Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) won his first MotoGP race in 2-1/2 years earlier today. Finishing second was Honda’s Marc Marquez, with Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow finishing third.
The biggest story today might be the return of Jorge Lorenzo less than 48 hours after having surgery to repair his broken collarbone. Lorenzo finished the race in 5th to keep his championship hopes alive. He lost just two points today to Honda’s Dani Pedrosa who finished fourth.
Pedrosa continues to lead the championship points, with Lorenzo second. For additional details, results and points, visit the official Moto GP site.
|
Pos. |
Points |
Num. |
Rider |
Nation |
Team |
Bike |
Km/h |
Time/Gap |
| 1 | 25 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 171.0 |
41’25.202 |
| 2 | 20 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 170.9 |
+2.170 |
| 3 | 16 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 170.7 |
+4.073 |
| 4 | 13 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 170.5 |
+7.832 |
| 5 | 11 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 170.0 |
+15.510 |
| 6 | 10 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 169.1 |
+27.519 |
| 7 | 9 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | Honda | 168.9 |
+31.598 |
| 8 | 8 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 168.8 |
+32.405 |
| 9 | 7 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 168.7 |
+33.751 |
| 10 | 6 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 168.7 |
+33.801 |
| 11 | 5 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 168.7 |
+34.371 |
| 12 | 4 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 167.1 |
+57.674 |
| 13 | 3 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing | Ducati | 166.9 |
+1’01.424 |
| 14 | 2 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | Ignite Pramac Racing | Ducati | 166.9 |
+1’01.561 |
| 15 | 1 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | ART | 166.7 |
+1’04.426 |
WHAT!!!!!!Agostini is a step ahead of Rossi??????iv seen just about every GP from the great Ago’s era to today,and those 15 championships he won,80 percent of them were on far greater far more performing machinery than his competition,he could start a race last and by the finish have lapped everybody!!it was like he was racing gp bikes and the rest of them were on ‘crt’s’.but im not dissing agostini,i have tons of respect for the guy and what he did for the sport,but lets give the credit where the credit is due,moto gp’s most dominant rider in histoy(in the competitive field era)is by far VR46,disagree as much a you like you cant denie facts(championships,race wins,podium finishes and poles)not to mention taking a manufacturer to world champion status in just one year,after the same manufacturer had been trying every trick in the book to beat him for numerous years in a row with no succes.lets not forget the last championship yamaha won before Rossi’s arival was with the great wayne rainey.
Yea Agostini was a real slacker. 122 GP wins, 15 world Championships, won 10 isle of man TT’s. Won Italian Championships for Moto Morini and World Championships for MV and Yamaha. Won the Daytona 200 his first year on a Yamaha. Won seven 500 titles in a row, won seven 350 titles in a row. Over the years he was also runner up in the World Championships 5 times. And he barely had any competition if you don’t count Jim Redman, Mike Hailwood, Phil Read, Barry Sheene or Jarno Saarinen among others
One must wonder about the second or third tier ability of America’s road racers.
You all wish Nicky had a better bike but his record indicates it wouldn’t make much of a difference..174 Moto GP starts…3 wins 28 podiums. Nice guy but not a world class road racer.
Colin Edwards..even worse..175 starts..0 wins…12 podiums… These days you don’t even hear them announce his name. Another nice guy though.
Ben Spies..he was going to be our shining star, our world beater… 55 starts, 1 win, 6 podiums about the same as Hayden if you multiply his record by 3.. A few more podiums. You can tell he really doesn’t want to ride this Ducati, and chances are this is the end of his Moto GP career. He’s not popular like Nicky and Colin who have their rides based on popularity and not ability, and are satisfied being mid to back of the field riders. If he was smart Spies would go back to WSBK where he might be competitive.
So Americas top roadracers have a grand total of 4 wins and 46 podiums in over 400 starts . If you don’t get all emotional about it, and just look at the statistics, this is really troubling for a country that produced riders the caliber of Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, and, Freddie Spencer
I can’t think of any up and coming road racers America is going to be able to get behind, someone who will be able to join MotoGP and make an impact.
