Australia MotoGP 2011: Super Stoner seals title on home soil

THE race for the 2011 MotoGP championship is over and it ended in style for Casey Stoner.  On home soil, he took the race win in Australia to seal his second title, four years after his last success on a Ducati.  It is his sixth victory in Phillip Island, giving him an unassailable lead over former champion, Jorge Lorenzo in the standings.

      Lorenzo didn’t race and will also miss this weekend’s event in Malaysia, after a nasty crash in the closing stages of Sunday’s warm-up session.  He came off his Yamaha at high speed, badly injuring his hand and was declared unfit to start.  With Ben Spies missing the event too, after he crashed heavily during qualifying on Saturday, the works Yamaha team had little to do for the race.  Lorenzo’s forced non-participation meant sixth or better was good enough for Repsol Honda rider Stoner, the class of the field in 2011 and that never looked in doubt.

      On his 26^th birthday, he cleared into the distance from pole position.  Attention quickly turned to a fierce battle for second place between Nicky Hayden, Marco Simoncelli, Alvaro Bautista’s Suzuki and Andrea Dovizioso.  Simoncelli eventually won this dice, before a bright sunny day turned into a damp event, as the unpredictable Phillip Island weather once again made sure all riders would have to keep their wits about them.  One who didn’t was Valentino Rossi, who passed Bautista, then promptly fell off to record his second successive DNF in what has been an incredibly frustrating season for The Doctor.  Later on, Bautista also became a victim of the tricky conditions, throwing away a certain fourth place.

      Ahead of them, Dani Pedrosa, who’d, had a very quiet weekend by his high standards, started to pressure Dovizioso for the final podium spot.  Eventually, Dovizioso, who is off to Tech-3 Yamaha for next season pulled clear of his team-mate and homed in on Simoncelli.  The pair entertained the excited crowd, having a clean and fierce fight in the dying stages for second.  By this stage, Stoner was already coasting towards another victory, his ninth of a dominant season to join a prestigious list of riders to have won two MotoGP titles.  Simoncelli held off Dovizioso’s late attack to finish second on his Gresini Honda; his best ever finish in the series.  Pedrosa trailed in a distant fourth, whilst both Colin Edwards and Randy de Puniet made the most of the unpredictable Australian micro-climate to finish fifth and sixth respectively.

CLASS: Stoner has shown himself to be the main man in 2011

       Australia and the motorcycling world has to hail Casey Stoner, who has shown this season, that with the top machinery in the paddock, he can win races and take titles for fun and I’d be surprised if this wasn’t his last championship.  The Repsol Honda team has been the class act and Yamaha and Ducati can’t make up any excuses.  They must respond in style over the winter, or Stoner and Honda will crush the opposition again.  Congratulations to Casey on a deserved 2011 MotoGP championship.

Aragon MotoGP 2011: Clinical Casey edges closer

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.

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.

San Marino MotoGP 2011: Lorenzo keeps the battle alive

OFF: Lorenzo speeds into the distance from the go in Misano

WORLD champion Jorge Lorenzo showed supreme quality to defeat the Repsol Honda's and win Sunday's round of the MotoGP season, at Misano.  Held under the title of San Marino, Lorenzo took the lead from the start and was never headed to lead home Dani Pedrosa and championship leader Casey Stoner in a fairly processional race.

     Stoner started on pole position for the eighth time this season and looked odds-on favourite for a fourth successive win, which surely would put any thoughts of back-to-back championships for Lorenzo out of any thought.  However, recent races seemed to take their toll on the Australian, who produced his weakest race since finishing a distant third in Portugal at the beginning of May.  The build-up to the weekend was dominated by the news that Colin Edwards is to leave the Tech 3 Yamaha team at the end of the season, whilst the likeable Loris Capirossi will stop racing altogether at the end of the season.

     At the start of the race, Lorenzo jumped straight into the lead, with Stoner backing off, clearly thinking of championship implications.  Pedrosa made an average start and only just held off a forceful Ben Spies on the opening lap.  Meanwhile, Marco Simoncelli began to recover from a poor start, as he produced a rude pass on 'The Doctor,' Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso to take fourth place.  At half-distance, Lorenzo started to pull away, with a series of blistering fast laps to pull away from Stoner.  

