Jorge Lorenzo put Yamaha back on top of the podium
Jorge Lorenzo led a brilliant race from start to finish to take his third win of the season, ahead of Dani Pedrosa in second with Casey Stoner completing the podium at the Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini.
Repsol Honda’s Stoner looked poised to take the lead in turn one at the start of the race at Misano, but defending World Champion Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) fought back and moved to the front in the first corner, holding onto the lead position until crossing the finish line to take his third win of 2011, reducing Stoner’s Championship lead to 35 points.
Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) was third off the start, a deviation from his usual hole shot into the first corner, the Spaniard gradually gaining ground on his team-mate until he overtook the Australian on lap 22, to cross the line second. In an unusual bout of fatigue, 25 year-old Stoner was unable to retaliate and finished the race in third.
Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) fell back to seventh at the start, then made his way back through the pack up to fourth, where he then engaged in a tussle with his rival Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), emerging ahead of his fellow countryman on the last lap to take fourth. Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing), whose poor start saw the American drop to seventh on the second lap, caught the dueling Italians and looked capable and prepared to make the pass into fourth, but instead got baulked in the final corner to finish sixth behind Dovizioso.
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) had a terrific start from his 11th place on the grid, moving up into fifth by lap two, until Simoncelli got ahead of him on lap four and Spies passed him on lap 15. The seven time premier class Champion completed the race in seventh, ahead of Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) who fulfilled his fourth top-ten finish of the season.
Mapfre Aspar rider Héctor Barberá achieved his sixth top-ten finish of the season with ninth place, ahead of Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), who ended his challenging weekend the final finisher in the top ten, just over two seconds in front of Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini).
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) crashed out of the race on lap three, an unfortunate end to an already difficult weekend for the American, while Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing) retired to the pits early in the race with what appeared to be tyre problems.
Marky Marc Márquez
A four-way battle for Moto2 victory saw Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) take the win ahead of Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) and Andrea Iannone (Speed Master).
Pole starter Bradl led off the start of the race, until the German rider had a moment and dropped to third, giving the lead over to Márquez followed by Scott Redding. The British Marc VDS Racing rider then overtook the Spaniard at the front and began to pull a gap on the field.
A race long spar between Iannone, Márquez and Bradl ensued, with Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2) joining the front group as Redding dropped off the front on lap 13. Close racing had the front runners changing positions nearly every lap, with Italian rider Iannone fighting hard for a win at his home track, Bradl fighting for another win to ensure his Championship lead, and Márquez determined to close the gap in the standings to the German.
Eighteen year-old Márquez succeeded in taking the lead from the Italian on lap 22, holding it until the finish line to take his sixth win of the season. Bradl overtook Iannone on the penultimate lap to cross the line second, while 22 year-old Iannone took third at his home circuit for his fourth podium of the season, setting a new fastest lap record on his eighth lap in the process.
De Angelis crossed the line fourth, a second and a half ahead of two British riders who started the race along side the San Marino local from the second row, Redding in fifth and Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing) in sixth.
Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) crossed the line seventh after his front row start, followed by Swiss rider Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) in eighth, Pol Espargaró (HP Tuenti Speed Up) in ninth and Simone Corsi (Ioda Racing Project) in tenth.
Johann Zarco (left) and Nico Terol (right)
A race long cat and mouse game between Nico Terol and Johann Zarco was finally settled on the last lap, as 125 World Championship points leader Terol took his seventh win of the season ahead of Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo).
Bankia Aspar’s Terol led into turn one at the start of the race, with pole starter Zarco immediately fighting his way through the pack in pursuit of the Spaniard. The French rider was desperate to keep the leader in his sights, colliding with Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar) twice off the start and then Sergio Gadea (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) as he came back into line after the second bump with Faubel pushed him off track. Zarco then set the fastest laps of the race in his charge to catch the quickly departing Terol, closing the gap and catching the leader with 14 laps to go.
With six laps remaining Zarco made his move on Terol, then deliberately let him back through. The two swapped the lead until the final lap when leading man Zarco was nipped at the line by the 22 year-old Spaniard, leaving the Avant-AirAsia-Ajo rider still without a Grand Prix and in second place for the fifth time this season.