Sad days now and ahead or American Roadracing in MotoGP
Wow.. What a minus man…
You forgot Kevin Schwantz and KR Jr., both of whom have a gp championship.
There’s only ever going to be 2-3 dominant riders per generation. That does not make a less successful rider unsuccessful. If you’re paying any attention, you know that for at least the past decade there has never been more than 4 *bikes* that are capable of winning at a given time, regardless of who had the ride.
Dave I didn’t forget them, i intentionally left them off of my list, because they were 1 year champions instead of multi time champions. Multi time champions are special, dominating, the best of the best, no excuses. You can’t compare someone who wins one to someone who wins 3.
Multi time champions are a exclusive club. Few get in. I have been paying attention since 1968.
I’m quite certain that anyone who ever raced against Kevin Schwantz would say that he was most definitely a special racer and fully deserving of proper mention and an equal place of honor in the GP Pantheon alongside the likes of Rainey, Lawson, Doohan and other multi-time champions of his era.
If you disagree, take it up with Wayne Rainey.
KS was clearly among the best of the best, no excuses.
Why would I take anything up with Wayne Rainey? I am entitled to my opinion and to express it. If you don’t agree with it thats your prerogative, and you are welcome to express your opinion.
IMO Schwantz was an excellent racer but he was not the equivalent of Roberts, Lawson or Spencer all who won multiple world championships. Either are KR Jr or Nicky Hayden. Again all World Champions are special. But some are more special than others. Win one championship and you are special, win multiple world championships and you are extra special. Repeating is far harder than just winning once.
I think Rossi is a step above Roberts, Lawson and Spencer
I think Agostini is a step above Rossi
I think Rossi could possibly have been considered the greatest of all time had he not gone to ducati for 2 years and wasted valuable years on an uncompetitive machine.
I think Pedrosa is the best rider to never win a MotoGP Championship, a little better than Schwantz imo and his record backs that up with 24 wins and 76 podiums to Schwantzs 25 wins and 51 podiums, but he has to be able to beat Lorenzo, and if he doesn’t, and doesn’t win the world championship he will never be considered one of the special racers, only a very good racer. Even if he does win the world championship I would not put him in the same class as Roberts, Lawson and Spencer.
re: “You all wish Nicky had a better bike but his record indicates it wouldn’t make much of a difference..174 Moto GP starts…3 wins 28 podiums. Nice guy but not a world class road racer.”
whoa whoa whoa, don’t shortchange young saint nick… he was MotoGP “WORL’ CHAMPEEN” 2006…!
he’s got one of his RC211 V5 EVO’s given to him by Honda (the only one outside the factory iirc) overtop the garage in owensboro. 🙂 ROSS doesn’t even one. that’s part reason why he left. Honda figured, we’d best not make the same mistake twice. LOL
Fact of the matter is Nicky was World Champion in 06, you are right, and there are lots of factors in that season ( in which Nicky won 2 races, Rossi won 5, Melandri won 3, and several others won a race as well) including Pedrosa knocking down Hayden, and Rossi’s Yamaha having a couple uncharacteristic DNFs, but in the race in Portugal, Elias beat Rossi by .002 of a second for the win. Rossi lost 5 points, the margin he lost the World Championship by. Had Rossi been .003 of a second quicker in Portugal, he would have again been World Champion.Had Rossi not fallen at the final race in Valencia, he also would have won…..and if frogs had wings, I know…..but racing is racing and in the end young Nicky had 5 more points than Rossi and became the World Champion that year fair and square.
re: “Spies would go back to WSBK where he might be competitive.”
that’s definitely been my opinion all along. I love ducati, but it’s real easy to see they are only looking for/needing 1 ‘Merican and 1 Italian at most.