     By now, Stoner was struggling with his fitness levels and a dodgy tyre choice.  Pedrosa reeled him in and last year's Misano winner went through with six laps to go.  With the top three positions sewn up by the closing stages, the fans were thrilled to watch a three-way dice for fourth between Simoncelli, Dovizioso and Spies.  They were three abreast at one point on the final lap, with Simoncelli hanging onto fourth.  Seventh place was the best Rossi could achieve on one of his home circuits and Cal Crutchlow got another much-needed finish.  Crutchlow finished tenth, three places ahead of team-mate Edwards.

      With a 35 point lead and five races remaining, it is still Casey Stoner's championship to lose, but Jorge Lorenzo isn't giving up without a fight and Misano proved just why he is world champion. 

Indianapolis MotoGP 2011: Supreme Stoner marches on

CASEY Stoner continued his seemingly supreme routine march towards the 2011 MotoGP championship, with another dominant victory at Indianapolis last weekend.  It was his seventh win from 12 starts, his third in a row and extended his point’s advantage over his only title rival, Jorge Lorenzo to 44 points.

     On a baking day at the home of American motorsport, Stoner began on pole position and showed his supreme machinery advantage over the Yamaha of Lorenzo.  Unsurprisingly, he fell behind team-mate and traditional fast-starter Dani Pedrosa into the first corner.  Lorenzo briefly took second, but the first lap was a nightmare for American hero Ben Spies.  Spies, starting on the front row of the grid bogged down and got squeezed out of the first few bends, first by fellow American Nicky Hayden and then by Marco Simoncelli.  Spies dropped to tenth and his victory hopes were dashed from there.

     The Honda power of Stoner saw him coast past Lorenzo on lap three and four laps later, had reeled in Pedrosa, completing the pass into the first corner.  After that, it was a demonstration performance from the two Repsol Honda bikes.  Meanwhile, Spies provided most of the overtaking action as he recovered to produce forceful passes on Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso.  With 11 laps to go, the local man was fourth and closing in on a lonely Lorenzo.  Team-mates they may be and Lorenzo might be the one going for the championship, but nothing was going to deny Spies, as he overhauled the reigning champion to take the final spot on the podium.

DOMINANT: Casey Stoner continues his rich vein of form

    With pole position and the lap record to boot, Stoner secured his 30^th MotoGP victory to win by over four seconds.  Further back, both Hayden and Simoncelli fell back drastically with tyre problems.  Hayden had to retire, whilst Simoncelli slipped from a promising fourth to an unwelcome twelfth.  Dovizioso had a clean race on the third of the works Hondas to finish fifth and there was a very encouraging performance from Alvaro Bautista to record a sixth place finish for Suzuki.  Valentino Rossi finished a very distant tenth for Ducati and there was a long overdue finish for Britain’s Cal Crutchlow, who came home in eleventh.

     With only six events remaining, it is looking more and more difficult for Jorge Lorenzo to close the gap, which is becoming more like an avalanche.  Casey Stoner is looking impossible to beat, and now has one hand on the MotoGP crown.  Can anyone stop him in the remaining races?  On the evidence of Indianapolis, it’s hard to see how anyone can.

US MotoGP 2011: Stoner surges clear

CASEY Stoner increased his lead at the top of the MotoGP standings to 20 points last night, with victory in the United States Grand Prix.  The Repsol Honda rider, 25, took his fifth win from ten outings in 2011, to move further clear of his only title rival of the championship, defending champion Jorge Lorenzo.

     On an absolutely gorgeous day in California, the Laguna Seca played host to the final event before the summer break.  Lorenzo, suffering from a big practice crash which meant he could barely walk, started on pole position.  He made the most of it, by making a belting start and leading the three Honda’s of Dani Pedrosa, Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso into the Andretti bend.

     As Lorenzo zoomed into the distance, others were finding the tight and twisty circuit harder to cope with.  Britain’s Cal Crutchlow lasted only four laps, before suffering another expensive accident on his Tech-Speed Yamaha bike.  After a promising start to his rookie season, Crutchlow has now only scored two points in his last five outings.  Moments later, American wildcard Ben Bostrom retired with a brake problem and Marco Simoncelli made his customary exit.  The Italian slid off on the way upto the undulating Corkscrew bend, to record his fourth crash already of an error-prone season. 

