FIM MotoGP World Championship Jerez, Spain April 29, 2012 Race Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Casey STONER, Australia (HONDA), 27 laps, 45:33.897 2. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), -0.947 second 3. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), -2.063 seconds 4. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (YAMAHA), -2.465 5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (YAMAHA), -18.100 6. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), -21.395 7. Stefan BRADL, German (HONDA), -28.637 8. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), -28.869 9. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), -34.852 10. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), -35.103 11. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), -38.041 12. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (Aprilia-ART), -72.728 13. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (Aprilia-IODA/ART), -78.669 14. Mattia PASINI, Italy (Aprilia-Speed Master/ART), -89.142 15. Ivan SILVA, Spain (Kawasaki-BQR/FTR), -92.478 16. Colin EDWARDS, USA (BMW-SUTER), -100.577 17. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (DUCATI), -1 lap, crash 18. Randy DE PUNIET, France (Aprilia-ART), -2 laps, DNF, retired 19. James ELLISON, UK (Aprilia-PBM/ART), -3 laps, DNF, retired 20. Michele PIRRO, Italy (Honda-FTR), -9 laps, DNF, retired 21. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (Kawasaki-BQR.FTR), -27 laps, DNF, retired World Championship Point Standings (after 2 of 18 races): 1. Lorenzo, 45 points 2. Stoner, 41 3. Pedrosa, 36 4. Crutchlow, 26 5. Dovizioso, 22 6. Bautista, 19 7. Hayden, 18 8. Bradl, 17 9. TIE, Rossi/Barbera, 13 11. Spies, 10 12. Espargaro, 5 13. Edwards, 4 14. TIE, Petrucci/De Puniet, 3 16. TIE, Pasini/Hernandez, 2 18. Silva, 1 More, from a press release issued by Speed Master: FIRST POINTS OF THE SEASON FOR MATTIA PASINI IN THE GRAND PRIX OF JEREZ The circuit of Jerez de la Frontera hosted today the race of the second event of the 2012 World Championship. In the MotoGP class, Mattia Pasini and his crew worked on some last modifications to the set up in the warm up, making sure to have a good base for any type of weather and setting the thirteenth time. Starting from sixth row, Pasini maintained a consistent pace throughout the race, crossing the finishing line in fourteenth position and achieving the first two points of the season. Mattia Pasini #54 – 14th “This race went well, I’m really happy. We have to consider that, during this weekend, we didn’t manage to work much on dry track. With this type of conditions we had some extra problems, and our objective was to put in a consistent performance and to see the chequered flag, which we did. These are our first points in MotoGP and that makes me happy. We improved a little during this weekend, for Estoril we’ll do our best to make some further step forward to be more competitive.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: THE GREEN TEAM FOUGHT AND ACHIEVED THE TOP TEN After a warm up which was being run on a damp track condition mixed with rays of sunshine, the race started with dark clouds looming over the 4.423 km of the Spanish Circuit and with the track partially damp. When the red light switched off Hèctor was been able to gain a couple of positions, leading a group composed by Valentino Rossi, Ben Spies and Karel Abraham, who were fighting for the 9th place. During the race Hèctor struggled a lot with himself due to his less confidence with these mixed track conditions, but he was able to fight for the whole race with the most experience rider Valentino Rossi. The 25 years old Spanish rider got a positive 10th place under the white and black flag, taking home some important points for the ranking. Next race is scheduled for the next week, on the Portuguese circuit of Estoril. Hèctor Barberà – Rider Pramac Racing Team “During this weekend I struggled a lot, even if this race was one of my home races. The Andalusian circuit layout didn’t fit my riding style and, to be honest, I had some issues also with the track condition because I wasn’t able to find the right confidence with the track. Despite that I tried to overcome the problems and I had fun, fighting with Vale, who is a great rider. My mood is pretty high and now I’m focused on the next race, which will take place in Estoril, a track that I like a lot”. Francesco Guidotti Team Manager Pramac Racing “We knew that on this track we probably could have had some problems and the weather didn’t help us. However, Hèctor was been able to fight with riders who have had a great background in the races and this give us a lot of confidence for the next appointments. It’s important, for me, to mention that the Green team had made a tirelessly and resounding work to give Hèctor a perfect bike to ride”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha MotoGP Team: Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo continued his unbroken premier class podium run at Jerez for the third year running today, taking second in the Grand Prix of Spain. Starting from pole, Lorenzo initially dropped to third, then swiftly moved up to second by lap three behind race leader Casey Stoner. The gap never grew to more than a second, then closed to just over 0.2 seconds in the last laps. Unfortunately by this point the soft front tyre choice left Lorenzo unable to make a pass. He crossed the line 0.947 seconds behind Stoner, taking 20 Championship points and as a result heads to Estoril leading the Championship by four points with a total of 45. Ben Spies suffered a second disappointing race today, despite starting well the Texan was unable to find a good feeling from the front end of his M1 and was cautious to push to hard and risk a fall. He took the same result as in Qatar, finishing in 11th to take a further five Championship points, bringing his total to ten and 11th in the standings. Jorge Lorenzo Position : 2nd Time: +0.947 “Today I knew it would be a very important decision on the grid to choose the right front tyre. Finally we chose the soft one, unfortunately we were wrong and had a lot of problems during the race, I wasn’t as confident as in practice. Without good feelings to finish second is not so bad, we are still leading the Championship and have good motivation for Estoril.” Ben Spies Position : 11th Time: +38.041 “I don’t really know what happened, I got off to a pretty good start from the line but after that I didn’t have a good feeling with the bike, it was a pretty pathetic race really for me. I’ve apologized to the team and we’ve had a long meeting about what I was feeling with the bike. I just wasn’t comfortable, I rode as hard as I could but the speed just wasn’t there. We need to find something because we can see the Yamahas are working well but my feeling with the bike is not great. It was a bad day at the office today.