Nicky Hayden’s not a world class road racer? That’s some of the wackiest, troll-bait BS I’ve heard in awhile. He’s a world champion in MotoGP, ’nuff said. In fact, any rider competing in MotoGP is world class, they’re amongst a few dozen (at best) that have speed and skill to earn a seat in the class.
The only gripe I could level at Nicky is his choice to stay with Ducati as long as he has… although I’m sure the paycheck sure is nice. One only needs to look at he and Rossi’s comparative speed last year on the same bike to realize Nicky has serious skill, just the wrong bike.
Lol you guys are such homers you can’t even be rational. I like Hayden. Nice guy. Very upbeat and positive, but in his entire career he won 3 races. 3 races in 174 starts. Hardly dominating. I thought Honda screwed him over, but in truth Pedrosa turned out to be a much better racer. In 2012 alone Pedrosa won more than twice as many races than Hayden has won in his entire career. Hpndas move was a prudent one for Honda.
So you all would say Hayden is as good of a motorcycle racer as Agostini or Rossi? That’s delusional.
I guarantee if someone told you to sit down and make your own list of the top ten roadracers of all time,neither Hayden, nor Edwards, nor Roberts Jr nor Schwantz would be on anybodies list. Not if you’ve been paying attention.
Special yes, extra special no.
Funny how everyone is screaming how I slighted Hayden, but no one jumped to the support of KR Jr or Colin Edwards. Also world champions.
Agent 55..Nicky has no choice. He can’t leave Ducati or he wouldn’t have a ride. No other factory is going to sign him, and the sad fact is Ducati hired him to sell Ducatis in America…and I doubt he wants to be relegated to riding CRT’s like Edwards.
I just saw on superbikeplanet that he won’t get an “opportunity” to ride a CRT next season, even if he wanted it.
I don’t have a lot of love for Hayden but saying things like “he won 3 races in 174 starts” is a little misleading. How many wins did Rossi have with Ducati? Since he was 0-36 does that mean he’s not one of the best ever?
I don’t believe that Hayden is even close to being on of the best but so much today is based on the bike. The truth is that this year if you’re not riding a Yamaha or Honda, you’re not going to win.
That was one of the sillier posts I’ve ever seen here. First of all, no, absolutely no one is saying Nicky is in the same historical class as Rossi or Ago. Secondly, YOU said that Nicky is not a world-class racer, which is patently absurd. Of course he is a world-class racer. Any way a sane person can define ‘world-class,’ he meets the criteria. He’s a world champion at the highest level of motorcycle racing. He holds a seat (a factory Moto GP ride) of which there are only seven on planet Earth (if we count Bradl’s Honda). Even on his worst days and despite the handicap of riding a nearly undridable machine (in terms of having a chance to win) he consistently laps within one second of the fastest bike/rider combination on the planet.
Let him swap rides with Lorenzo or Pedroza and while he probably still doesn’t win the championship or too many races he does climb into the top five or six in the standings.
By definition he is very obviously world-class and no, that isn’t subject to opinion.
“Nicky Hayden’s not a world class road racer? That’s some of the wackiest, troll-bait BS I’ve heard in awhile. He’s a world champion in MotoGP, ’nuff said. In fact, any rider competing in MotoGP is world class, they’re amongst a few dozen (at best) that have speed and skill to earn a seat in the class.”
Exactly. By definition, anyone who has one of only six or seven full factory Moto GP rides is a world-class racer. There simply is no debating this. Add to that Nicky’s world championship and it becomes a laughable statement.
Mickey … what country did you say you are from?
There have only been a handful of domineering champs in F1. Most countries don’t have ’em. I don’t personally see that as a strike against U.S. racing. Obviously you think differently.
And there’s also the matter of motocross. Care to debate which country has the most talent in that sport? Hmmm?
Gary..I’m from the U.S.( thanks for questioning my patriotism) which is what is so disturbing to me. From 78 to 92 we used to dominate Gran Prix Road racing.During that time Americans won what 12 championships? Now when you watch a race, they say the Americans are 7 th, 13th and sitting in the padock, unable to race. Meanwhile Spaniards are filling the podium.
