Lorenzo takes dominant win at Silverstone

Silverstone - 2012 - MotoGP - Race - Highlights

Sunday, 17 June 2012

At the Hertz British Grand Prix at Silverstone it was Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo who recorded a hard fought victory in an exciting MotoGP™ race ahead of Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa.

The predicted rain stayed away for the MotoGP grid as Yamaha’s Ben Spies took the holeshot ahead of Repsol Honda Team’s Stoner and San Carlo Honda Gresini’s pole-sitter Álvaro Bautista. Spies made a tremendous start leading the early stages from Stoner, Bautista and Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden. Lorenzo lost a place in the first bends, and was soon leading a separated group for fifth place.
With 17 laps remaining Lorenzo started to find his rhythm as he looked to close the gap to the front four, followed by Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso and Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. A lap later Hayden tried to dart past Bautista into third, but ran too wide, allowing the Spaniard back in. Soon after Stoner made his move past Spies, as the Texan made a mistake, also going too hot into a turn.
More overtaking was to follow, as Lorenzo took advantage of a gap left by Hayden to hunt down Bautista. Just seconds after, Hayden left yet another gap for Dovizioso to push the American even further back. With Stoner having pulled out a small gap at the front, Lorenzo did not want his rival to get way and forced his way past Bautista, relegating the San Carlo rider into fourth.
The tussle was not to stop, as Lorenzo stormed past his teammate into second, with Spies being overtaken by Bautista as well a corner later. In the same bend Pedrosa snuck past Dovizioso, who kept on the Spaniard’s rear wheel to retake him just a few corners later. The Italian continued his charge as he fought past early leader Spies, with Pedrosa following suit, relegating the Texan into sixth.
With 11 laps left Lorenzo was closing in on the rear wheel of Stoner, starting a thrilling battle for top spot. On the same lap Dovizioso crashed out of his positions, while his teammate Cal Crutchlow fought past LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl into seventh.
Heading into lap nine, Lorenzo took Stoner on the final turn, yet the Australian fought straight back in the next turn, as the pair kept the crowd on their toes with some thrilling moves. As one Repsol Honda was overtaken, the other in the form of Pedrosa went up into third.
A lap further on, the duo of Pedrosa and Bautista started to slowly close the gap on Stoner, who looked to be slowing. With six laps left it turned into a three-way battle for second place, as Lorenzo was opening a gap at the front. On the same lap, Ducati’s Valentino Rossi, who was the only rider to pick the hard rear tyre, took Pramac Racing Team’s Héctor Barberá for ninth. Speed Masters Mattia Pasini retired from the race with a mechanical issue.
Lorenzo suffered a slight scare with four laps left as he was almost thrown from his bike, but he managed to save it and retain the lead, albeit with a reduced gap to the pursuing Stoner. In the latter stages there were thrilling battles further back as Crutchlow battled past Hayden into sixth, and Power Electronics Aspar pair Aleix Espargaró and Randy de Puniet were fairing to fairing until the finish line.
In the end it was Lorenzo who held his nerve to cross the finish line first to take the top step of the podium and extend his championship lead, ahead of Stoner and Pedrosa who complete the rostrum. Fourth went to Álvaro Bautista, ahead of Ben Spies, and Cal Crutchlow, who put in a brave ride with his injury. The top ten were completed Hayden, Bradl, Rossi and Barberá. Top CRT spot once again went to Espargaró ahead of his teammate in 11th, while Dovizioso remounted after his crash to finish 19th.http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2012/england+silverstone+motogp+race+lorenzo

Stoner and Pedrosa return to the podium

Sunday, 17 June 2012

The Repsol Honda Team scored another double podium at the British Grand Prix today, with Casey Stoner in second and Dani Pedrosa third.