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “A very difficult weekend but a very good result, second place was the maximum we could get today. The front tyre was gone so an attack would have been a disaster at the end. We’re leading the Championship and we’re on to the next round. The team worked really hard here in constantly changing conditions to deliver a competitive bike for Jorge.” Massimo Meregalli Team Director “It’s been a very challenging weekend for the whole team, obviously we are delighted with Jorge’s performance, he’s shown great maturity again today to collect the maximum possible points and retain the lead going to Estoril. A disappointing race for Ben, we know he tried his hardest but unfortunately he couldn’t find a good feeling with the set up so was unable to fight with the front groups. We will work hard between here and Estoril to see what we can do to improve this for the next race.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Crutchlow fourth after stunning podium challenge in Jerez Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Cal Crutchlow produced the best performance of his MotoGP career in an enthralling Spanish Grand Prix today to finish fourth after an epic podium battle with Circuito de Jerez specialist Dani Pedrosa. The British rider finished fourth for the third MotoGP race in succession having been in podium contention right from the start of a 27-lap race that started under grey skies that threatened rain and finished in arguably the best conditions of a weather disrupted weekend. Having had only one dry session all weekend, Crutchlow’s decision to race with the ha rd compound front Bridgestone tyre was fully vindicated and his fantastic surge towards the top three began with 19 laps remaining when he passed Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden in quick succession. The 26-year-old then embarked on a relentless pursuit of Pedrosa for the remainder of the race, with Crutchlow exerting immense pressure on the Spanish rider to try and secure his maiden MotoGP rostrum. The engrossing battle captivated a crowd of over 103,000 fans and went right down to the last lap but despite his best efforts, Crutchlow was unable to find a way to make a pass on Pedrosa, who was having to showcase all his talent to keep the former World Supersport Champion at bay. At the chequered flag, Crutchlow was just over 0.4s behind Pedrosa and only 2.465s away from race winner and reigning World Champion Casey Stoner. He also set the fastest lap of the race with a 1.40.019 on the 15th lap, which was over 0.3s quicker than factory Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo’s personal best. Andrea Dovizioso also played a major part in an exciting opening half of the race. The Italian rider was right in the heart of the battle for the top three for the opening 10 laps but he was unfortunately unable to sustain his challenge to score his first Yamaha podium. Dovizioso opted to use the softer compound Bridgestone front tyre and as he pushed hard to keep himself in the hunt for the rostrum places he experienced a loss in grip. Rather than take unnecessary risks he settled for a comfortable fifth place. Cal Crutchlow 4th 26 points: “That was a seriously hard race but I really enjoyed it and I am really happy to have finished so close to the podium. One of the pleasing aspects is that I don’t really like Jerez that much. It’s a little bit twisty for my riding style and it is only the second time I have raced here, so to come away with a fourth and been within touching distance of my first MotoGP podium is fantastic. The Yamaha YZR-M1 was working incredibly well today and I can’t say enough about my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew. It has been a difficult weekend with the weather but they gave me a great bike today and our decision to run the hard front was definitely the right one. I was fourth in Qatar but today I could actually see the winner and there is no reason why I can’t be up there battling for the podium from now on. There will still be some races where I won’t be that close to the podium but now I know we can be there. I gave it everything I had to pass Dani but there was nothing I could do. He is phenomenal round this track, so I’m happy to have challenged him so closely. But he was the better rider today and it was really hard to stay with him. I set the fastest lap of the race though, so that proves the progress I’ve made since last season.” Andrea Dovizioso 5th 22 points: “It has been a very tricky weekend because I don’t particularly like this track and while I am not completely comfortable with the Yamaha YZR-M1 machine it means I struggled quite a lot. What I need more than anything is time in the dry to improve my performance and show what I know I am capable of. I am really happy with my start today and for the first laps of the race I was able to fight in the leading group and this helped collect a lot of information that will help me improve in the future. It was very interesting following Cal because he is still much faster than me entering the corner and I need to adapt my style more to take profit in this area, which is the strong point of the Yamaha. I also made the wrong choice with the front tyre. I wanted to race with the hard one like Cal but I cha nged on the grid to the soft option as all the top guys selected the softer tyre. But from the middle of the race I couldn’t maintain my pace to stay with Cal and Dani. It was still a positive experience with everything I learned, so I am looking forward to hopefully a completely dry weekend in Estoril.” Herve Poncharal Team Manager: “What more can you say about Cal? Considering this was only his third time at Jerez and how much experience Pedrosa has riding here, he did a phenomenal job. When you finish right behind a rider of Pedrosa’s calibre in his home race, you know you have delivered an outstanding performance and Cal did that. He never gave Pedrosa one moment to relax and there is nothing more he could have done to try and get on the podium. There are so many positive points when you think that he was less than 2.5s behind Casey at the front and he set the fastest lap of the race. This shows he’s made incredible progress since last season and I’m sure we are going to be seeing a lot more of Cal challenging at the front in the future. Andrea didn’t have the same exciting race as Ca l but I am still happy with his performance. It is clear he needs more time to adjust to the Yamaha, but we know he has the talent and experience to do this, so it is only going to be a matter of time before he is battling for the podium. Today he went the wrong way with the front tyre choice, but that can happen sometimes and it is part of the learning process. He rode very aggressively in the first 10 laps, so it was fantastic to see both Monster Yamaha Tech 3 bikes battling for the podium. We have made a brilliant start to 2012 and confidence is very high, so we are looking forward to Cal and Andrea fighting for the podium in Estoril in a few days time.