You guys have me pegged wrong. I am not anti-American…quite the contrary..I am anti- Americans doing poorly. I WANT Americans to win. Obviously in America we are doing something wrong…and in Italy and Spain they are doing something right, as far as producing talented motorcycle road racers.
Same for England…they used to be a force in road racing. Why has it taken so long to produce another great Brit road racer?
Yet Spain and Italy turn out great prospects with regularity.
Mike… If we had better riders…wouldn’t they be getting better rides? Spies was on a factory Yamaha. What happened? Now he’s going to be on a Ducati? What’s he thinking? Did he not learn anything from watching Stoner struggle, and Rossi struggle and Hayden struggle, and now Dovi struggling?
And if Rossi had only won 3 races in 174 starts, no I would not consider him a great rider.
Rossi’s head was too big if he thought he could win on the Ducati when no one else could. It took him 2 years to realize that. Wonder how many races Rossi would have won had he stayed with Yamaha? Maybe 10 or 12 more to add to the 80 premier class wins he currently has.
MotoX is a good example, for the last 30 years the premier MotoX riders have been Americans. If we can dominate in the dirt, why can’t we dominate on the asphalt?
Talking about cars (although I wasn’t and don’t find them relevant to this conversation)….We obviously dominate in Nascar, .so why not F 1? I have no clue.
We obviously dominate in NASCAR…. does anyone else even participate (country) in NASCAR?
Poor old Nicky Hayden… Hope he can get a competitive ride in the future.
All he needs to climb back on the podium is a decent bike. Hopefully the Italians are paying him scads of money to straddle that red dawg.
It would be great for him to get the Gresini ride. No rumors of that of course, but a return to Honda would be great.
hmmmn, i’m intrigued. first I’ve heard this suggestion. 🙂
ps, if I repeat this, you will be credited.
at least on superbikeplanet we see that he won’t get that CRT “opportunity” like Edwards next season…
Great race, and awesome to see the comments pick up when Rossi does well!
What a performance by Lorenzo to even hop on the bike. Hoping to wish him well in Laguna, if I can get near him!
Moment of the race, was battle for 2nd, that tire touch on turn #1 was a breath-holder. It kinda killed the moment for the end of the race heroics, but was still an impressive race performance from Crutchlow. I’m glad to hear more talk about Yamaha wanting to keep him instead of dumping him for another Moto2 rider that hasn’t completely been taking the world by fire. (P Espargaro, and I would rather try to recruit Aleix, the way he’s been riding)
Rossi wins, Lorenzo manages the impossible. Hell of a weekend.
Sooo good to the see the Doctor is making house calls again. Too bad Pedrosa didn’t give up a couple more spots and let Jorge by. Grande Cajones for JL! Hope he heals quick and Rossi and Cal can put a few bikes between JL and Pedrosa to help the cause.
Rossi has many lengendary rides. Now Lorenzo has one. If Rossi never wins again, his ride at Assen 2013 fades into the legacy; just another victory. If Lornzo never wins again, his ride at Assen still stays as lengendary. There isn’t a choice here. It’s two dofferent things and both are true. Jeez, try some dialectical thinking. We may ride motorcycles, but we ain’t stoopid! Besides, this site has never liked Rossi and the cheap trick of baiting readers with either/or hyperbole means this site will remain daily and not lengendary.
Anyone remember Mick Doohan? (From visordown.com):
In late June 1992 Mick Doohan fell at the Assen GP and suffered a savage lower right leg break – spiral fractures of the tibia and fibula. After botched early treatment, amputation was on the cards. It was horrendous.
After rescue and relocation, a radical op performed by Doctor Claudio Costa’s Clinica Mobile saved his legs from being sawn off and speeded up his recovery. Seven weeks after his crash, as weak as a kitten and with his leg withered and useless, Doohan came back to defend what was left of his once imperious 57-point Championship lead at the hideously dangerous Interlagos circuit.