MEMORABLE: Stoner's passes deserved his glory

     Back at the front and as in the German Grand Prix a week earlier, Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Stoner had managed to gap the rest of the chasing pack.  At half-distance, Stoner decided to make his move on Pedrosa, forcing his team-mate to concede position or crash at the Corkscrew.  Sensibly, Dani chose the latter and as his fitness levels dropped off, so did his pace and it meant no repeat of his Sachensring success seven days earlier.  Casey, who was worried about his lack of race pace going into the event, hunted Lorenzo down successfully and bravely passed him on the outside of the start-finish straight with just six laps to run.  Lorenzo left minimal space and the Australian was lucky not to end up in the back of the Yamaha’s exhaust. 

     After that, Stoner cruised away into the distance, to win by nearly five seconds.  Lorenzo’s ride to second was heroic and keeps him right in the thick of the title battle, with eight races still to run this season.  Pedrosa held onto third, whilst home hero Ben Spies recovered from a bad start to pip Dovizioso for fourth.  Sixth and seventh for the Ducati’s of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden was the best they could hope for, although Alvaro Bautista’s Suzuki had a chance of beating both Italian bikes, if he hadn’t chucked his bike into the dirt.

     Brno is the next event in three weeks time and for Stoner, it is the perfect response to some increased Lorenzo pressure.  The second half of this MotoGP season promises to be spellbinding!  

Italy MotoGP 2011: Lorenzo fights back in Mugello

YAMAHA’s revival in this MotoGP season continued with Jorge Lorenzo’s sensational victory in the Italian Grand Prix yesterday.  Lorenzo rode the race perfectly, biding his time on the Mugello circuit to record his second win of the season and narrow the gap on runaway championship leader Casey Stoner.  His cause was helped by Andrea Dovizioso finding a way past Stoner on the last lap to snatch second place.

     The writing looked on the wall again when Stoner cruised to pole position in a damp Saturday qualifying session.  It looked like those fears were going to be answered as he led the group of 16 riders into the first bend.  Lorenzo rocketed up from fifth on the grid into second, then got involved in a private scrap with Dovizioso, who on his home circuit, was having his best ride of a consistent season so far.

      Further back, Nicky Hayden ruined his chances of a strong finish when he went into the gravel trap on the second lap and there were more woes for Britain’s Cal Crutchlow.  Having started seventh, the rookie, still clearly in pain as he continues to recover from the broken collarbone he suffered at Silverstone slipped to tenth, before retiring for the second weekend running, once again with tyre troubles.

PERFECTION: Lorenzo overpowered the Honda's in Mugello

     Tyre problems also hampered Stoner’s challenge.  The Australian began to run out of grip on his front tyres and Lorenzo, having finally overhauled Dovizioso was ready to pounce, which he did with seven laps to go.  This was a battle of who could look after their tyres the best, and it was the world champion who easily won this duel.  Stoner was powerless to resist Dovizioso, who made a brave and aggressive pass on the last lap, which nearly had his team-mate running into the back of him.  To show Honda is a great team unit, Stoner congratulated Dovizioso afterwards in the paddock, which was good to see – something he won’t have done in his Ducati days.

      With Valentino Rossi struggling, the partisan Italian crowd was left for Dovizioso to provide the podium celebrations.  He was elated with his second spot, one step higher than what he achieved in the corresponding event last season.  It also keeps him in a comfortable third in the standings.  However, he was no match for Lorenzo, who cruised home to record his first dry win of the season.  Behind Stoner, Marco Simoncelli and Assen race winner Ben Spies had a private and intense scrape for fourth spot, which Spies won, bullying his way past on the last corner.  Once again, Simoncelli missed out on the maiden podium he was chasing, but at least he managed to stay on his bike this time around!

     After a great battle with Alvaro Bautista and Hector Barbera, Rossi fought hard to sixth spot on his stomping ground, which was the maximum he was going to achieve here.  Barbera got his best result of the season in seventh, whilst Bautista faded badly to 13^th, another sufferer of the softer Bridgestone tyres.  Finally, Dani Pedrosa made his long-awaited return to the paddock, but clearly wasn’t 100 per cent fit all weekend.  After a shocking start, which saw him second last at the end of the first circuit, he did well to come back to eighth.  Although his championship bid is in tatters, Pedrosa can play a major part in the destiny of where the title may go, depending on his fitness levels.

      After four races in five weeks, the teams will be relieved of a week off, before the next battle at the formidable Sachensring circuit in Germany.  However, Jorge Lorenzo proved here in Mugello that this title scrap in the 2011 MotoGP season isn’t a write-off and is still alive and kicking.

