For those of you who think Dani Pedrosa (Honda) can only win from the front, Brno proved a different story. Points leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) led the first half of the race before being passed by Pedrosa, who ultimately prevailed in a last lap battle with his fellow Spaniard that saw Lorenzo briefly re-take the lead. Lorenzo finished a close second with Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) taking his first podium in third place.
Lorenzo’s points lead over Pedrosa was cut to 13. For additional details, results and points, visit the official MotoGP site.
| Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
| 1 | 25 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 166.4 | 42’51.570 |
| 2 | 20 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 166.4 | +0.178 |
| 3 | 16 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 165.6 | +12.343 |
| 4 | 13 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 165.2 | +18.591 |
| 5 | 11 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 164.8 | +25.582 |
| 6 | 10 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 164.5 | +29.451 |
| 7 | 9 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 164.2 | +34.514 |
| 8 | 8 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 162.3 | +1’04.285 |
| 9 | 7 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 162.1 | +1’08.278 |
| 10 | 6 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 162.0 | +1’09.972 |
| 11 | 5 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 162.0 | +1’10.003 |
| 12 | 4 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 161.1 | +1’24.040 |
| 13 | 3 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 160.9 | +1’27.898 |
| 14 | 2 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 160.4 | +1’36.165 |
| 15 | 1 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 160.1 | +1’40.565 |
| 16 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 160.1 | +1’41.226 | |
| 17 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 158.4 | 1 Lap |
Poor Ben Spies.
From the results link “The race was really over for me before turn one because the clutch overheated off the line. It was no one’s fault; we checked the data and my practice starts are identical to my race starts. We checked the clutch and there is nothing wrong with it, it just overheated and took over two laps to cool down enough to give it 100%”
Let the conspiracy theorists go wild again. Coincidence is one thing. Repeated coincidences on the other hand…
anybody noticing the spot on software tune of the repsol honda…? drives hard out of almost every corner in a crossed up wheelie. the front wheel is deliberately allowed to come off the ground, but max height is limited to like an inch. 🙂 yamaha’s strategy…? front wheel NEVER leaves ground (never not ever). amazing to watch, more amazed how even with all that going on, lorenzo and the M1 could catch him up at will. proof that there’s no single solution that’s outright better than another. any configuration (whether V or Inline) has it’s strengths and weaknesses and can be made to work with time and set-up. also notice how my comment focuses little if any on what the rider’s are doing…? and more on the multi-million dollar hardware the boffins have put underneath them.
Technically, they are both V configurations so far as firing order and primary balance is concerned. The Yamaha has a single cylinder bank so the crank case is wider but that seems to have no negative effect on handling. The Honda just has more power, Yamaha has almost always been a step behind them in that area.
No jumping here!
Pedrosa is definitely riding his best ever. I’m impressed. The Honda’s clear speed advantage may give him the edge he needs to win the championship. Today’s race was the best I’ve seen in a couple of years. Let’s hope the remaining races are all like this.
Before anyone jumps on my comments about the speed of the Honda, I also want to give Pedrosa the credit he deserves. He did make the final pass in the curves.