His treatment had included radical surgery, sewing both his legs together and transplanting muscle tissue from his torso to his calves, to help get the dying muscles become oxygenated by the living tissue.
Mick, until that stage an unbeatable prospect, knew he was in trouble in Brazil and was a physical wreck. “I’d lost six kilos, and had been pretty lean to start with; I was run down, beat up and on some pretty strong pills,” says Mick with typical ‘no worries’ understatement.
He eventually finished 12th, but in 1992 that meant no points and all that grit and risk had been for nothing. He finished the Championship in second place, losing out to Wayne Rainey by just four points. “That was my toughest race ever, but I was happy that I had finished,” he says. “I got back to the pits and Costa and another doctor were crying. It was all pretty emotional.” But the legend that was Mick Doohan had been born. The infamous Gold & Goose photo of him in appalling pain, with his stick-thin leg clearly on display and Dr Costa offering comfort, shows the true grit of the man. And that’s why Doohan’s Sao Paolo effort is unquestionably our hardest race of all time.
Glad to see the GOAT back on top of the podium. I thought he might still have a few wins left in him, but was beginning to have my doubts. Lorenzo is the one guy smooth enough and effortless enough in his riding to wrestle a GP bike around the track for an hour with that kind of injury. He may well steal the GOAT title in a few more years, at the pace he’s going.
This may not be the golden years of MotoGP (there are too many run away winners) but it may be in the golden age of riders with Rossi, Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Marquez (too bad Stoner retired…)
I still can’t believe Lorenzo raced … much less finished 5th. One of the gutsiest things I’ve ever seen in sports.
Aree wholeheartedly. Legendary stuff.
i’ll do ya one better, i’m surprised he climbed back into an airplane…!?
I’ve woken up after having a collar bone plated (insurance co’s don’t let you recover in the hospitals any more ya know). when you’re feeling both PAIN and the residual anesthesia in your system…? excuse the french, but holy sh%&t is that a f@#cked up feeling. 🙁
you want me to walk under my own power and get on a what…?
He may have had it done with a local anesthetic (yikes..).
oh geez, I don’t even know if that’s possible…? or maybe I don’t even wanna THINK of that possibility…!? LOL
I just put a ruler up to the scar across my shoulder and it’s exactly 4″ inches long. my surgery was 7 years ago. can you imagine how long the incision was then…?
Is there a Doctor in the house?!!!
Awesome race, by the way. 🙂
I’m glad to see Rossi back at it, as well as the riders providing an exciting race to watch.
In my opinion, Lorenzo did what I’d expect a top rider with determination to do, be it MotoGP or AMA motocross or some other race series.
I was just hoping he didn’t crash! 😉
What a race! Incredible to see VR on top again. He looked to be in perfect form, completely at one with his bike. So great to see him grab another victory, I hope he has many more.
JL was just staggeringly unbelievable in his effort. This guys is clearly champion material, made from different stuff, wired differently, etc etc. Incredibly impressive all the way. Knew he had to do something to not lose so many points and he did what he had to do. Hats off.
Pedrosa just kept giving up spots like they were candy. What happened??
Great race, great season, Casey who?
This race is why I hate factory teams. Yamaha KNOWS Jorge cannot win the race with his broken collar bone and by some miracle Valentino’s bike is good enough to win. The factories will ONLY provide a winning bike to their guys and screw the rest. Death to the factory teams!
I’m guessing that is a comparison between the bikes and team of the Yamaha factory versus the Tech 3 bikes and team.
Would it make sense that the satellite team gets everything the factory team gets, on the same day and with the same availability?
So, if you were developing parts to improve the performance and/or ease of use of the bike for the factory team, this means you are supposed to supply the satellite teams with these improvements on the same day?
If that were the case, what would be the difference between the factory team and the satellite team?
The guy who signs the rider’s paycheck and color of the bikes?