It's the fourth double podium of the season in six races for the factory Honda riders and it comes after a tough weekend working on the set up of the RC213V for the fast, flowing and long Silverstone circuit, further complicated by the unpredictable British weather and the introduction of the new Bridgestone front tyres.
Starting from third position on the grid, Stoner took the lead within five laps and tried his best to pull away, with Pedrosa running in seventh after a bad start. Jorge Lorenzo was moving through the pack and when he caught Casey in the middle of the race, the two riders entertained the 66,230 Silverstone spectators with some spectacular overtaking manoeuvres before Lorenzo took the lead.
With eight laps to go, Stoner began loosing contact with Lorenzo, and Pedrosa managed to close the gap to his team mate, both crossing the finish line with less than half a second separating them.
Casey maintains second position in the championship standings with 115 points and Pedrosa is third, 14 points behind.
Casey Stoner

"It wasn't a great race for us today, we saw the pace the Yamahas had in the early laps and it was really worrying to me. As early as lap three the bike wasn't feeling good, especially on the left side, the tyre destroyed itself almost immediately. My plan was to try and get to the front and hold them up but Ben was proving difficult to pass, then he made a small mistake and I was able to slip through and I tried to hold it from there. We knew we didn't have a better pace than the other riders and it wouldn't be long until they were on us so I did what I could to stay in front. Today we needed a little more grip and we would have been able to fight for the win but looking at the rear tyres at the end of the race, there was definitely something wrong with ours.”
Dani Pedrosa

"I have mixed feelings after this race. I'm happy to be on the podium at this circuit for several reasons: it's a track where I have always struggled a lot, we had a very tough weekend - it wasn't easy for us to learn the circuit and set up the bike with these weather conditions, also I didn't have one of my best race starts. I saw that Jorge was the man to follow, so I managed to pass Dovizioso, Bautista and Spies and caught Casey, who was second. But at this time, Jorge was gone and I tried twice to pass Casey, but he pulled a little again and in the last chicane, I tried to overtake him but I had a flash in my mind and I saw both Repsol Honda's on the ground, so I settled for third place.”
Press release courtesy of Repsol Honda Team.http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2012/repsol+honda+reviews+silverstone+race

Power Electronics Aspar pair score CTR one-two at Silverstone

Sunday, 17 June 2012

Aleix Espargaró and Randy De Puniet continue two-way fight for best CRT rider honours, with Spaniard winning out at British GP

Over the course of almost the entirety of the twenty-lap MotoGP race at Silverstone, a matter of between three and four tenths of a second separated the two Aspar Team riders. Aleix Espargaró and Randy De Puniet were once again the main players in the battle to be best CRT rider, in a tough tussle carried out with the utmost respect.
Espargaró first pulled clear, but De Puniet managed to regain ground and passed his teammate -who was happy to follow from close behind. Two laps from the end, Espargaró went back in front, found the necessary space to keep his lead and was the first CRT rider past the line for the fourth time this season.
Aleix Espargaró

"I'm happier than ever today, as both my brother Pol and I got good results here at Silverstone. I started well and tried to follow the satellite bikes, but they kept leaving me behind on the straights. I was able to pull away from the other CRT riders, but little by little Randy caught me back up. I let him set the pace once he had passed. Two laps from the end, I took over in front and broke away, just as I did at Montmeló. I outbroke him on the first chicane, gritted my teeth and did what I needed to do in order to finish ahead. I have never had a more competitive rival who I get on so well with at the same time. I love this atmosphere that we have in Power Electronics Aspar. It is very difficult for me to beat him over the course of a single hot lap in practice, especially when we work more on the race, but I am getting good results recently."
Randy de Puniet

"I didn't get a very good start and I had to get past Pirro and make up ground in order to get back in touch with Aleix. Once I caught up with him I made a pass and stayed in front for practically the whole race, but I was having a lot of problems with the rear tyre. I felt a lot of movement and I was lacking grip. I tried to put up with this throughout the course of the race and shake off Aleix's moves, but in the end he must have seen that he was faster than me at certain points on the track. Once he'd got past he managed to open up a gap, and whilst I was able to pull it back on the final laps it wasn't enough to try and regain the position. I am annoyed, because we did a good job and yet still didn't find the best chassis setting. In the warm-up we improved the feel on the front, but it was the rear that gave us the most scares and affected us most in the race. We will have to keep on working in order to perfect the bike and be more consistent."
Press release courtesy of Power Electronics Aspar team.http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2012/power+electronics+aspar+british+GP+sunday

Lorenzo strikes in Silverstone

Sunday, 17 June 2012

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo put in superb performance today for the Grand Prix of Great Britain, taking victory at the Silverstone circuit, his third consecutive victory this year.

