ANOTHER Spanish event in the 2011 MotoGP championship happened at the weekend and it was another win for Casey Stoner. The Australian’s eighth win of the season moves the Australian 44 points clear of the gallant Jorge Lorenzo, as he edges closer to his second title.
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| DOMINANT: Stoner took another victory to edge closer |
Stoner took his ninth pole position of the season in qualifying, but made a poor getaway and was overwhelmed by Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa and the second Yamaha of Ben Spies. Further back, Karel Abraham had a nasty looking accident, as his bike flipped and hit his back. Luckily, Abraham walked away from the gravel pit, whilst the unlucky Randy de Puniet did extremely well to miss the flying machinery. Unfortunately, his evasive action meant a trip through the gravel, which ruined his race efforts.
However, Stoner was back in the lead by the end of the first circuit and a silly error from Spies in the final corner handed Pedrosa second spot. Meanwhile, the third Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso crashed out early on; his first retirement since another Spanish event, in Jerez back in March. The early passing was produced by Marco Simoncelli, who seems to have calmed down from his early season antics. He overhauled Nicky Hayden, Lorenzo and Spies in quick succession to snatch third position. However, his good work came to nought two laps later, when the Italian ran wide and allowed both Yamaha’s past him. After a fairly lacklustre race, Lorenzo woke up and finally got on terms with his team-mate Spies to claim third place with ten laps to go. However, it was too late to get on terms with the dominant Honda’s.
Having announced his retirement from motorcycling at the end of the season, the enigmatic Loris Capirossi certainly wants to leave the sport on a high, but he is having a nightmare swansong. He crashed into the back of Toni Elias and took both riders out. In the process of crashing out, Capirossi picked up a shoulder injury, which rules him out of next weekend’s rescheduled MotoGP event in Motegi, Japan.
Having started from the pitlane following an engine change, Valentino Rossi fought upto ninth position, but was passed by Britain’s Cal Crutchlow in the closing stages. It left Rossi down in tenth; his worst finish of the season. Despite his pitlane start, he will be disappointed to finish behind team-mate Hayden, who was seventh and the customer Ducati of Hector Barbera in eighth.
Out infront, Stoner cruised to another victory, seven seconds clear of Pedrosa. Lorenzo finished third, ahead of Spies and Simoncelli. However, he knows victory in Motegi is now imperative if he wants to maintain any hope of producing a remarkable comeback as this MotoGP season enters the finishing straight.
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