Dutch MotoGP 2011: Brilliant Ben dominates Assen TT

AMERICAN Ben Spies destroyed the opposition to win the famous Dutch TT at Assen on Saturday afternoon.  Spies took full advantage of another costly crash from Marco Simoncelli to record his maiden win in the premier class of motorcycling.  He is the first rider who came from World Superbikes to win a round of MotoGP since Troy Bayliss triumphed at the 2006 season finale in Valencia.

     Practice and qualifying was held in tricky weather conditions and all three Honda works riders had accidents in the early moments of qualifying.  Despite this, Casey Stoner still lined up on the front row, behind Simoncelli, who showed his raw pace against and Spies.  Yamaha were portraying a different colour scheme, to celebrate their 50^th year of Grand Prix racing.  Spies took off the startline fastest, but Simoncelli’s habit of crashing to the tarmac continued to haunt him at the third bend of the race.

     Like in Estoril, he pushed too hard on cold tyres and dropped his bike, taking out world champion Jorge Lorenzo.  Both managed to remount, but they lost loads of ground on the leaders.  The drama continued on the opening couple of circuits, with crashes from Karel Abraham and Randy de Puniet.  Abraham broke his little finger in his accident, whilst de Puniet’s tumble was the last thing the Premac team needed, as Loris Capirossi had crashed earlier in the weekend.  The veteran Italian fractured his shoulder, which ended his participation in the event early. 

MARGIN: Spies built up a healthy advantage throughout

     In all the confusion, Spies opened up a solid advantage over Stoner, enough to allow him to cruise through a dull second half of the event.  Stoner seemed content to settle for second, knowing that he was beating his title rival Lorenzo and extending his points advantage.  The only other incident of significance was a tyre problem for Cal Crutchlow.  Crutchlow, who qualified a tremendous sixth on the grid, despite having had major surgery on his collarbone earlier in the week, was a brilliant fifth when the rear Bridgestone tyre destroyed itself and forced him into the pits.

     Andrea Dovizioso continued his consistent run of points finishes, ending up third, whilst Valentino Rossi came up to fourth from a lowly 11^th on the grid, on a brand new Ducati bike.  Lorenzo did brilliantly to recover to sixth, behind the second Ducati of Nicky Hayden.  Colin Edwards was seventh, ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama, who had an unspectacular run on the third of the works Honda bikes.  Dani Pedrosa, still mysteriously missing is expected back in the saddle for the Italian round at Mugello this weekend.  A devastated Simoncelli came back to ninth, but faces a race ban, if he doesn’t calm down on his over-exuberant riding. 

    This was a deserved win for Ben Spies and it was nice to see a different winner in MotoGP, but ultimately, the big winner again was Casey Stoner, who extended his already healthy margin at the top of the championship.   

Britain MotoGP 2011: Stoner storms it in Silverstone showers

CASEY Stoner became the overwhelming favourite for the MotoGP championship in 2011, after earning his third successive victory.  He produced a peerless display at a rain-sodden Silverstone to take the championship lead for the first time since the opening round in Qatar.  His closest championship rival Jorge Lorenzo crashed out, a rare error from the world champion.

HEARTBREAK: For Crutchlow, as he missed his home event

     The British weather was certainly unkind yesterday across the country, but Cal Crutchlow was already out of luck.  The Tech Speed Yamaha rider, preparing for his first home grand prix, crashed heavily in the first five minutes of Saturday’s qualifying session.  As soon as he went down, Crutchlow was clutching his shoulder, clearly in agony.  The diagnosis of his injury was the same one which Colin Edwards picked up last weekend in Catalunya, a fractured collarbone.  A sick Crutchlow went to hospital in Oxfordshire, gutted to miss the event he must have been looking forward to the most in his rookie season.  Edwards was fit to ride, but Dani Pedrosa was still missing, with suspicions flying around the paddock that he has had a training accident in Spain and done further damage to the collarbone he initially fractured at last month’s French Grand Prix.

     Stoner took pole position, but was beaten down to turn one by Lorenzo and the Honda of Andrea Dovizioso.  Lorenzo quickly lost the lead to both works Honda riders, and although Dovizioso was ahead across the stripe for the first time, Stoner nailed him in the Abbey complex on the second lap and took off from there.  Dovizioso was left to fend off Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli, but both ended up making costly mistakes.  Lorenzo caught a puddle on the exit of the first corner, and he high-sided off his bike.  The Yamaha more looked like Bambi after he was born, rather than a competitive bike on the impact, Jorge lucky to escape injury, just damaged pride for the world champion; his first DNF since the 2009 Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.  It was a miserable day for Yamaha as seconds before Lorenzo’s dramatic exit, Ben Spies, clearly looking uncomfortable in the Northamptonshire rain, crashed at Copse.  Although complaining of back pain, Spies was given the all-clear in the medical centre afterwards.