Having started from fourth on the grid, he dropped to fifth at the start and held position until lap six when he carved through to take up second place behind Casey Stoner in the lead. Stoner was only able to hold him off for four laps before the Championship leader made his move, the pass a beautiful battle with his rival over several corners.
Lorenzo then led from lap 11 to the finish line, a small mistake four laps from the end causing him to sit up was the only threat to victory. He crossed the line 3.313 seconds ahead of Stoner, taking maximum points and increasing his lead in the 2012 standings to 25 points. Lorenzo heads to Assen in two weeks time now having won four of the six races of the season with a point tally of 140. The victory also increases Yamaha’s lead in the Constructor’s standings to 140, 14 ahead of Honda.
Ben Spies made a dazzling start to the race, shooting from the front row to take first place by turn one. The Texan then delivered four perfect laps at the head of the pack and was looking in dominant form until a dramatic drop off in tyre grip dropped him to second by lap five behind Stoner. As he fought to maintain a competitive race pace he gradually dropped to fifth, a position he held to the finish line. The result is his best finish of the season, awarding 11 points and bringing his tally to 35 and keeping him in 11th place in the standings.
Jorge Lorenzo

“Today was a very difficult race, the front guys were very strong and very fast so it was very hard for me to catch them and stay with them. Little by little the rear tyre drops a bit more, I had good confidence and I was faster than them and I started to catch them. When I caught up I didn’t want to crash so I waited for my moment and was patient. When I caught Casey we had a wonderful fight, luckily for us I had a better pace and I passed him. Four laps from the end I made a big mistake and almost crashed! I’m very happy with the result, and for the team who gave me a good bike again.”
Ben Spies

“Today was a bitter sweet day, we made a good start and had a really good pace in the beginning. After four or five laps we had a big problem with the rear tyre and lost all our momentum and pace. It turned into damage control after that. From the start of the season to now, top five is a better result. The potential of the bike was great today and we could have been fighting for the podium or the win with Jorge.”
Press release courtesy of Yamaha Factory Racing.http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2012/yamaha+review+race+at+silverstone

Bautista narrowly misses out on podium

Sunday, 17 June 2012

Team San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Álvaro Bautista followed up his pole position from yesterday with an excellent fourth place finish in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone today.

After a positive race and test in Barcelona two weeks ago Bautista's confidence with the RC213V has continued to grow here in England and for the first time he was able to battle throughout a MotoGP race at the very front of the pack. It is a result that provides the team with a reward for all their hard work and the promise of even better results to come. It was a good weekend too for Michele Pirro, who took another step closer to the battle to be the top CRT and finished just four seconds behind the winning bike in the category.
Álvaro Bautista

"It has been a great weekend and it has confirmed the progress we have made since Catalunya. I am so happy to finish so close to the podium. Maybe I could have attacked for third at the end but it would have been risky and I just wanted to run with them to the end and not make mistakes. We have brought home some big points for the championship, which was important for me and the team. Yesterday on pole and today just five seconds off the win – that is a very positive weekend and I hope we can continue from here. I'm pleased with the progress we have made, which is credit to the team engineers and to Showa. Our objective now is to take another step forward and run with the front guys on a more consistent basis."
Michele Pirro

"I tried my best to the end but I am a little disappointed that I couldn't get close enough to attack the two guys in front of me. Anyway I am happy because we have taken another step forward this weekend and now we can be fighting with them more often. Another step forward from here and then we will really be having fun."
Fausto Gresini, Team Owner

"It has been a great day and it was wonderful to see Álvaro fighting at the front throughout the race. It was the first time he has battled with these guys, he was careful not to make mistakes and he did a great job. I am really happy because we have confirmed the progress we made at Barcelona and Aragón in the tests and that is important. Running at the front of this pack will also give us great data. It has been a positive Sunday for Michele, running close to the best CRTs. He pushed hard and maybe we are just lacking a couple of little details to help him achieve our objective of finishing as the top CRT."
Press release courtesy of San Carlo Honda Gresini.http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2012/gresini+review+silverstone+race

Injured Crutchlow claims stunning Silverstone top six

Sunday, 17 June 2012

Cal Crutchlow treated British fans to a heroic and courageous performance at Silverstone this afternoon, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team storming to a stunning top six finish from the back of the grid.

