Submitted by David Emmett on
Results and summary of the MotoGP race at Aragon:
Dani Pedrosa has taken victory at Aragon in utterly dominant style, beating 2nd place man and title rival Jorge Lorenzo by six-and-a-half seconds. Pedrosa claws back 5 precious points in the championship race, but the deficit remains 33 points.
Pedrosa and Lorenzo were the class of the field, the two men getting away from the start and immediately pulling a gap. Lorenzo led from pole, with Pedrosa sitting on his tail for the first six laps, before deciding he had the measure of the Yamaha man. The Repsol Honda rider passed Lorenzo on lap 7, and immediately pulled a gap. Lorenzo tried to follow, but a huge moment in Turn 2 knocked his confidence and saw him drop his pace. Pedrosa was soon lapping over half a second a lap quicker than the rest of the field, and disappeared into the distance. Lorenzo would not see him again until Parc Ferme, Pedrosa taking the win in convincing style.
If the battle for victory was almost non-existent, the fight for 3rd was all the better. Ben Spies had taken 3rd from the start, but the Factory Yamaha man soon had company from the two Monster Tech 3 Yamaha men and found himself coming under attack. In a war of attrition, Spies found himself with a losing hand, seeing first Andrea Dovizioso and then Cal Crutchlow come past him. The two Tech 3 teammates were both hell-bent on a podium, with Crutchlow attacking on the two final laps at Turn 14. Each time Crutchlow attacked, he got past, but Dovizioso immediately had an answer. The Italian held on to the end to take the final podium spot, leaving his teammate Crutchlow to finish in 4th, ahead of the second factory bike of Ben Spies.
Alvaro Bautista - on the verge of renewing with San Carlo Gresini Honda for 2013 - took 6th, but a long way behind Pedrosa, while Jonathan Rea achieved his goal as a replacement rider in cutting the gap to the leaders from the 43 seconds it was in Misano. Valentino Rossi took 8th, after a fight back through the field caused by Rea, who had pushed him wide when Rossi tried to pass on the first lap, Rossi finishing ahead of Karel Abraham. Aleix Espargaro took 10th, and was the first CRT bike across the line.
The race also saw two notable crashes. The first was of Stefan Bradl, who lost the front while engaged in a very strong battle at with Ben Spies for 3rd. But prior to that, Nicky Hayden had a horrific-looking crash when he nearly lost the front, saved it but found himself running on fast across astroturf and gravel, and unable to get the bike stopped. He was unable to get the bike stopped, hit the wall and was tossed over the low retaining wall. Fortunately for the American, he came off reasonably unhurt, and was reported at the medical center to be conscious and with full mobility in all of his limbs.
Results:
| Pos. | No. | Rider | Manufacturer | Time | Diff |
| 25 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | HONDA | 42'10.444 | |
| 2 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | YAMAHA | 42'16.916 | 6.472 |
| 3 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | YAMAHA | 42'21.491 | 11.047 |
| 4 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | YAMAHA | 42'21.628 | 11.184 |
| 5 | 11 | Ben SPIES | YAMAHA | 42'24.230 | 13.786 |
| 6 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | HONDA | 42'38.610 | 28.166 |
| 7 | 56 | Jonathan REA | HONDA | 42'42.734 | 32.290 |
| 8 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | DUCATI | 42'54.876 | 44.432 |
| 9 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | DUCATI | 43'07.861 | 57.417 |
| 10 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | ART | 43'08.969 | 58.525 |
| 11 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | ART | 43'10.307 | 59.863 |
| 12 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | DUCATI | 43'25.005 | 1'14.561 |
| 13 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | BQR | 43'26.603 | 1'16.159 |
| 14 | 77 | James ELLISON | ART | 43'27.024 | 1'16.580 |
| 15 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | FTR | 43'36.259 | 1'25.815 |
| 16 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ART | 43'42.245 | 1'31.801 |
| 17 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | IODA-SUTER | 43'52.744 | 1'42.300 |
| 18 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | SUTER | 42'52.997 | 1 lap |
| Not Classified | |||||
| 6 | Stefan BRADL | HONDA | 7'23.595 | 19 laps | |
| 44 | David SALOM | BQR | 6'04.349 | 20 laps | |
| 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | DUCATI | 1'55.246 | 22 laps | |
Comments
Fuuuuuuu
Great riding from Dani. This championship would be very interesting if.... Shame!
Ben Spies... As much as I have defended him... he is not MotoGP material.
I Hope Nicky did not suffer some serious injury. That was nasty crash.
LP
Nickys crash was frightening
The rest of the race was okay, but definitely missed Stoner.
How dull was that?
Who the fluck directs the TV coverage?
Week after week we see what must be half the 45 minute race filled with replays, pit shots and following riders on their own..it's a joke and very, very annoying.