Efrén Vázquez followed team mate Zarco to the front of the pack early in the race, to finish a clear but lonely third with the closest rider four seconds behind the Spaniard. Vázquez climbed onto the third step of the podium for the second time this season.
A freight train for fourth place saw Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany) come out on top, with front row starter Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar) in fifth and second row starter Danny Kent (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) in sixth.
Maverick Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing) took seventh place followed by team mate Gadea in eighth, while Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) and Miguel Oliveira (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica) completed the top ten finishers.
Stoner Regains Form with Misano pole
Casey Stoner
Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner will start the Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini from pole position on Sunday, after breaking his own lap record set at the Misano circuit three years ago.
The Australian set out into the afternoon qualifying session intent on taking pole position for the San Marino race on Sunday, and not only achieved his goal but broke his own lap record set in 2008 with a lap time of 1’33.138.
Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo made a late push for the pole after leading the majority of the session, but missed out on the top spot by 0.120s to take second beside Championship leader Stoner on the front row. Last year’s pole man and race winner Dani Pedrosa’s time of 1’33.318 gave him the final spot on the front row.
Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing), who started from fifth last year and finished the race sixth, will start his Yamaha YZR-M1 at the head of the second row after posting a time of 1’33.947. The American is joined by Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), whose time of 1’33.990 landed him fifth, while Andrea Dovizioso of Repsol Honda takes the sixth spot on the outside of row two.
Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) heads the third row, with Álvaro Bautista, whose eighth place start is his best yet of the season, joining the American. Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar), who finished ninth and was the first non-factory Ducati last year in the MotoGP race at Misano, qualified ninth to complete row three.
Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) completed the top ten riders, while Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) followed in 11th, 1.538s off the pole position time set by Stoner.
Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) had a crash when pushing hard at the end of the qualifying session, ending up 13th on the grid just behind Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), while Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) had a crash early in the qualifying practice. The French rider ended the session in 14th place, ahead of ahead of Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) in 15th.
Moto2’s Stefan Bradl has ammends to make for his team’s Indy performance
Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) took his seventh Moto2 pole position of the season – and his first since the Assen GP – with a best effort of 1’37.828, leaving his closest rival Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) trailing by 0.256s. The German was the only rider in the Moto2 class to break the 1’38” barrier.
Márquez pushed a bit too hard at the start of the session and had a fall, but was able to rejoin the meet, posting a time of 1’38.084 on his final lap which put the Spaniard second on the grid. Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) followed Márquez with a time of 1’38.340 to take the third spot on the grid, making this the Japanese rider’s fourth front row grid position of the season.
Two Brits occupy the second row, with Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) leading after posting a time of 1’38.364, Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing) completing the row with a 1’38.535 lap time and San Marino local Alex De Angelis (JiR Moto2) between the two with a posted time of 1’38.461.
Speed Master’s Andrea Iannone crashed out of the session in turn two, but rejoined the outing to post the seventh fastest time, putting the Italian at the head of row three for the race start. Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing Moto2) and Pol Espargaró (HP Tuenti Speed Up) join Iannone on the third row. Row four is led by Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2), with Jules Cluzel (NGM Forward Racing) and Aleix Espargaró (Pons HP 40) joining the Swiss rider.
Johann Zarco
Avant-AirAsia-Ajo rider Johann Zarco put on a superb qualifying display to seal his second 125 pole position of the season ahead of the Misano race, the Frenchman’s hot lap of 1’43.247 left him 0.193s clear at the top of the leader board, ahead of Bankia Aspar team-mates Héctor Faubel and Nicolas Terol.
Faubel followed Zarco onto the front row with a best effort of 1’43.440, while Terol was third on the timesheet at 0.164s off his team-mate and 0.357s off the number one spot with a time of 1’43.640.
Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany), whose best race result at Misano is fifth, will start from the head of the second row after posting a time of 1’43.605, followed by Danny Kent (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport), the last rider under a second off the pole position time. Wildcard rider Miroslav Popov (Ellegi Racing) had a superb qualifying result, posting a time of 1’44.255 to place him on the second row of the grid.
Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport), Luis Salom (RW Racing GP) and Miguel Oliveira (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica) make up the third row, while Maverick Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) heads row four of the grid. Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo), who finished 3rd in the 125cc race last year, takes position 11 next to Viñales on the fourth row, followed by Alberto Moncayo (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica), who is riding through a shoulder injury sustained at the Indianapolis GP last weekend.