The 26-year-old was only passed fit to ride minutes before the start of this morning's warm-up session after he suffered a fractured bone in his left ankle following a nasty fall in yesterday's final practice session. Having missed qualifying, Crutchlow had to start the 20 -lap race from the back row of the grid, but right from the start he treated 66,230 British fans to a truly unforgettable performance.
By the end of the second lap, Crutchlow had already passed all nine CRT machines to move into 11th, with Valentino Rossi 3.3s clear in 10th. Despite the considerable discomfort caused when changing direction and shifting gears, Crutchlow passed Rossi for 10th on lap six and he then superbly hunted down Héctor Barberá and Stefan Bradl to seize seventh by lap 11.
Crutchlow continued to grit his teeth and ride through the pain barrier but his hopes of a top six seemed remote when he trailed Nicky Hayden by seven seconds on lap 12. Roared on by his home crowd, Crutchlow set a stunning pace that matched the leading group and a remarkable charge through the field was complete when he secured sixth from Hayden o n the final lap.
Today's race didn't have the same happy outcome for Andrea Dovizioso, who showed terrific pace in the early stages to fight for the podium in an exciting battle for the lead. The Italian superbly fought off the challenge of Hayden, Dani Pedrosa and Ben Spies to move into third position on lap nine. But just as he began to pursue Casey Stoner in second, he fell out of contention for a fourth successive British Grand Prix podium at Turn 9. He re-joined the race and finished in 19th and is confident he will be back fighting for the podium at the legendary Assen track later this month.
Cal Crutchlow

"That's a weekend I won't forget in a hurry. Yesterday was a disaster with the crash and I thought I was going to miss my home race again. But the Clinica Mobile team and medical staff at Silverstone did an amazing job and I am grateful that I could finally start my home Grand Prix. I never imagined I could get sixth position because normally if you start from the third row it is very difficult to get into that position. It was a very tough race but I just had to try and ignore the pain and let the adrenaline and support of the British crowd get me through. When I got by Bradl I could see Nicky was a long way clear, but I just kept on pushing to see what happened. I'm really happy with my lap times because I was as quick as the guys on the podium, even with a broken ankle. So a little part of me can't help but think without the crash yesterday that I could have been on the podium in the British Grand Prix. I'm not going to complain with sixth and I want to say thanks to my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew, who basically chose the set-up of the bike for me and it worked great. Also a big thanks to all the British fans who were unbelievable today. When I was lying in the gravel yesterday all I could think was they weren't going to see me ride in my home race again. Their support helped me a lot and I hope they went home proud of the job I did for them."
Andrea Dovizioso

"It is a real shame because I had the possibility to fight for second place today. I had just taken third and was really confident I could finish on the podium when I crashed and I am not happy about it because I didn't expect it. It happened when I felt most comfortable with the bike and I definitely was not over the limit. I just did a very small mistake losing the rear and I couldn't keep control of the bike. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is doing an incredible job and the Yamaha is a fantastic bike to ride, so I go to Assen optimistic of another podium challenge."
Press release courtesy of Monster Yamaha Tech 3.www.motogp.com

Red Bull MotoGP™ Rookies: Oettl with perfectly judged win in Silverstone 2

Sunday, 17 June 2012

Philipp Oettl headed the 14 man lead battle when it mattered to cross the line ahead of Scott Deroue and Karel Hanika in the British Grand Prix round of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup at Silverstone on Sunday.

The 16 year old German traded the lead throughout the 14 lap race and judged it perfectly at the end to find himself clear while the pack barged elbows into the final complex resulting in 2nd for 16 year olds Deroue from the Netherlands and Hanika from the Czech Republic. Victory gives Oettl the Cup points lead with 89 ahead of Deroue on 87 and Saturday's winner Florian Alt on 83.
German 16 year old Alt had another fine ride to take 4th ahead of Ivo Lopes, Bradley Ray and Lorenzo Baldassarri in a race in which and any one of the 14 at the front could have been on the podium.
Philipp Oettl

"I knew that it would all come down to the last few corners, the left right chicane and onto the start and finish. I practiced doing them perfectly and I knew that if I did that I could win it. That is what I managed on the final lap and it worked out."
Scott Deroue

"On the last lap I just managed to pick up the right slipstream and passed a load of guys coming down the straight and up to the front, then it was just about late braking and holding on to 2nd. Wow that was great."
Karel Hanika

"It was a great race, so much fun. We were fighting all the way and I could get to the front but just couldn't stay there. I am quite tall so I really need the slipstream from the other guys, when I get in front it is a bit too easy for them to catch me."
Races 6 and 7 of the 15 in the Rookies Cup season are at the Dutch TT at Assen on June 29 and 30th.