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Casey Stoner took his first ever MotoGP victory at the Grand Prix of Spain and Dani Pedrosa, third on his 100th race in MotoGP, joined him on the podium at the Jerez circuit, where the Repsol Honda Team has celebrated the second consecutive double podium of the season. The current World Champion had a difficult start but quickly recovered proving to have something extra in his pocket to fight for his first victory of the season after a superb race in front of a strong Lorenzo. Dani Pedrosa had a perfect start again, but he got passed on the second lap and dropped to the fourth position. The Spaniard was quite cautious at the beginning and lost precious time that he was unable to regain in the second half of the race, when he started lapping faster than the leaders. Dani recovered 3 seconds in the last 13 laps and held off the pressure from Cal Crutchlow to finish third and taste the podium at Jerez for the eighth successive year. CASEY STONER 1st World Championship Position: 2nd with 41 points “We didn’t get a great start so I tried to stay out of trouble, there were people out braking each other, touching and it was important just to keep out of the way! Then I managed to gain a lot of positions in a short space of time and reached the front. I didn’t try to pull a gap, as I knew Jorge and Dani were very fast, but I just wanted to stay in front with them and pull away from the others. Then I saw that Jorge and I had slightly better pace and we could make a gap. I was focusing on where I wanted to go as there were a lot of wet patches and it was easy to make a mistake. We managed the race for the conditions of the circuit and as they improved I pushed a little more, the bike on a whole felt much better than in qualifying. I did get some arm pump again but thankfully not to the extent I had it in Qatar. Considering the weekend in general and how fast Dani and Jorge are at this track, to win here is something very special for me”. DANI PEDROSA 3rd World Championship Position: 3rd with 36 points “It’s been a strange race for me. On the grid I thought it might not be a completely dry race so I was very cautions at the beginning also after we saw so many crashes in the first laps of Moto3 and Moto2. So I started well but I was passed and then I lost too much time with Dovizioso and Hayden. When I managed to overtake them and take the third position, Casey and Jorge were already too far in front, 4 seconds ahead. So I put my head down and started increasing my pace but at the same time it was difficult to keep the concentration because Crutchlow was on a hard front tyre and he was pushing me a lot, braking harder in the last laps. In general, I feel happy with my performance on a really tricky weekend. A second and a third position finish is not the best, but it’s a good start to the season”. More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: BRADL CLAIMS THRILLIG SEVENTH PLACE AT JEREZ Jerez, 29 April: German rookie Stefan Bradl was again a strong performer today at Jerez de la Frontera circuit conquering the 7th place overall after a thrilling 27-lap race which saw the Moto2 reigning world champion strongly battling with Hayden for his final result. In his second MotoGP race, LCR rider riding the Honda RC213V qualified 9th on the dry but the 22-yer-old demonstrated his potential even on the wet through the first three free sessions showing everybody his confidence aboard the Honda machine. Now Bradl and his Team will move to Portugal for the third round of the season at windy Estoril. Stefan 7th: “I am very happy with this result. First of all I think it was a difficult week end for everybody due to the weather conditions so I want to thank the whole Team for their great job. During the sighting lap I was very nervous because I thought that the last part of the track was wet so I changed my helmet visor and everything was clearer. I was capable to attack my competitors since the beginning of the race but I found it a bit risky so I waited a little bit and after some laps I was fighting with Bautista and Hayden. We were doing well but Hayden blocked me a little bit in the middle of the race and Bautista got away from us. When he was gone I started my fight with Nicky which I enjoyed very much especially in the last two laps. I got some problems with my right arm because it was sore in the middle of the race and this cost me a bit of time because I had to force the bike in a different way. Basically this was another positive week end for me and I really enjoyed the applause the Team made for me when I was back at the garage”. More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: On a day when MotoGP™ fans around the globe were treated to three absolutely thrilling races, reigning World Champion Casey Stoner took his first premier-class victory at the Jerez track at the Gran Premio bwin de España, as he fought an epic battle with championship rival Jorge Lorenzo. With rain throughout much of the practice sessions, and the ever-imminent threat of rain, it had looked like a wet race may ensue. However the Jerez sky was kind to the riders and the fans, resulting in some tremendous racing from the off. Repsol Honda Team´s Dani Pedrosa took the wholeshot in front of Yamaha Factory Racing´s pole-sitter Lorenzo, with Monster Yamaha Tech3´s Cal Crutchlow charging behind. Some tough overtaking saw the pack shuffled numerous times in the opening four laps, as Ducati Team´s Nicky Hayden was bumped wide by Crutchlow, and Lorenzo touched Tech3´s Andrea Dovizioso´s bike after an aggressive move up the inside. Pedrosa´s team mate Casey Stoner then found his stride and moved to the front as he passed Lorenzo and then team mate Pedrosa, after which he did not relinquish the lead all race, despite being taken right down to the wire by Lorenzo in the closing stages. Pedrosa had to hold off the advances of Crutchlow until the bitter end as well, as the Briton continues to impress in his second-only season in MotoGP. His team mate Dovizioso