     A few laps afterwards, Simoncelli made his customary exit.  He hit standing water on the approach to the first corner, and slid off his Gresini Honda bike with a one-way ticket, into the barriers.  It was a stupid crash, as his maiden podium was there for the taking.  The way Simoncelli rides is sensational, but he is an accident just waiting to happen.  It is already his third crash from six races in 2011.  These demises meant Dovizioso had an unchallenged ride into second place.  The most popular cheer was for Edwards, who rode through the pain barrier and wound up with a thoroughly deserved podium for the battered Tech Speed crew.  Fellow countryman Nicky Hayden was a strong fourth at Silverstone for the second year running, with Suzuki finally getting a well-merited result; Alvaro Bautista in fifth.  Having started a woeful 13^th, Valentino Rossi had a very flat weekend, but survived the weather to finish sixth.  However, he did lap upto five seconds a lap slower than Stoner on a number of occasions, which highlights the significant amount of work that Ducati have to do if they want to get on terms with Honda. 

     This could turn into a significant weekend for the 2011 MotoGP season.  Casey Stoner is looking invincible at the moment.  Hopefully, we will have a full grid and no significant injuries at the Dutch TT in Assen in a fortnight’s time.

Catalunya MotoGP 2011: Another cruise and collect for Casey

SPRAYING: Stoner sprays the bubbly after a comfortable win

AUSTRALIAN Casey Stoner closed the gap on Jorge Lorenzo at the top of the MotoGP standings, after cruising to victory in Catalunya.  It is the Repsol Honda’s third win of the 2011 season from five starts, and he now only trails defending champion Lorenzo by seven points.

     Stoner dominated the entire weekend, but was pipped to pole position in the dying stages of qualifying by a fired-up Marco Simoncelli.  The charismatic Italian earnt his first MotoGP pole position, but was never a factor in the race.  Simoncelli was gobbled up on the rundown to the first corner and then rode a rather low-key ride to sixth place; probably best for him after all the controversy of the recent races.

     Once again, Lorenzo won the race to the first corner, but the power of the Honda saw Stoner overhaul the Yamaha rider on the start-finish straight at the beginning of the second lap.  Although Lorenzo was able to keep him in touch for the majority of the race, Stoner never looked like he was going to be beaten.  Injuries continue to decimate the field in the premier class of motorcycling.  Dani Pedrosa was declared unfit to ride following the clash with Simoncelli in Le Mans last month, which saw the frail Spaniard suffer a fractured collarbone.  Colin Edwards would join him on the casualty list.  The ‘Texan Tornado,’ went down heavily in practice, and despite being desperate to race, was told not to on medical grounds.  It was the first race the American missed since he broke into MotoGP in 2003.

     Behind Stoner and Lorenzo, Ben Spies earnt his first rostrum as a factory Yamaha rider.  2011 has been a tricky season for Spies, as he has struggled to provide consistency and a stern challenge to his highly-rated team-mate.  Hopefully, Barcelona is a turn in the right direction for him.  The second Honda of Andrea Dovizioso was beaten into fourth place, despite his best efforts to overcome his equivalent in the Yamaha team.  Ducati’s Valentino Rossi was a solid fifth, ahead of Simoncelli, Britain’s Cal Crutchlow and the sister Ducati of Nicky Hayden.  It was another bad day for Randy de Puniet.  The likeable Frenchman was taken out in the early stages by Hiroshi Aoyama.  Fortunately, both got up from the gravel pit unhurt.

     Already, the 2011 MotoGP season is starting to look like a battle between two men for the title.  Silverstone this weekend should be interesting. . .  

France MotoGP 2011: Stoner romps to French glory

CASEY Stoner romped home to his second victory of the 2011 MotoGP season on Sunday.  However, his dominance was overshadowed by a contentious collision between his team-mate Dani Pedrosa and Marco Simoncelli, which has left the luckless Pedrosa with a broken collarbone.

