The race was a thriller from the start as Repsol Honda Team´s Dani
Pedrosa took the holeshot in front of Yamaha Factory Racing´s
pole-sitter Lorenzo. Monster Yamaha Tech3´s Cal Crutchlow soon went into
third after bumping Nicky Hayden wide on turn 6. Such riding was the
order of the day for the opening laps, as Lorenzo overtook Tech3´s
Andrea Dovizioso with an aggressive move after he had been passed by the
Italian shortly before.
Pedrosa´s team mate Casey Stoner then found his stride and moved to
the front as he passed Lorenzo and then team mate Pedrosa. He was soon
putting fast laps, yet could was unable to shake 2010 World Champion
Lorenzo.
The battle behind was an enthralling affair, which saw Hayden,
Pedrosa, Dovizioso and Crutchlow swap positions frequently, before being
stretched slightly with 19 laps to go. Pedrosa got the better of the
four and started to chase down the pair at the front.
Meanwhile, Pramac Racing´s Hector Barberá was defending ninth place
in front of Ducati´s Valentino Rossi, Lorenzo´s team mate Ben Spies,
Cardion AB Racing´s Karel Abraham and Power Electronics Aspar´s Randy de
Puniet. Crutchlow, who had dropped off his team mate, caught up with
Pedrosa and soon the pair diced for third.
Hayden looked to be struggling with 16 laps to go, as he dropped off
the pace slightly and was passed by San Carlo Honda Gresini´s Álvaro
Bautista into sixth, and then again by LCR Honda MotoGP´s Stefan Bradl,
who took seventh. Meanwhile, Rossi passed Barberá and was looking to
close down the eight-second gap to the American.
As the pack settled down somewhat by half race distance, it was
Stoner keeping Lorenzo at bay by approximately 0.8s, whilst further down
the track, Crutchlow was keeping Pedrosa on his toes for the final
podium position. With nine laps to go Lorenzo put the hammer down and
started closing on Stoner with the Australian firmly in his sight.
San Carlo Honda Gresini´s CRT rider Michelle Pirro retired to the
pits with eight laps to go with an engine problem, whilst Cardion AB
Racing´s Karel Abraham crashed at turn 13.
Further down the field, Barberá repeated his Qatar move five laps
before the end, as he pushed his way past Rossi back into ninth, while
Pedrosa and Crutchlow were giving the front pair something to think
about as they closed the gap to only two seconds.
Lorenzo was keeping the home crowd on their feet as he was right
on Stoners back wheel with two laps to go, however Stoner reminded
people why he is World Champion by upping the pace in the final lap to
take his first ever premier-class victory at the Andalucian track.
With Lorenzo taking the second podium spot, it was Pedrosa who
managed to keep Crutchlow at bay to hold on for the final podium spot.
Sixth place went to Crutchlow´s team mate Dovizioso, in front of
Bautista and Stefan Bradl. Hayden was unable to keep his earlier pace as
he finished seventh ahead of Rossi, Barberá and Ben Spies.
A very disappointed Randy de Puniet, who had looked on course to
finish top CRT in 12th, pulled off in the last lap with mechanical
issues, leaving the way for his team mate Aleix Espargaro to take top
CRT honours.
The Pons 40 HP Tuenti rider got away fastest
as he pushed pole sitter Marc Marquez wide into turn one.
Interwetten-Paddock´s Thom Lüthi capitalized on this and soon took the
lead. Second on the grid, Italtrans Racing Team´s Takaaki Nakagami had a
less than ideal start being pushed back to ninth.
The opening lap was a typical Moto2 thriller as Marc VDS Scott
Redding was fighting his way to the front with Espargaró, S/Master Speed
Up´s Mike Di Meglio and Marquez. Takaaki´s team mate Claudio Corti was
stalking the group in sixth, as Mapfre Aspar Team´s Toni Elias pushed
himself past GP Team Switzerland´s Randy Krummenacher into seventh.
Lüthi was being chased down at the front by Redding, as Krummenacher
retook Elias going into turn one. Marquez, not wanting to see the
front-runner get away, made a move on Di Meglio to take third.
Krummenacher was in valiant form, yet ran into turn one too hot and let
Espargaró back through.
Scott Redding had a moment in the final turn hunting down Lüthi,
while in the meantime, Marquez was making ground on the front two. QMMF
Racing Team rider Elena Rosell crashed out of her home race, as she
continues to struggle with the Moriwaki bike.
As the field stretched out, it was the front three that gave the
crowd plenty to cheer about, as first Redding, then Marquez got past
Lüthi with 19 laps to go. Pons 40 HP Tuenti´s Esteve Rabat suffered a
fall and returned to the pit, before heading back out on track.