could not keep up the pace, having opted for a soft front tyre compared to Crutchlow´s hard choice, and finished fifth in front of San Carlo Honda Gresini´s Álvaro Bautista and LCR Honda MotoGP´s rookie Stefan Bradl, who is having a solid start to his debut season. Hayden, who had started on the front row and was pushing hard in the opening stages, dropped off towards the end of the race and finished seventh. This put him ahead of team mate Valentino Rossi, who tussled with Pramac Racing´s Hector Barberá throughout. Lorenzo´s team mate Ben Spies had another disappointing race, as he finished a full eight places behind his team mate in 10th. An annoyed Randy de Puniet, who had looked on course to finish top CRT in 12th, pulled off in the last lap with mechanical issues, leaving the way for his team mate Aleix Espargaró to take top CRT honours. Britain´s James Ellison of the Paul Bird Motorsport team also pulled into the pits on the last lap with a mechanical issue. Moto2™ Spanish youngster Pol Espargaró took his maiden Moto2™ victory in front of his home crowd at the Gran Premio bwin de España in a thrilling Moto2™ race that was cut short by rain. The Pons 40 HP Tuenti rider led the race early on, yet was soon entangled in the usual Moto2™ first lap melee. Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol´s Marc Marquez, Interwetten-Paddock´s Tom Lüthi and Marc VDS´ Scott Redding were not giving each other any room, as they swapped positions throughout the race. It was a tough fight to the end, which saw Redding´s team mate Mika Kallio run onto the gravel from fifth, and GP Team Switzerland´s Randy Krummenacher and S/Master Speed Up´s Mike Di Meglio both crash out simultaneously while chasing the front pack. With 11 laps left it started to rain, causing riders to push for front positions in case of a red flag. As the riders pushed harder and harder as conditions worsened, Márquez tried to pull out a lead, yet was overtaken by old 125cc foe Espargaró on lap 16. Márquez once again pushed past Espargaró, yet it was too late, as the red flag came out shortly after. With regulations stating that the person who led the last full lap (17 in this case) wins, provided that over 2/3rd of the race distance has been covered, it was Espargaró who took the win ahead of Marquez in second and Lüthi in third, in what was once again a breathtaking Moto2™ encounter. The top ten were rounded out by Scott Redding, Italtrans Racing Team´s Takaaki Nakagami, team mate Claudio Corti, Mika Kallio, Technomag-CIP´s Dominique Aegerter, Mapfre Aspar Team´s Toni Elias and JiR Moto2´s Johann Zarco. QMMF Racing Team rider Elena Rosell crashed out of her home race, as she continues to struggle with the Moriwaki bike. Pons 40 HP Tuenti´s Esteve Rabat suffered a fall towards the latter stages and returned to the pits, before heading back out on track and finishing 28th. Moto3™ Italian rookie Romano Fenati confirmed himself as a star of the future with a dominant maiden win in tricky conditions at the Gran Premio bwin de España, which saw almost half the field crash out. Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta´s Jakub Kornfeil got the best start and led the frantic opening stages in a race that was declared dry, despite a few damp patches still out on track. Red Bull KTM Ajo´s Danny Kent, Caretta Technology´s Jack Miller and Ambrogio Next Racing´s Simone Grotzkyj were soon caught out by the conditions, coming off at turn 10 on lap two simultaneously. Estrella Galicia 0,0´s Miguel Oliveira was soon in the lead, yet Kornfeil was not giving up without a fight. However, he too came off spectacularly in turn 13, followed closely by RW Racing GP´s Brad Binder. Yet the drama continued as Oliveira followed suit a few turns later, with Kent´s team mate Arthur Sissis high-siding his bike as well. This left Estrella Galicia 0,0´s pole sitter Alex Rins in the lead ahead of Team Italia FMI´s Romano Fenati and Racing Team Germany´s Louis Rossi. Rossi soon got past the Italian to chased down Rins, who saved a near spectacular crash, leaving him to dice with Fenati and Rossi for first. The three riders swapped positions frequently, though soon Rossi joined the list of crashers, as he skid out on turn one, leaving the Italian rookie and Spanish wildcard to lead the way. Further down the grid, Moto FGR´s Jasper Iwema slid his bike into the gravel, after which JHK T-Shirt Laglisse´s Adrian Martin followed suit in turn one, crashing out from seventh. Mahindra Racing´s Danny Webb retired with a mechanical problem with seven laps to go, while on the same lap Technomag-CIP-TSR´s Kenta Fujii crashed in the final turn. At the end it was Romano Fenati who took the checker flag with a 31 second lead to take the lead in the Moto3 championship, ahead of RW Racing´s Luis Salom, who won the battle to take second spot ahead of Red Bull KTM Ajo´s Sandro Cortese in third, and Rins in fourth. Miller´s team mate Alexis Masbou finished fifth ahead Blusens Avintia´s championship favourite Maverick Viñales in sixth, who recovered from an earlier run off track. Jack Miller was confirmed to have fractured his collarbone, with Danny Kent suffering multiple contusions. Sissis suffered multiple contusions to his chest and hand, while Fujii was taken to the medical centre for X-rays. More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Superb Stoner seizes first Jerez victory Round 2: Spanish MotoGP™ – Race Circuito de Jerez, Sunday 29 April 2012 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium & Hard; Rear: Soft, Medium Weather: Dry. Ambient 16-21°C; Track 19-29°C (Bridgestone measurement) Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner scored his first MotoGP™ victory at Jerez after fending off Factory Yamaha Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo in a closely contested Spanish GP. Starting from P5, Stoner worked his way through the field to take the race lead on the third lap and for the remaining 24 laps was put under intense pressure from Lorenzo. Despite the Spaniard’s best efforts, Stoner was too strong and crossed the finish line 0.947 seconds ahead of Lorenzo with Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa a further 1.1 seconds back in third place. Rounding out the top five yet again were the Monster Tech3 Yamaha duo of Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso in fourth and fifth respectively, with top CRT honours at Jerez going to Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro in 12th place. Rain soaked the Jerez circuit until approximately 30 minutes before the start of the MotoGP™ race with wet patches on track making conditions less than ideal for the beginning of the