    The controversial incident happened with 11 laps to go in Le Mans.  Simoncelli had caught up to second-placed Pedrosa and passed the Repsol Honda rider into the tight Garage Green bend.  Pedrosa got the run out of the corner and pulled alongside the Grissini Honda rider approaching the next tight chicane at the French Grand Prix.  Under-braking and it seemed that Pedrosa had the racing line.  However, Simoncelli, who has few friends in the paddock anyways, refused to budge and turned across Dani at a very late stage.  Consequently, contact was inevitable.  Simoncelli, subject to an official complaint about his riding style from Stoner and world champion Jorge Lorenzo before the race began, survived with a trip across the grass.  Unfortunately, Pedrosa wasn’t so lucky.  He crashed out of the race and walked away, wincing in pain.  He suffered a broken collarbone for the second time in seven months, having just fully recovered from a similar injury that finished his championship hopes during practice for last year’s Japanese Grand Prix.  His participation in next month’s Catalunya Grand Prix in Barcelona is now in severe jeopardy.

     Although the accident was more the fault of young Italian Simoncelli, many observers thought it was a racing incident.  Race stewards took matters into their own hands and handed Simoncelli a barbaric and ridiculous ride-through penalty with five laps to go.  Reviewing the incident after the race would have been far fairer, and when you consider that Valentino Rossi escaped scot-free from his move that took Stoner out of last month’s Spanish Grand Prix, it shows the deep inconsistency that is plaguing the world’s premier bike series when it comes to steward’s decisions.  It cost Simoncelli a shot at his first ever MotoGP podium finish.

WHEELIE: Stoner shows off after cruising to success in France

     Stoner was in formidable form all weekend.  The Australian was fastest in every single session and grabbed his third pole position from four races.  Although Pedrosa got the jump on him at the start, Stoner made his move on the third circuit and disappeared into the distance, winning by 15 seconds.  Andrea Dovizioso held off a late attack from Rossi to make it a Honda 1-2.  However, it was Rossi’s first podium for Ducati and will give the under pressure Italian team some fresh encouragement.  Lorenzo had a quiet ride to fourth, nursing a damaged hand from a practice crash earlier in the weekend, whilst Simoncelli battled back past Ben Spies on the last lap to claim fifth.  Britain’s Cal Crutchlow crashed out early on, as did french favourite Randy de Pruniet.  However, it will be ‘that’ move that will dominate the talking and the harsh words will no doubt roll into Barcelona.

Portugal MotoGP 2011: Proud Pedrosa scores amazing tactical triumph

SUCCESS: Pedrosa records victory at Estoril

SPAIN’s Dani Pedrosa sent a warning to his closest challengers for the MotoGP title, after recording an impressive tactical victory in the Portuguese Grand Prix.  Pedrosa, 25, rode past Estoril master Jorge Lorenzo with four laps to go and surged clear on his Repsol Honda to record his first win of the season.  Despite ultimately finishing a distant second, Lorenzo holds on to a slender championship lead.

     After all the controversy and drama of the last race in Jerez four weeks ago, Estoril produced a calm and quiet race, possibly something the paddock needed after all the drama and squabbling behind the scenes.  This continued in the Saturday evening qualifying press conference, which saw Lorenzo and fellow front-row starter Marco Simoncelli, almost come to blows over Simoncelli’s aggressive riding style.  Although it was a funny disagreement, it did feel a bit silly, especially as Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi are still sniping at one another after their confronton in Spain last time out. 

     On a bone dry track, Lorenzo made the best start from pole position and led Pedrosa into the first corner.  As the tyres weren’t at their optimum temperatures, both Simoncelli and Stoner had massive moments exiting the first corner.  At turn four, Simoncelli had another twitch, but this time – his mistake was costly.  He ended pitching off the bike stage right into the gravel pit.  That was bound to put a smile underneath Lorenzo’s crash helmet.  His closest challenger for most of the weekend was out already.  Marco wasn’t the only one, as Hector Barbera joined him in the sandpit and rookie Karol Abraham was soon out of the proceedings too.  Lorenzo led Pedrosa, Stoner, a fast-starting Valentino Rossi and the second Yamaha of Ben Spies.

     American Spies was soon out of the equation though, as he ran wide at turn nine and lost four places.  In his desperation to move up the order, he clashed with the Ducati of Nicky Hayden.  Hayden survived the incident to finish a tame ninth, but Spies ended out of the event again.  Britain’s Cal Crutchlow produced another strong performance and finished a very creditable eighth, on a circuit he had never seen before Friday practice. 