This weekend we had one on track battle for third and missed virtually all the live overtakes while the director chose to concentrate on incidental shite..how often have we missed good last lap action to watch the winner cruise over the line?
Dorna are doing the sport absolutely no favours and need a change of policy or maybe outsource the coverage to a firm who understand how to put together a show.
There is very little decent action as it goes, so to miss what is obviously the pick of a bad job is borderline criminal.
They should put MotoGP on first and finish with Moto2 with the tidlers sandwiched inbetween.
A disgraceful state of affairs.
Sponsorship money?
I agree with you but/and I get the idea that there is a firm agreement with sponsors over the coverage of the top three getting over the finish line. Something like: the front runner is seen at least from 2 corners before the finsh line untill he is finished, and then shown from the front in a wide shot. Then the team gets 3 seconds. Next, the runner up is shown crossing the finish and his team is seen 2 seconds. Next,... and so on. It is almost identical at the end of every race.
Agree that this seems
Agree that this seems likely.
A simple split-screen view would fix the problem.
i have to ask, david...at
i have to ask, david...at what point of the race did the winner (dani) crush his opposition (lorenzo) ? dominant victory yes, but "crushed" his opposition ? really? i understand how everyone wants dani to win and all that, but try not to be so overtly dramatic...if an utterly dominant victory implies "crushing" an opposition, i believe lorenzo has done it more number of times this season than dani or anyone else, yet i dont remember such unnecessarily dramatic words or even sentiments expressed for him other than "lorenzo was dominant".. kinda unfair no ?
great ride by dani of course.
Context
I would say that beating a combination of the calibre of Lorenzo/M1 by over six seconds is pretty much a crushing defeat... especially as these guys are at the business end of the season now, where things really start to count - whether it's points, or laptimes, or psychological impacts.
To lose by 6 seconds in the first or second or fifth round of the season is not too big a deal, in the general scheme of things.
But this late in the season, while Lorenzo could afford to smile and brush off a loss of a couple of seconds, when you haven't even come off the final corner and the race is done it's a heavy blow. He has got to be a bit worried now about how Dani is going to perform in the remaining races.
And then there's Stoner - Lorenzo will soon have his hands full in holding onto his points lead.
OMG!
@yamahaR15 ...please don't nitpick.
Crushing Lorenzo
Running a half second lap faster is crushing in my book. Pedrosa sat calmly on Lorenzo's fender for the first few laps then went by and checked out before cruising the last few laps. He could have beaten Lorenzon by a dozen seconds if he wanted to. Lorenzo was only a couple tenths quicker than Dovi, who was lock in a battle for half the race.
but 6.5second margin is not
but 6.5second margin is not quite 0.5seconds per lap faster.
You obviously did not view
You obviously did not view the race on live timing. The race pace gap between Dani and Jorge was big after he went by. Dani slowed the last few laps after building his cushion and controlled his gap from the front. These fellows are pretty smart in that way. I'd say Dani crushed everybody in effortless fashion.
Dani
Dani is really different this year. I think that next year he will have serious chance for championship.
Maybe even this year.
He really need Stoner in the game. Stoner can not damage Dani-s run for championship. If Stoner is in front of Dani.. no loss there. 5 points or 4 points per race makes no difference. It is not enough to win championship. But if Dani is faster then Stoner and Lorenzo comes third... there is a chance. Slim I admit, but there is a chance.
NOW YOU'RE TALKIN'...!!!
re: "Dani is really different this year. I think that next year he will have serious chance for championship. Maybe even this year."
that's damn right... THIS year. and to think, after the tire warmer incident and crash at the last race, many media types were declaring his shot at the title was basically over. meanwhile, my schedule said 5 rounds were yet to run...? what calendar were they lookin' at anyways...?
Pity
Races like that and you really think what if.....
nevermind what's happened happened .... we can hope to have a good finale still.
Dani is clearly in the shape of his life and is the man to beat chapeau. Cal is an inch away from going up one notch ... he needs to find the missing bit. I have missed Nicky & Vale incidents, both times away from TV ... apparently the first one was frightening I am sooooo glad that he's OK. What did happen to Rossi?
Go Dani!
On the first lap Rea
On the first lap Rea inadvertedly drifted slightly to the right on the braking for the last corner just as Rossi, who braked later from behind as was slightly faster, arrived at the spot. There was contact. Rossi had to put it straight up and use the alternative layout, with the hairpin WSBK uses, to avoid crashing, but he dropped right back to last.
Then, with a few laps to go, he ran wide and lost some four or five seconds but Im not sure where he was at the track.
I dont know if he saw Hayden crash or his crashed bike, but that is exactly why he will not risk it for a tenth here or there, getting injured and restarting against Lorenzo on two "left feet".
Thanks!