race. With clouds looming overhead, all riders opted for the soft compound rear slick tyre for improved warm-up performance in the slightly cool temperatures. Thirteen of the twenty-one riders opted for the new specification front slick tyre in the hard compound option, with the softer construction of this new development giving riders extra confidence in the challenging conditions. Hiroshi Yamada – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department “Congratulations to both Casey on his first ever victory at Jerez and also to the Repsol Honda team. Thankfully the rain stopped before the race which meant we had relatively dry track conditions for the race compared to the rest of the weekend, though the unsettled weather meant riders didn’t make their final tyre choice until lining up on the grid. “Despite the damp patches on the circuit, the racing was very good with many close contests taking place in front of the large and passionate crowd. Overall I was very pleased with how our tyres performed in the challenging conditions, in particular the new specification front tyre which was widely utilised for the race. The first two races of the season have been very exciting and I look forward to what I am sure will be another interesting race next weekend at Estoril.” Masao Azuma Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department “Jerez presented every possible kind of track condition from fully wet to fully dry and so our engineers worked very closely with teams throughout the weekend to assist with tyre selection. With circuit conditions for the race being dry but still less than optimal, all riders selected the soft rear slick tyre. For the front, most riders selected the new specification front slick tyre in the hard compound for better durability, while also benefitting from the improved rider feel provided by the new construction. However, the top three finishers in today’s race went for the medium compound front slick tyre for its better warm-up performance and better ability to remain in the optimal temperature range in case of rain during the race. “I am happy with how both our wet and slick tyres performed at Jerez in what were very challenging operating conditions.” Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda Race Winner “Jerez is a track I’ve never won at before and after yesterday we had to find something for the race, so today we took a bit of a gamble with our setup which gave us a lot better feel in the front and for me that’s really important at this track. Thanks to my team because they turned it around for me today and gave me one of the best races of my career. It really was a fantastic race for us.” More, from a press release issued by Karel Abraham’s publicist: Karel Abraham finished seventeenth in Spain Czech motorcycle rider Karel Abraham finished seventeenth in the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez. During the MotoGP class race, on a slowly drying track, he was a part of a group that competed for ninth place. After a fall, he managed to return to the race but all he could do with his damaged bike was improve his times while chasing racers in front of him. Karel Abraham “The whole weekend everybody expected it was going to be a wet race. But the track was dry during the race. It was a problem for us. I think we were well prepared for wet conditions, but on the other hand the settings were not particularly suitable for dry conditions. Only a very small portion of the programme actually took place on dry surface only the qualifying session. The bike was not behaving perfectly, but I still wanted to stay in the same group with Rossi, Barbera and Spies. It just went wrong in one turn and my front wheel slipped as it has a few times before. It is my second unfinished race after Qatar where I did not finish due to technical difficulties. It is a very bad start of a new season. It is hard for me and it is hard for the entire team but we have to leave these worries behind and have our minds set on the next race, one week from now in Portugal.” Marco Grana, Chief Mechanic, Cardion AB Motoracing “This was a very bad race, even though it looked very promising at first. Our warm-up time was very good. Too bad it eventually ended this way. This weekend was very tough for everybody. The weather was playing tricks on us and we were unable to deal with it. We have to try something different now. We will work on the bike and even Karel has to work on himself. We need a restart and we need to get back on our feet and keep totally focused on Estoril.” More, from a press release issued by Power Electronics Aspar Team: POWER ELECTRONICS ASPAR TEAM BEST CRT IN SPANISH GP Aleix Espargaró first CRT across the line at Jerez. Randy de Puniet retires from race with mechanical issue. The MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix took place without the presence of rain at the Circuito de Jerez, although track conditions were still tricky for the premier class riders in their first European contest. Dampness on the asphalt had cleared up after the rain-affected Moto2 race, ready for the 1000cc bikes to have a clean run at glory. The race saw reigning World Champion Casey Stoner take his first win at the circuit, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa. For the POWER ELECTRONICS ASPAR TEAM, Jerez saw an improvement on the opening round of the season in Qatar. Aleix Espargaró finished the race as the top CRT rider, twelfth overall at his home GP. That was despite his not having been able to practice in fully dry conditions all weekend. Focusing on clocking consistent laps, he received an unexpected reward in the form of a trip to parc fermé. His four points, added to the one point claimed in Qatar, take him up to five after two races. Randy de Puniet had looked set to take the honour of best CRT as he diced with factory and satellite riders in the early going. His race later turned sour with a fuel pump issue, which forced him to retire from action two laps from the finish. He remains on three points in the overall standings, heading into next weekend’s Portuguese GP. Aleix Espargaró (12th, Top CRT): “We had a lot of problems all weekend, but in the end it worked out well for us. Things weredifficult in the first part of the race, with the track damp and tricky. I took things too calmly then, which allowed Randy to get away from me. I matched his speed later on, but he was already too far ahead to be caught. It is a shame for him that his bike broke down. I was the highest placing CRT, which gives me even more motivation ahead of Portugal and Le Mans.” Randy de Puniet (DNF): “I am very disappointed. This had been a perfect weekend for us, as we were tenth on the grid with some non-CRT bikes behind us. I got a good start and had to make a big effort tofollow Barberá, Abraham, Spies and the rest of that group. I decided then to take things more calmly and to manage my pace, with an advantage of around ten seconds over the next best CRT. Seven laps from the end I had a problem when engaging second gear, which got progressively worse and caused me to have to pull up with two laps to go. It wasn’t a serious issue, just a problem with the fuel pump, but it is a pity because we could have taken four points and moved ahead in the CRT championship. That’s the way it goes, so we will see if we can continue to do well at Estoril.