the top Ducati rider, the factory GP13 pilot Andrea Dovizioso, who trailed Crutchlow by 0.409 of a second.
The 24 riders will grid up at 3 p.m. EST for the first race of 2013 MotoGP. SPEED TV will broadcast the race at 3 p.m., but until then, here are some interesting pre-race stats.
2013 Qatar MotoGP Pre-Race Stats:
Jorge Lorenzo starts from pole position for the third time in the MotoGP class at the Losail circuit. Lorenzo won the MotoGP race in Qatar last year from pole.
Cal Crutchlow has qualified second fastest, which equals his previous best ever grid position from Brno last year.
Dani Pedrosa has taken third place on the grid, only the second time he has qualified on the front row in the MotoGP class in Qatar. Losail is one of only two current circuits, which have been used previously for GP, where Pedrosa has not had a victory in any class of GP racing – the other is Silverstone.
Andrea Dovizioso heads the second row of the grid, which equals his best qualifying performance in the MotoGP class at Losail. This is the best qualifying result by an Italian rider on an Italian bike since Loris Capirossi was third on the grid for the final race of 2006 at Valencia on a Ducati.
In fifth place on the grid is Stefan Bradl, who will be aiming to become the first German rider to finish on the podium in the premier-class since Michael Rudroff was third at Misano in 1989 – a race boycotted by the top riders over safety issues.
Taking the final slot on the second row is Marc Marquez, who is making his debut in the MotoGP class. Marquez won the Moto2 race last year in Qatar on his way to taking the world title.
Valentino Rossi has qualified in seventh place on the grid on his return to the Yamaha. He has won the MotoGP race three times in Qatar – on each occasion riding a Yamaha.
Alvaro Bautista is in eighth place on the grid – his best qualifying result at the Losail circuit in the MotoGP class.
Bradley Smith has qualified in ninth place on the grid on his debut in the MotoGP class. He is the youngest British rider to qualify inside the top ten in the premier-class since Neil Hodgson was fourth on the grid for the 500cc GP in Argentina in 1995.
Qualifying in 12th place is the top CRT rider on the grid Aleix Espargaro, who ended last year as top CRT.