Going by what I’ve heard and read, Rossi, through very recent (within the last two weeks) testing of bike setup settings with his factory team crew and with parts available to the factory team, hit upon front fork settings that gave him a big step forward in getting the feel from the bike we was missing.
They really need to slip some of those factory parts over to Crutchlow’s garage. The mans on fire week after week. He’s proven he can run with the front boys race after race, just doesn’t have access to all the tasty bits the factory boys do. It would help in Yamaha’s constructors title chase and (if orders are given *wink wink*) help stuff Pedrosa a few times for JL to get the title again himself.
I don’t think Lorenzo has access to parts that Rossi does not. Crutchlow is another story. What do you think should happen? Should Yamaha be required to provide spec engines to satellite teams? I think that would be a bit silly, for several reasons.
define spec…?
Perhaps you don’t remember a few years ago. The same thing happened with a rider named Ben Spies. He was on fire on the Tech 3 running at the top almost every weekend just like Cal. As soon as he hit the factory team it was a whole other story. They definitely seem to play favorites over at Yamaha.
I don’t recall Spies ever being “on fire” im MotoGP.
yeah he was. remember he and simo “cross swords” quite a few times. iirc private Benjamin came out the victor more often than not.
I remember him winning this same race.
Cal Crutchlow was fastest qualifier on a satellite bike. If Jorge hadn’t broken himself we’d be discussing Vale’s strong 2nd place..
re: “No… the biggest story is definitely Vale winning again.”
re: “Clearly the biggest story by far is the Return of the King”
tough crowd.
I think JLo is the star. I can’t believe he could hang on to a beast like that with a broken bone.
Welcome back 46! We missed you. MotoGP missed you!
re: “The biggest story today might be the return of Jorge Lorenzo less than 48 hours after having surgery to repair his broken collarbone”
No… the biggest story is definitely Vale winning again.
just saw the footage of Lorenzo’s crash. Holy moly…
re: “just saw the footage of Lorenzo’s crash. Holy moly”
yeah, kinda took my breath away once I saw it at real-time speed.
All these high speed highsides make you wonder what holds these guys bodies together. Marquez’s tumble at the end of his highside looked like Evil Knievel at the end of one of his horribly gone wrong attempts to jump a fountain, or 17 buses …..only Evil was busted up like a bag of jello and Marquez got up and walked away, broken finger and toe, and continued riding..
re: “Marquez’s tumble at the end of his highside looked like Evil Knievel”
uggh, just got a visual. actually haven’t seen that. gonna have to check.
re: “The biggest story today might be the return of Jorge Lorenzo”
admittedly it IS the bigger story. gotta be bumming for all those with equally great stories that rossi’s continues to overshadow theirs (it’s good to be the king).
a lot of people missed that marc ALSO raced with fractures (2), crutchlow’s podium, dani (despite his back slide) still sits at the top of the standings and DID manage to extend his points lead, etc.
but won’t be no sunshine when he (vr46) is gone. (ezpelata strums acoustic, sings like bill withers)
Lorenzo’s was the more stunning achievement, yes, but not the bigger story. Clearly the biggest story by far is the Return of the King following a two and half-year victory-drought coupled with this season’s erstwhile unconvincing performances fomenting serious doubts that he would ever arrive on the top step again. Jorge’s feat will surely become the stuff of legend but the major headlines tomorrow will all be about Rossi’s return to glory.
This is the most correct commentary
Great race…Rossi looked unbeatable, like the Rossi of old. Crutchlow is a brute, he makes many mistakes, but he recovers very quickly. Can’t believe Danny got the holeshot again, and again gave it up. Jeesalou Danny, are you getting old?not only did you lose the ead, you let 2 more past as well. geesh. Keep this up and you will never realize your dream. Lorenzo is nuts. What a valant effort.
2 weeks until Germany. It’s getting interesting.
re: “Jeesalou Danny, are you getting old?not only did you lose the ead”
somebody’s on their smart phone… 🙂
Ipad lol…sometimes it types whatever it wants. Kids bought it for me. Thought I needed to be more hip.