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: Hayden, Rossi eight and ninth in Spanish Grand Prix The weekend’s last rain shower fell less than an hour before the Spanish Grand Prix, leaving time for the water to evaporate enough to have the race declared dry, so the MotoGP riders started on slick tyres. Nicky Hayden, who started from the first row, was involved in a back-and-forth battle for third place with Crutchlow and Pedrosa. The American then steadily lost ground as grip decreased, eventually finishing eighth. Valentino Rossi, who started from the fifth row, steadily improved his pace as he climbed to eighth place. Both riders will continue working on the setup of the GP12, starting this Friday when they again take to the track for free practice at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril, and also during the post-race test on Monday. Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 8th “It was fun for a couple of laps. We know our bike is great at generating heat in the tyres, and for the first few laps, I was able do what I wanted. Then about the time it looked like the other guys’ tyres came up to temperature, mine had already started losing grip, especially in the front. I was pushing wide in places and guys started coming past me. We knew it would be tough in the dry. My setup was okay, but to really try to go with those guys wasn’t possible. I was able to close back down on Bradl at the end and have a bit of a race the last couple of laps, but he beat me. Eighth place is certainly not what our goal is. The bike’s got a lot of potential, but at the moment, the gap to the rest is still too far. Hopefully we can get a dry weekend in Estoril and try to be closer to the front on Sunday.” Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 9th “The positive thing from today’s race is that I think it might help us to do a bit better in the coming events, starting next week in Portugal. Today we used a setup that’s new for us, and it gave some positive signs. First we tried some solutions to give me a feeling similar to what I’ve had in the past, but it doesn’t work. Today’s setting was very similar to what Nicky has used for a while, though not exactly the same. I must get used to riding the bike a bit differently than I’m used to, and today that caused me to lose some ground in the early laps because I was basically starting blind. I wasn’t going bad once I found my rhythm, in the sense that I was matching the times of those who were fighting for sixth place, and I was able to push until the end, doing a 1:41.0 on the penultimate lap. This helps me to be a little more optimistic as I look ahead to the next races because if I’m able to ride a bit better, it could be a place for us to start from. In fact, we’ll use this setting when we start on Friday. Naturally, we’ll have to keep working, be more effective in qualifying so that we can start further forward, and improve acceleration and a number of other things, which we’ve already discussed at Ducati as we try, together, to improve the GP12.” Vittoriano Guareschi (Team Manager) “Today we wanted to see both Nicky and Vale finish the race closer to the front, but overall, there are several positive things to take from this weekend as we continue our work and our development path for the GP12. We received confirmation that we’re very fast in the wet, and in the dry, we had a good qualifying session with Nicky, who made the first row. Nicky was very competitive in the early laps of the race, and now we must also improve over race distance with him. Vale found qualifying difficult, but in the race, using a setting that he’d never tried, he felt okay and was steadily gaining confidence and going faster. These are signs that show us the direction to follow starting with the next round in a few days in Portugal.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: 2012 FIM MotoGP/Moto2/Moto3 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND 02, SUNDAY APRIL 21, JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, SPAIN Weather: Cloudy, overcast Temperature: Ambient 15 degrees C / Track 14 degrees C Weekend attendance: 184,160 HONDAS FINISH ONE-THREE IN DIFFICULT SPANISH GRAND PRIX Repsol Honda riders Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa finished first and third, respectively, in the tensely fought Spanish Grand Prix on the partially wet and treacherous Jerez Circuit in southern Spain. For Stoner, the win was his first at the Andalucian circuit and well-deserved. After a hectic first few laps that saw serial maneuvers, not always gentlemanly, Stoner made his way to the front on a track littered with patches of wet tarmac. Once there, he was joined by Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, the winner of the past two races in Jerez, who was eager to make it three in a row. Lorenzo closed the gap by half a second on the 18th of 27 laps when Stoner made a mistake, running wide as a result of a return of his arm pump issues, and the battle was truly joined. But on the final lap, Stoner went to the whip and pulled out his first victory of the season, and 41st grand prix win of his career, by a deceptive .947s. Pedrosa had led early in the race, then fell back before mounting a charge. Fifth on the sixth lap, he jumped two places to third on lap seven and was never off the podium. But it was also never easy. To keep alive his record of never finishing off the podium in the MotoGP class in Jerez, Pedrosa had to hold off the advances of Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow, who was never far from the Spaniard’s shadow. But just as Stoner had done to win the race, Pedrosa never relented in his quest to take third and significantly cut the gap to Lorenzo in second. Had the race been a few more laps the order could have changed, but Pedrosa was happy to give Honda a one-three finish. Stoner now sits second in the championship to Lorenzo by four points, 41 to 45. Pedrosa is a close third with 36. Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC213V) improved on his finish in Qatar by riding to a mostly lonely sixth place. The Spaniard had an early battle before establishing a comfort level that allowed him to move swiftly forward, after which he found himself alone for most of the race. In his second MotoGP race, Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP RC213V) battled veteran Nicky Hayden (Ducati) to the flag. The race was educational for the young German, whose learning curve shot up this weekend with practice, qualifying, and the race all held in less than ideal conditions. Yet in the race, he was not intimidated by mixing it up with a former world champion and passed Hayden on the final lap to finish seventh, one spot better than he had done in Qatar. Michele Pirro (San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR-Honda) had an electrical problem on his still developing FTR-Honda CRT machine that forced an early retirement while he was in a points-paying position. The fact that he was more competitive than he had been in Qatar was taken as a positive and the electrical issue is easily resolved. Pirro is looking forward to getting back on track in less than a week’s time to continue the crucial development of the CRT machine. Pol Espargaro (Pons 40 HP Tuenti-Kalex ) won his first Moto2 race by being in the lead the lap before the race was stopped by rain on the 18th of 26 laps. Marc Marquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol-Suter) was second at the stoppage and Thomas Luthi (Interwetten-Paddock-Suter) was third. The race began under threatening skies on a not entirely dry track. From the start the battle was fearsome, with the leader in peril from one corner to the next and multiple lead changes. The lead combatants were Espargaro, Luthi, and Marquez, with Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team-Kalex) also in the mix. Luthi took the lead from Marquez ending lap 14, then it went back to Marquez a lap later as rain began to fall on different parts of the track. By now the riders were aware that the race might be stopped as they approached the two-thirds mark needed to make it official. Espargaro bowled his way into second on the 16th lap to take Luthi for second and on the 17th lap the Spaniard would make what was the decisive move on Marquez in turn six. That set the order for the end of lap 17 at Espargaro, Marquez, Luthi, with a gap to Redding who was hounded by Takaaki Nakagami (Italtrans Racing Team-Kalex) in a career best fifth place. Marquez took the lead in the Dry Sack curve on the 18th lap and was in the lead when the red flag came out shortly after he had crossed the line. With scoring reverting a lap, Espargaro, 20, had his first Moto2 win and first win since taking the 125cc race at Aragon in 2010. Marquez continues to lead the world championship with 45 points to 41 for Espargaro. Luthi takes over third with 27 points. Marquez takes the championship lead with 25 points to 20 for Iannone and 16 for Espargaro. Romano Fenati (Team Italian FMI, Honda-FTR) made history by becoming the third youngest grand prix winner in only his second grand prix in a hectic and incident-filled Moto3 race on a mostly dry track with wet patches. From tenth on the grid, Fenati flew into contention right from the start, finishing the first of 23 laps in fourth place. By then three riders had crashed and many more would fall victim to the irregular wet spots. Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0.0, Suter-Honda) took the lead on the fourth lap after teammate Miguel Oliveira crashed, with Fenati taking over second. The 2012 Spanish 125cc champion controlled the race and built up a lead of over 3.5s before running off the track on lap eight, allowing Luis Rossi and Fenati to close up, with Rossi passing through the stadium section. Rossi was the first of the leaders to drop out, falling in turn one on the tenth lap, leaving the battle to Rins and Fenati. Then Fenati went through in the Dry Sack corner at the end of the back straight. Rins battled until crashing on the 14th lap. That put Fenati into the lead by 18.281 secs. With such a big lead the Italian could have backed off, but he didn’t. Instead he set one fast lap after another, stretching his lead to an impressive 36.139s at the end of the 23-lap race. The 16-year-old becomes the third youngest winner after Brit Scott Redding and fellow Italian Marco Melandri. The win was the first for an Italian in the smallest category since Andrea Iannone won in Catalunya in 2009 and many believe signals the beginning of the Italian resurgence from the ground up. The win put Fenati in the championship lead with 45 to 35 for Maverick Vinales (Blusens Avintia, FTR-Honda) and 33 for second place finisher Luis Salom. A miscue on the second lap dropped Vinales to 28th, from where he’d charge back to a sixth place finish. Salom took second from Rins on the penultimate lap, with Rins falling to a close fourth behind Sandro Cortese at the flag. Alexis Masbou (Caretta Technology, Honda) was alone in fifth after a physically demanding race. The Frenchman was on crutches as the result of a broken bone in his foot in Qatar and found the pain to be increasingly distracting. Still, fifth place was a worthy finish in such difficult conditions. Now the teams pack up for the five-hour drive northwest to Estoril for next weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix, the third round of the championship. MotoGP Rider Quotes: Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda: Race winner “We didn’t get a great start so I tried to stay out of trouble. There were people outbraking each other, touching and it was important just to keep out of the way! Then I managed to gain a lot of positions in a short space of time and reached the front. I didn’t try to pull a gap, as I knew Jorge (Lorenzo) and Dani (Pedrosa) were very fast, but I just wanted to stay in front with them and pull away from the others. Then I saw that Jorge and I had slightly better pace and we could make a gap. I was focusing on where I wanted to go as there were a lot of wet patches and it was easy to make a mistake. We managed the race for the conditions of the circuit and as they improved I pushed a little more. The bike as a whole felt much better than in qualifying. I did get some arm pump again, but thankfully not to the extent I had it in Qatar. Considering the weekend in general, and how fast Dani and Jorge are at this track, to win here is something very special for me.