Shortly after, the charging Krummenacher who was hunting down the
leaders, lost the front end in the final turn, followed instantly by Di
Meglio. Krummenacher rejoined the race further down the field, while Di
Meglio was forced to retire. Espargaró took advantage of the tussle in
front as he joined the front three, still being led by Redding.
With 15 laps left, Marquez took the lead from Redding, though shortly
after went wide into the final turn letting both Redding and Lüthi
past. Meanwhile, Redding´s team mate Kallio was catching up to make it
five at the front.
Lüthi passed Redding at the end of the home straight with 13 laps
left, yet Marquez was unable to capitalize on the slowing Brit until a
lap later after Redding ran it wide in the same turn.
To add yet another twist, it started to rain with 11 laps left,
causing riders to push for front positions incase of a red flag. Kallio
ran onto the gravel briefly, just before Marquez made his move to retake
Lüthi for the lead, followed by Espargaró, who took second.
Marquez was pushing hard to pull out a lead, yet was taken by old
125cc foe Espargaro on turn 6, after which Lüthi once again rejoined
their tail. As conditions started to deteriorate, Marquez once again
pushed past Espargaro, yet it was too late, as the red flag came out
shortly after.
With regulations stating that the person leading the last fully
completed lap (17) wins, it was Espargaró who took the win ahead of
Marquez in second and Lüthi in third, in what was once again a
breathtaking Moto2™ encounter.
The top ten was rounded out by Redding, Nakagami, Corti, Kallio,
Technomag-CIP´s Dominique Aegerter, Toni Elias and JiR Moto2´s Johann
Zarco.
Moto3: Fenati flies to maiden victory in Jerez thriller
Italian rookie Romano Fenati confirmed himself as a star of
the future with a dominant maiden win in tricky conditions at the Gran
Premio bwin de España, which saw almost half the field crash out.
Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta´s Jakub Kornfeil
got the best start and led the frantic opening stages in a race that was
declared dry at the start despite a few damp patches still out on
track. Red Bull KTM Ajo´s Danny Kent, Caretta Technology´s Jack Miller
and Ambrogio Next Racing´s Simone Grotzkyj were soon caught out by the
conditions, coming off at turn 10 on lap two simultaneously.
Estrella Galicia 0,0´s Miguel Oliveira was soon in the lead, yet
Kornfeil was not giving up without a fight. However, he too came off
spectacularly in turn 13, followed closely by RW Racing GP´s Brad
Binder. Yet the drama continued as Oliveira followed suit a few turns
later, with Kent´s team mate Arthur Sissis high-siding his bike as well.
This left pole sitter Alex Rins in the lead ahead of Team Italia
FMI´s Romano Fenati and Racing Tem Germany´s Louis Rossi. Rossi soon got
past the Italian to chase down Rins, who saved a near spectacular
crash, leaving him to dice with Fenati and Rossi for first.
The three riders swapped positions frequently, though soon Rossi
joined the list of crashers, as he skid out on turn one, leaving the
Italian rookie and Spanish wildcard to lead the way.
Further back , Cortese was leading the trio chasing third, whilst
behind, an epic battle for sixth saw seven riders, including Blusens
Avinitia´s title favorite Viñales, fighting it out. Nicollo Antonelli
was leading the pack, but Viñales soon got the better of him.
Back at the front Fenati was pulling out a gap on Rins, who also
crashed, but managed to remount still in second. However, he was soon
joined by RW Racng GP´s Luis Salom in third, with Miller´s team mate
Alexis Masbou and Red Bull KTM Ajo´s Sandro Cortese in tow.
Further down the grid, Moto FGR´s Jasper Iwema slid his bike into the
gravel, after which JHK T-Shirt Laglisse´s Adrian Martin followed suit
in turn one, crashing out from seventh. Mahindra Racing´s Danny Webb
retired with a mechanical problem with seven laps to go, while on the
same lap Technomag-CIP-TSR´s Kenta Fujii crashed in the final turn.
As Fenati pulled away at the front, the tussle for second provided
all the action with Cortese, Rins and Salom, after dropping off Masbou.
The three diced all the way, testing each other´s mettle in almost every
turn.
At the end it was Romano Fenati who took the checkered flag with a 31
second lead to take the lead in the Moto3 championship. Salom won the
battle to take second spot ahead of Cortese in third, and Rins in
fourth. Masbou finished fifth ahead Maverick Viñales in sixth.
Jack Miller was confirmed to have fractured his collarbone, with
Danny Kent suffering multiple contusions. Sissis suffered multiple
contusions to his chest and hand, while Fujii was taken to the medical
centre for X-rays.
Copy and photos courtesy of MotoGP.