     Out infront and Lorenzo seemed to be making lightweight work of the Portuguese track.  Although Pedrosa stayed in his two throughout, he never looked likely to pull off a move.  However, Dani turned up the heat with four laps to go and surprised the world champion with a brilliant out braking pass into the first corner.  Lorenzo had nothing left and feel back rather rapidly, allowing Pedrosa to rattle in some blistering laps in the closing stages and win as he pleased.  Stoner was mysteriously off the pace all weekend and finished a lonely third.  There was an exciting tussle for fourth between Italians Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso.  Dovizioso mugged the Ducati on the very last corner by two hundredths of a second to seal a 1-3-4 for the Honda team.  Texan Tornado Colin Edwards was a solid sixth on his customer Yamaha bike.

     A rather mundane race then, but a dramatic conclusion as the MotoGP circus heads to the historic Le Mans circuit in France, in a fortnight’s time.

Spain MotoGP 2011 - Lorenzo survives in the Spanish rain

WORLD MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo survived an attrition-packed Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez to claim the points lead.  Lorenzo beat countryman Dani Pedrosa, on a Honda by nearly 20 seconds with Ducati’s Nicky Hayden finishing third.  However, it was clash between Pedrosa and Hayden’s team-mates that made all the headlines after the event.

     At a grey and damp Jerez, Casey Stoner got off the line perfectly from pole position to lead Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli in the early exchanges.  Team-mate Pedrosa had an awful lap.  He slipped from second to tenth, as he struggled with a bugging arm injury.  After starting a dismal 12^th, Valentino Rossi took full advantage of the dismal conditions to move quickly into fourth place, showing his formidability on a wet track.  Meanwhile, countryman Simoncelli was right at home, as he managed to usurp a careful Lorenzo and Stoner to snatch the lead.  Rossi eased past Lorenzo for third before the moment of the race.

TANGLE: Rossi's ambitious move took Casey Stoner out

     The Italian attempted a move on Stoner for second spot.  It was ambitious to say the least and the result was Rossi went down at the first corner, and took the unfortunate Stoner with him.  It was an unbelievable moment and shows that even world champions can make a hash of overtaking attempts.  Rossi was pinned under the bikes, whilst Stoner got up quickly, ready to remount.  However, the Repsol Honda team were furious that the marshals only seemed interested in helping Rossi and not their Australian championship leader.  The Ducati of Rossi rejoined well down and field and Stoner had been cruelly eliminated through no fault of his own.

     Pedrosa started to move his way back through the field, having now got a feel for the equipment he had underneath him.  He sliced his way back upto third, but that was to become second on lap 11 when disaster struck Simoncelli.  He was pulling away from Lorenzo and the race was his for the taking, until he got a high-side on at Turn One and dropped the bike.  He was out and Lorenzo had been gifted the lead.

     Britain’s Cal Crutchlow had been having a good run and was keeping Hayden in his sights, when he became another victim of the tricky conditions.  He was fifth before falling off his Tech Speed Yamaha, eventually remounting to finish ninth.  With four laps to go, American Ben Spies passed Pedrosa to make it a Yamaha 1-2.  Pedrosa had no response, as his tyres were absolutely finished.  Luckily for him, Spies went into the gravel on the very next lap and out of the race.  This allowed the likeable Colin Edwards onto the podium, but the Texan Tornado’s bike packed up and left Colin stranded on the last lap.  

ODD: Lorenzo's celebrations seem to get more strange with each race

     Ahead of all the drama, Lorenzo took the chequered flag at the end of a thrilling race.  Pedrosa and Hayden completed the rostrum, whilst Rossi somehow recovered to fifth, before going to apologise to Stoner for their crash afterwards.  This was the case of last man standing in Jerez and Jorge Lorenzo came out on top.  If this is anything to go by, MotoGP 2011 has all the ingredients to be a very special season.

Qatar MotoGP 2011 - Searing Stoner makes winning bow

AUSTRALIAN Casey Stoner made a winning start to life at Honda in the opening MotoGP event of the 2011 season.  Stoner, who switched from Ducati to the Repsol Honda squad in the winter, took the honours in the Qatar Grand Prix at the Losail circuit.  The 2007 champion beat reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo and his team-mate Dani Pedrosa under the lights.