Lorenzo leads San Marino practice
Jorge Lorenzo looks to put Yamaha on the right track after a thorough pasting at Indy
After getting trounced by Repsol Honda last week at Indy, Jorge Lorenzo needed a good practice day to regain footing for his factory Yamaha team, and he got it on day 1 at San Marino.
The hot and humid weather on the Adriatic coast produced rain drops in the final minutes of the afternoon session at the Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini on Friday, but the weather had held off long enough for all but one in the MotoGP field to better their times from the morning session. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) topped the field with a 1’33.929 on lap ten of 22, bettering his time from the first practice outing by 1.213 seconds and the only rider to break below the 1’34” mark.
Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) made a run for the front with his best lap of 1’34.005, just missing the top spot by 0.076s to rank second for the day. The Australian out paced team mate and last year’s race winner at Misano, Dani Pedrosa, by 0.2s.
Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) posted a 1’34.444 to place him fourth in the order for the day. Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) was the only rider unable to improve his time from the morning session, posting a time one-thousandth of a second slower in the afternoon meet which placed him fifth overall.
Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) took the sixth spot with a time of 1’34.989, ahead of Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista who suffered engine problems at the start of the session, but switched bikes and posted a time of 1’35.023.
Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar ) posted the eighth quickest time with a 1’35.111, while Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) ranked ninth of the day with a 1’35.282 lap time on his penultimate lap.
Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) took the tenth spot of the day in the timings, Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) in 11th with a time of 1’35.331, 0.087s ahead of Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing).
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) was 13th, followed by Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing) and Toni Elías (LCR Honda).
Viessmann Kiefer Racing rider Stefan Bradl responded to the challenge set by Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) by clocking a lap time of 1’38.461, five tenths quicker than the Spaniard’s FP1 time that led the field in the first outing and nearly a second quicker than his own FP1 time. Márquez’s lap of 1’38.902 had remained fastest of the day until Bradl pulled out his fast lap in the final two minutes, bumping the Moto2 rookie into second for the day.
Aleix Espargaró (Pons HP 40) set the second quickest lap of the session with a 1’39.011, a three-tenths improvement on his morning session time, but still 0.109s behind Márquez for the day, placing Espargaró in third.
Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) grabbed the fourth spot with a time of 1’39.045, ahead of local rider Mattia Pasini (Ioda Racing Project) in fifth. Frenchman Jules Cluzel (NGM Forward Racing) ranked sixth, Simone Corsi (Ioda Racing Project) seventh, and younger brother to Aleix, Pol Espargaró (HP Tuenti Speed Up), was eighth.
Italian rider Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing) took up the ninth spot in the field, with Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) completing the top ten in the combined times.
Twelve riders in the field of thirty nine did not improve on their earlier times, including local San Marino rider Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2) who ranked 11th in the combined times and Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing) in 14th.
Nico Terol carried his Indy domination with him to San Marino
Bankia Aspar’s Nicolas Terol lead the 125cc field in the second practice session of the day in Misano, posting the fastest time of the day with a 1’44.139, four-tenths quicker than his earlier practice time and two-tenths ahead of team mate Héctor Faubel. The latter of the two had led the charts with nine minutes to go, finally posting a time of 1’44.333 to rank him second in the combined times.
Red Bull Ajo Motorsport’s Danny Kent was third, the British rider’s time of 1’44.479 was almost a second faster than his morning practice time. Johann Zarco (Avant AirAsia Ajo) crashed in turn 10 in the final four minutes; his time set on lap 13 of 1’44.513 put him fourth in the timings.
Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo), who has placed in the top ten in every race he has finished this season, continued to push at the front of the pack, leading the timings early and holding the top spot until the last ten minutes. His best lap of 1’44.573 placed him fifth in the combined times. Sergio Gadea (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) followed in sixth, with team mate Maverick Viñales 0.043s behind in seventh.
The third Bankia Aspar rider, Adrián Martín posted a time of 1’45.091 to rank him eighth, ahead of Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany), who will be trying for his third straight podium this weekend, in ninth. Luis Salom (RW Racing GP) was the final rider in the top ten.
courtesy of MotoGP