:)
Team orders from Honda
On some forums it's suggested Stoner will follow team orders to let Pedrosa finish ahead of him. I can't remember where, but it seems in an interview in the past that Stoner does not believe in this type of "racing", and I doubt at this point in time Stoner would let Pedrosa finish ahead of him as long as he could stay in front of Pedrosa. No way on God's green earth Stoner will not try to win Phillips Island.
Imho the Yamaha was the better bike the first half of the year and the Honda is the better bike now. I remember in the first half of the year, how very disappointed I was to see Bautista and Bradl finishing waaaay back from the factory and satallite Yamahammers in the beginning of the year. Yeah, I know, Bradl and Bautista first year on the Honda, but.......really, that far off the pace of the Yammahas? And things have not improved on that front by very much.
I think it's another championship for Lorenzo this year as long as he does not fall off the bike or get taken off by someone.
Shame about Spies. He was like a wrecking ball in WSK and took it by storm, but in MotoGp it's sad to say he just isn't working out. Hope he makes some dough off Ducati before he moves on. A good person if there ever was one and a darn great WSK rider for sure.
Eh
There is no reason for Stoner to follow team orders. He is ending his career this year. So why would he follow team orders?
The question is... is he faster than Dani? Coz Dani is lot faster than in the beginning of the season. I don`t think Stoner would just cruise by him.
Lorenzo do have great advantage. Only possible problems for him are: Stoner between him and Dani .....and his engine. From today's race onward he is using last engine.
YOU MISSED ONE
re: "I think it's another championship for Lorenzo this year as long as he does not fall off the bike or get taken off by someone."
or DNF since dorna sees fit to short the kid an engine.
a bit of a stretch...
Blaming dorna for yamaha design issues is a bit rich.
Both lorenzo's and spies engines died with the same symptoms, granted lorenzo's was on its side at the time, but with all the importance placed on engines and the fact that no engines apart from the factory yamaha ones have grenaded in races this year, including everyone thats crashed (as far as i can remember), i'd say that yamaha have a vulnerability in their engine design/software that needs to be fixed.
that being said i hope and think that engine allocations wont play a deciding role in this championship
"The question is... is he
"The question is... is he faster than Dani? Coz Dani is lot faster than in the beginning of the season. I don`t think Stoner would just cruise by him."
That's an interesting one! Remember, in the race before Stoner fell off and hurt himself, Stoner felt he was faster than Dani. On the final lap, Stoner upped his game, but so did Dani. Result? Stoner fell off trying to keep up with Pedrosa.
Dani Pedrosa is certainly at the top of his game right now. Shame about him being taken out last race, otherwise the points would be very close right now...
3 races left, 9 points
3 races left, 9 points difference between 3rd and 1st. If both riders finish all the races, for Pedrosa to win the title, he must win and Lorenzo must finish 3rd from here on out. Maybe, odder things have happened.
4
4 races left.
Dani could just about have
Dani could just about have ridden the entire lap on the inside white line his lines where so tight. Hyperbole aside you knew Dani was going to gap Jorge when he went past what with how much Jorge's rear was spinning up and so early in the race.
Yawn...
MotoGP again, the top class, the lowest entertainment. After absolutely cracking Moto3 race where 12 bikes could have won, then a brilliant Moto2 race where Pol and Crazy Joe, Scott Redding where sticking it to the brilliant but not-quite-as-good-under-brakes Marc Marquez, and a last few laps that just took your breath away, edge of the couch stuff, wide eyed at the TV..... then, the main show came on. Only problem is, it's not the main show anymore. The most interesting bits once again being a race for minor placings between the Tech3 riders. Sit back on the couch slightly disinterested and checking Twitter feed. Dear me, Dorna, dear me.
Herve should be paying the Tech3 boys extra this year, they have provided the best show in MotoGP overall. Casey is sorely missed, if anyone thinks he will follow team orders when he returns, keep dreaming... Dani wouldn't want it that way either.
IMO
A lot of people seem to forget Lorenzo's Assen while sympathizing Pedrosa's Misano.
If both were able to finish the races, the points would be approximately what they are right now. Who knows Lorenzo might not have tried to ride safely if he had an engine to spare.
True, especially about Assen.
True, especially about Assen. Jorge was likely to podium there at the very least.
But I don't think Lorenzo was necessarily lacking motor today. That's two races in a row where he's been sliding and nearly on the ground, under pressure or under no pressure. I think that the Yamaha is on the limit, and the Honda gets better every outing.
I loved the slo-mo shots of Pedrosa drifting the rear wheel. That bike-rider combination was hooked up, right on the happy side of drive vs. slide.
And the Dovi/Cal thing is more fun to watch than a barrel of monkeys!
Nit-picking :)
What does "likely to podium" actually mean? The word podium is a noun - a naming word. Isn't that a bit like saying Jorge was going to bike during the race...