Pedrosa wins dramatic Valencian GP as Stoner says goodbye

2012-11-11 15:35
In the final MotoGP™ race at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana it was Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa who took victory in a dramatic race that was marred with awkward conditions and crashes ahead of Katsuyuki Nakasuga and Casey Stoner, who was later named the 20th MotoGP Legend.

The race was declared wet by Race Direction despite a near dry line having formed, and only Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo, his teammate Nakasuga, and LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl, chose the softer option slick tyres, with all others on the hard wets. However, in a twist unseen this season, Pedrosa, Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden, Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow and San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista then decided to start from pit-lane after their sighting lap, with all of them switching to a bike with slick tyres.

As the race got underway it was Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaró who was leading the early exchanges, yet within three laps Lorenzo’s choice looked the better one as he started to lap significantly quicker than the rest. Pedrosa was carving his way through the pack, whilst many riders that were on wets started coming into the pits to switch to their bikes with slicks, amongst which were Repsol Honda’s Stoner, Pramac Racing Team’s Héctor Barberá, and Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso.

Amid the frantic happenings, Hayden, Avintia Blusens’ Iván Silva, and Speed Master’s Roberto Rolfo crashed out of contention. On lap eight, Lorenzo was leading with Pedrosa in tow, whilst Bradl was running third with Nakasuga and Crutchlow behind. It was however not to be for the young German as he lost control of his bike in Turn 5 and crashed out. With 18 laps remaining Crutchlow’s efforts were rewarded by getting past Nakasuga, as Pedrosa had a moment and ran wide, putting him over three seconds back on Lorenzo.

Then there was huge drama as the World Champion was highsided off his bike as he was passing back markers, and was fortunate to walk away unhurt. This left Pedrosa in the lead, who also had his work cut out getting past the slower riders. On lap 19 the crashes continued as Barberá also took a tumble, whilst Espargaró’s teammate Randy de Puniet ran into the gravel. A lap later he was followed Avintia Blusens’ Claudio Corti, who skidded off into the gravel on his Inmotec chassis.

Just as things looked to have settled down, Crutchlow was caught out by the conditions and dropped out of second place. This moved Bautista up into third, although Stoner was catching up quickly in fourth. And with three laps remaining Stoner was all over the rear wheel Bautista and caught him at the end of the lap down the home straight to move into third.

In the end it was Pedrosa who took chequered flag to score his seventh win of the season, with Nakasuga taking the first Japanese podium this year in his second wildcard entry, and Stoner signing off his GP career with the final step on the rostrum. The first non-podium finisher was Bautista, followed by his teammate Michele Pirro, Dovizioso, Cardion AB Racing’s Karel Abraham, Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci, Paul Bird Motorsport’s James Ellison and Ducati’s Valentino Rossi. Espargaró finished in 11th and secured himself the CRT title this season, whilst Bautista consolidated fifth in the championship.


Moto2

Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez rode a phenomenal race at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana as he charged his way to victory from last on the grid ahead of Julián Simón and Nico Terol.

In a race that started on a wet track, Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2’s Terol had a sensational start and took the lead in Turn 4, which was named after him earlier in the day. He had Tuenti Movil HP 40’s Pol Espargaró, Came IodaRacing Projects’ Simone Corsi and Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Lüthi in tow. Márquez, who started last, was already up to 11th after just one lap. Blusens Avintia’s Julián Simón had also charged up the field and was on the back of Espargaró’s rear wheel.

Whilst Márquez was looking strong, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2’s Gino Rea made a pass on the Spaniard, as the pair was being held up by Terol’s teammate Jordi Torres. With 21 laps remaining Torres had been passed, as Rea had also made his way past Technomag-CIP’s Dominique Aegerter, with Márquez finding it tougher to pass the Swiss rider. The battling was fierce as the group caught up to Lüthi, who was soon involved in the fight for sixth.

There was however drama a few laps later as Espargaró slid off after making contact with Corsi. He managed to re-mount and re-join in 18th. In the meantime, Simón had passed Terol to take the lead, as Espargaró’s crash left Tech 3 Racing’s Xavier Siméon in third. JiR Moto2’s Johann Zarco made himself known on lap nine, as the Frenchman found his stride and started to halt Márquez’s progress. Siméon’s race was however soon halted as he slid off, with Zarco soon following suit as conditions started to worsen.

Márquez and Rea continued their enthralling battle, once touching, which saw Márquez having to run wide. Yet Márquez did not hold back as he passed Rea and then Aegerter in a tough move town the straight, which prompted the Spaniard to hold up an apologetic hand. Rea suffered disappointment soon after as he crashed out chasing Márquez, who was then in third spot. In the meantime, QMMF Racing’s Rafid Topan Sucipto had crashed out, yet was able to re-join the race, while his teammate Elena Rosell was taken out by JiR Moto2’s Eric Granado.

With eight laps left Márquez was on a mission as he flew past Terol and started to hunt down Simón at the front. His pace was significantly higher than the front-runner, and with three laps left Márquez was on the back wheel of Simón. And heading into the penultimate lap the World Champion made his way past to take the lead. He did not relinquish that lead and ended up taking victory in his final ever Moto2™ race before moving up to MotoGP™ in stunning fashion. It is the first time in history that a rider has won a race from 33rd on the grid. Simón and Terol took the final spots on the podium, with this being Terol’s first ever podium in the intermediate-class.

They were followed by Lüthi, Aegerter, Torres, Marc VDS Racing Team’s Mika Kallio, Espargaró, Italtrans Racing Team’s Toni Elías and Pons’ Esteve Rabat. Speed Master’s Andrea Iannone, despite only finishing in 11th, managed to hold onto third spot in the championship ahead of Lüthi.


Moto3

In a thrilling final Moto3™ encounter in the wet at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana it was Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Danny Kent who put in a stunning ride to take victory ahead of Sandro Cortese and Zulfahmi Khairuddin.

Pole-man Jonas Folger had technical issues on the out-lap and had to start from the pits, meaning that it was RW Racing GP’s Luis Salom that led the early exchanges in front of Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Miguel Oliveira and Ambrogio Next Racing’s Alex Márquez. On lap three it was Márquez that went into the lead, with Oliveira following suit to relegate Salom to third. This was however short lived as Márquez lost the front and crashed out.

In the pursuing group, Racing Team Germany’s Louis Rossi was putting on a strong show ahead of JHK t-shirt Laglisse’s Efrén Vázquez and Red Bull KTM Ajo duo of Cortese and Kent. Folger’s day then got worse as he retired from the race, as well as JHK’s Adrián Martín and IodaRacing Project’s Luigi Morciano. Caretta-Technology’s John McPhee was also caught out by the wet as he dropped his bike on lap eight.

Yet as more riders got used to the track surface, the likes of Salom’s teammate Brad Binder starting challenging the front-runners. With 13 laps remaining Salom had dropped off the pace and was embroiled in an entertaining battle with Blusens Avintia’s Maverick Viñales. Past the halfway point and the battles were hotting up with Salom and Viñales, as well as Binder and Kent going fairing-to-fairing.

Source: MotoGP

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