WINNING: Stoner made a great start with Honda

     Stoner started on pole position, as he confirmed Honda’s blinding pre-season testing pace.  However, he lost the lead off the line to the fast-starting Pedrosa and Lorenzo, who led over the line for the first time.  The Spaniard was eventually overwhelmed by the Honda boys and Stoner and Pedrosa swapped themselves around on several occasions in the early exchanges.  Stoner was saving his tyres up and made the move stick at around half-distance.  Pedrosa fell back rather rapidly, and then got engrossed into a brutal battle with his countryman Lorenzo.  Eventually, the Yamaha rider prevailed and whilst Stoner and Lorenzo looked delighted with their opening efforts, Pedrosa was annoyed, confirming he had a problem with his left arm, which harmed his chances in his battle with Lorenzo.

     Honda dominated the first race, with the third Repsol Honda rider, Andrea Dovizioso finished fourth, ahead of Marco Simoncelli, who gave Dovizioso some headaches during the race.  Ducati were off the pace badly here, but Valentino Rossi still managed a creditable seventh on his opening bow for the Italian team.  Rossi also produced the save of the race, when he took his legs off his bike when Ben Spies overtook him to stop the frontend sliding away from him.  On his debut in the premier motorcycling class, Cal Crutchlow finished a creditable 10^th.  It was a miserable evening for the Premac Honda team, with Randy de Puniet crashing on the first lap, and Loris Capirossi injuring himself as he attempted to miss his team-mate.  At least they started, which is something Alvaro Bautista couldn’t do.  He crashed on Friday and broke his left leg.  With John Hopkins unable to get out to Qatar in time, it meant that Suzuki were without a rider in the top class for the first time since 1974.

     On this indication, Casey Stoner looks like he will be the man to beat in MotoGP this year, but he has never been very competitive at the next track in Jerez.  Throw in the lack of straights and it being Lorenzo and Pedrosa’s home event, Casey will do extremely well to produce his Qatar dominance again in a fortnight’s time.

Pedrosa's Practice Spill Hands Jorge Lorenzo The MotoGP Title

Dani Pedrosa broke his collarbone in a bad crash during practice for Sunday’s MotoGP event in Japan.  It all but hands the 2010 world championship to fellow compatriot Jorge Lorenzo.  Lorenzo, who rides for Fiat Yamaha in the series, has seen his once invincible lead being slowly whittled away by the consistent Pedrosa, who has beaten Lorenzo in the last three events. 

However, Pedrosa came off his Repsol Honda bike just five minutes into the first practice session for this weekend’s race, held at the Motegi circuit, a rescheduled event as it was cancelled in April due to the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud.  As soon as Pedrosa, who was standing 56 points behind Lorenzo in the title race, had ended up in the gravel, it could be seen to everyone in the paddock that he was in grave pain.  Although he scrambled to the edge of the gravel bed, marshals spotted his discomfort and he was carried away on a stretcher, realising that his brave, if vain title challenge for 2010 was well and truly over. 

The diagnosis was later confirmed as a broken collarbone for Pedrosa, and although reports also suggested that he has fractured his left ankle in the crash, this was denied by medics at the circuit and by his Honda team.  At Honda’s home circuit, this is bound to be a bitter pill to swallow.  Pedrosa is being flown home back to Spain for surgery on the injury and is definitely out of this race, and next weekend’s event in Malaysia.  With Australia being just one more week afterwards, it looks increasingly likely that he will have to miss three races, with a possible return in Portugal being lined up at the end of October.

Although it isn’t official yet, this confirms Lorenzo’s name as the 2010 champion, which has been almost been in clear writing ever since his team-mate and great rival, Valentino Rossi fractured his ankle at June’s Italian Grand Prix in Mugello.  Although Rossi has made a significant and remarkable recovery, he still doesn’t look 100% fit.  Neither does Randy de Pruniet, who fractured his leg in a multiple smash at the following month’s German Grand Prix.  With this in mind, it is best that Pedrosa rests up and recovers fully for next season.  With Rossi and Pedrosa’s injuries and Casey Stoner not getting on with the Ducati, it has meant that Lorenzo has had a fairly untroubled ride to this season’s championship, having only missed the podium once in thirteen occasions.  However, his championship glory will be tainted, largely because of these cruel injuries to two of his rivals.  Consequently, he will have to win another title next year before anyone can class him in the legends of bike racing. 

I wish Dani Pedrosa a speedy recovery and congratulate Jorge Lorenzo on a deserved championship, though no-one would want to win it this way.  The message to Jorge for next year:  Prove how good you really are against a rejuvenated Stoner, a charged-up Rossi and a fully recovered Pedrosa.