Tenth place for Barberá at Silverstone

Sunday, 17 June 2012

Pramac Racing Team’s sole rider, Héctor Barberá, spent the weekend building a good race setup, qualifying strongly in the dry yesterday to start sixth on the grid.

The Spanish rider didn’t get a great start, dropping back to 8th place, and he managed to remain in this position for more then 13 laps, but toward the end he was joined and overtaken by factory Ducati rider Valentino Rossi, and ultimately took the chequered flag in 10th position.
The overall standings, with six rounds having been completed, have Barberá and the Pramac team in the top ten, taking home six important points for the World ranking.
Héctor Barberá

"It was a difficult race, affected by a quick rear tyre deterioration, which restricted both corner entry and top speed. Now we have to understand what happened on our bike to avoid this kind of issue in the future."
Francesco Guidotti – Team Manager

"We expected a tough race, but the result is definitely not up to our potential. The quick rear tyre deterioration limited our performance and now we need to analyse our data to comprehend what happened today."
Press release courtesy of the Pramac Racing Team.

Ducati Team reduces gap to the front in the dry at Silverstone

Sunday, 17 June 2012

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone presented a big challenge for the Ducati Team, but it also provided some positive signs for the technicians regarding the progress made and the work still to be done.

After starting from the third row, Nicky Hayden spent the first part of the race with the four-rider group that was fighting over the podium positions, and although he steadily lost ground in the second half before finishing seventh, his gap to the front was the team’s smallest in the dry so far this season.
Valentino Rossi experienced more difficulty than his teammate, and he wasn’t able to find the same feeling that he had in the morning warm-up session, in which he had made progress.
Nicky Hayden

"We did the sighting lap with the hard rear tyre, but with the sprinkles and dark clouds, we decided to play it safe and switch to the soft on the grid. Everybody else had it too, but we know our bike has been hard on tyres here. I got an awesome start, and the beginning of the race was great. I took some chances to hang in as long as I could, and I enjoyed it and learned some things. Then the grip went, which brought on a lot of chatter. I couldn’t accelerate or carry speed on the straightaway, and we started having a little problem with the electronics in one corner, which cost us some time. Crutchlow got me on the last lap, which is frustrating, but I had my smallest gaps to the front this year in terms of race time and best lap. We need to figure out how to make me and the bike less hard on the rear tyre, but there were some positives."
Valentino Rossi

"It was a difficult weekend apart from the wet first session, in which we were very strong, as we had trouble in every dry session except for this morning’s warm-up. From the start of the race, I wasn’t able to maintain the pace of the others. I tried to stay with them, but I struggled a lot with mid-corner chatter, and a couple of times I came close to losing control of the bike. After some laps, the rear tyre started to slide a lot, and at the same time an exhaust broke. To be honest, that didn’t affect us so much, though it did rob some power on the straightaway. We scored a few points, but Silverstone is still the most difficult track for me. I think that the ‘true’ Ducati today was that of Nicky, who had a smaller gap to the front at the finish, more or less the level we reached in Barcelona. Now we must try to understand why I was only able to ride a bit better this morning, in the warm-up, but above all we must try to be more competitive in the next race, at Assen, which is a track that I like and where we want to return to the level we had at Estoril, Le Mans, and Barcelona."
Vittoriano Guareschi, Team Manager

"I think that there were some positive aspects to today’s race. Nicky rode at the top riders’ pace for a while and he posted the third-best lap time overall, 34 thousandths off of Lorenzo’s best. He lost ground to the others in the latter stages, similar to what happened to Valentino in Barcelona two weeks ago, so by studying the information we collected with both of them, we’ll try to understand how to improve our performance over race distance. Valentino had more trouble, but nonetheless, he was very fast in the wet, which wasn’t the case last year in the same conditions. Of course this isn’t enough, and we must manage to give both of our riders the conditions they need to be consistently effective in normal conditions. We’ll continue to work toward that goal, step by step."
Press release courtesy of Ducati Team.