The home track advantage proved too much for the opponents of Spanish riders Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda) who finished in first and second in today’s MotoGP race at the Catalunya circuit. Coming home in third was Andrea Dovizioso (Yamaha). Casey Stoner (Honda) finished fourth . . . off the podium for the first time since Jerez last year.
Lorenzo leads the championship points. For additional details, results and points, visit the official MotoGP site.
| Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
| 1 | 25 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 164.4 | 43’07.681 |
| 2 | 20 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 164.1 | +5.003 |
| 3 | 16 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 163.8 | +9.361 |
| 4 | 13 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 163.8 | +9.544 |
| 5 | 11 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 163.6 | +12.506 |
| 6 | 10 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 163.5 | +13.948 |
| 7 | 9 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 163.3 | +17.555 |
| 8 | 8 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 162.9 | +23.478 |
| 9 | 7 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 162.5 | +30.410 |
| 10 | 6 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 162.3 | +32.897 |
| 11 | 5 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 162.1 | +36.144 |
| 12 | 4 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 160.9 | +56.229 |
| 13 | 3 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 160.2 | +1’08.054 |
| 14 | 2 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 160.1 | +1’08.775 |
| 15 | 1 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 160.0 | +1’10.483 |
For no extra charge, and for this race only, MotoGP offers an asterisk next to Spies’ name…coulda, shoulda, mighta, woulda. Unfortunately, Spies’ contract specifies bonus for results, not asterisks.
Any chance you can provide that contract for us to read? I’m sure it would be very interesting… 😉
He got a fantastic start, which had to do something to boost his probably fragile confidence. Not to mention clawing his way back through the pack. A little more patience and he may have had a podium spot. It’s a pity. Be interesting to see what happens next, as always.
Lorenzo looked incredible. Poor little Dani – he looked to be on the edge of control fighting to stay ahead of Jorge. Always the bridesmaid…
In case anyone forgot to check(or didn’t watch the race), Spies crashed out while battling for the lead and fought back to the position he finished in.
While not stellar, who knows, maybe he would have finished far if not for the crash.
Don’t count him out so soon.
Ben Spies, 4th of 4 Yamahas, factory ride finished behind the two Monster Tech 3 Yamahas…the fat lady clears her throat.
Did you miss the part where he was in 2nd place and passing Stoner before he crashed?
I meant passing Pedrosa.
you have to complete (the pass) to call it a pass!
I think they’ll keep him through the end of the year. If he does not dramatically improve he’ll be in WSB again.
Great race. Lorenzo held a master clinic, stalking Pedrosa before sealing the deal. I get the feeling there is something about the move to the new format that makes setup very critical. No doubt teams are coming to grips with new parameters and variables. I don’t know how else to explain the inconstencies … most notably with Stoner and Spies. The only two consistent riders have been the two Spaniards. Lorenzo is looking more and more like this year’s champ. If so, it will be interesting to see if Stoner follows through on retirement.
I’ve thought for the past 2 or 3 years that Lorenzo is the best rider on the grid followed closely by Stoner. I’m not sure Stoner is fully engaged in racing at this point. That’s unfortunate, if that’s the case.
Hard to beat Pedrosa to the first turn isn’t it? He has a difficulty sustaining the winning pace however. Ben sure went for it, but probably could have used a little patience and passed cleaner. Looked good for a lap and a half. Apparently the CRT’s don’t slow them up too much when one can get back on the track and pass their way from last up to 10th place. Lorenzo was again patient and flawless.He’s going to be hard to beat with his consistancy. Hayden/Rossi/Dovi and Crutchlow are going to be battling all season I’m afraid. Looks like there will be three distinct battles going on this season, the Japanese factory guys, the sattelite guys along with Rossi and Hayden and the CRT guys.
Ben got closer to a good result.
Must be the sophomore curse (2nd season on the factory team).