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 3rd “It’s been a strange race for me. On the grid I thought it might not be a completely dry race so I was very cautious at the beginning, also after we saw so many crashes in the first laps of Moto3 and Moto2. So I started well but I was passed and then I lost too much time with (Andrea) Dovizioso and (Nicky) Hayden. When I managed to overtake them and take the third position, Casey and Jorge were already too far in front, four seconds ahead. So I put my head down and started increasing my pace, but at the same time it was difficult to keep the concentration because (Cal) Crutchlow was on a hard front tyre and he was pushing me a lot, braking harder in the last laps. In general, I feel happy with my performance on a really tricky weekend. A second and a third position finish is not the best, but it’s a good start to the season.” Alvaro Bautista, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 6th “It has been a difficult weekend because of the weather, but finally we got dry conditions for the race even though there were a few spots around. It was really important to be patient over the opening laps, but maybe I was too careful over the opening laps and I wasn’t able to get involved in the battle at the very front. Once I got comfortable with the track conditions I was able to pass (Stefan) Bradl and (Nicky) Hayden, but (Andrea) Dovizioso, (Dani) Pedrosa and (Cal) Crutchlow were too far ahead by then and I just had to defend the position I was in. We have gone one better than Qatar and improved our confidence with this bike, which are the main things we take away from the weekend. I want to thank the team for the great job they have done especially in such challenging conditions this weekend.” Stefan Bradl, LCR Honda MotoGP: 7th “I am very happy with this result. First of all I think it was a difficult weekend for everybody due to the weather conditions, so I want to thank the whole team for their great job. During the sighting lap I was very nervous because I thought that the last part of the track was wet, so I changed my helmet visor and everything was clearer. I was capable to attack my competitors since the beginning of the race but I found it a bit risky so I waited a little bit and after some laps I was fighting with (Alvaro) Bautista and (Nicky) Hayden. We were doing well, but Hayden blocked me a little bit in the middle of the race and Bautista got away from us. When he was gone I started my fight with Nicky, which I enjoyed very much, especially in the last two laps. I got some problems with my right arm because it was sore in the middle of the race and this cost me a bit of time because I had to force the bike in a different way. Basically, this was another positive weekend for me and I really enjoyed the applause the team made for me when I was back at the garage.” Michele Pirro, San Carlo Honda Gresini: DNF “Our dream melted like snow in the sunshine. I was on my way to my first MotoGP points when I ran out of luck and an electronic problem forced me to retire. It is another teething problem for this new project, but we have taken a step forward here and if we keep working as hard as we have been doing it won’t be long before we achieve our goals. My guys have a lot of work to do but they have unbelievable commitment to our cause and I have the utmost faith that they can develop a bike that will allow me to be competitive.” Moto2 Rider Quotes Pol Espargaro, Pons 40 HP Tuenti Kalex: Race winner “It’s incredible. Always win here in the house, in Spain, it’s fantastic, no, for the people, for my family, my team. And all the people who come to see a Spanish rider, it’s so nice to win here. The race was completely difficult, it was so difficult. The track was not completely dry at the start and it was so difficult to take a good line to not touch the water and finally we cross the line first. The rain starts a lot, too much hard at the final, and it was so difficult to follow Marc (Marquez) and, finally, we win the race. I’m very happy, thanks to my team and my people because they always are there to help me.” Marc Marquez, Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol-Suter: 2nd “The race was very difficult, above all at the start and right at the end when the asphalt condition was very delicate. It was hard for me to find my pace at the beginning and it was two-thirds in that I finally pushed for the lead, knowing that anything could happen. When the rain began to fall, my experiences in 125cc and from last year came to mind. I knew that it was more important to take 20 points than push and take zero, so second place is a good result. Bearing in mind the track conditions, we have to be very happy and start thinking about Estoril.” Thomas Luthi, Interwetten Paddock-Suter: 3rd “It’s nice to be back on the podium. It’s nice. I mean the season is still long and a long way to go. But today was, first of all, it was difficult with the wet, it just was wet all the way around the track. The ideal line was mostly clear, it was dry, but if somebody overtook you have to go immediately always on the wet part and it was very difficult to follow. I mean, the pace was high, it was strong. I tried to break away immediately from the beginning, that wasn’t possible. I saw that quite early. And after the rain starts it was even more difficult. I couldn’t do any more to fight back to try to get the victory. I had to let them go and just bring back safe this third place. And first of all, it’s good, and next week there’s one more race and I’m looking forward to Estoril.” Moto3 Rider Quotes Romano Fenati, Team Italian FMI FTR- Honda: Race winner “I’m very happy about the victory. I started well, getting into the top positions, then kept my pace until the end. I want to thank the whole team, and of course my family, who supported me throughout the weekend as I was getting to grips with the wet track. It was a great race and we now lead the championship. I go into the Estoril round with great humility and the curiosity to discover a track with such a great tradition.” Alex Rins, Estrella Galicia 0.0 Suter Honda: 4th “That was a very eventful race, because at the Nieto and Peluqui corners the track was very wet and provided a scare with every lap. I had a good start, got out in front and pushed, but once I ran off track I was caught by Fenati. After that I made mistake and had an unfortunate crash. I didn’t throw in the towel though, because I knew that I had the pace to get back up there. Fourth is a great result. I was faster when I was in the lead, but I calmed things down after a few scares and after the crash my bars weren’t in great condition. I think the result would have been even better were it not for the crash.” Alexis Masbou, Caretta Technology Honda: 5th “I kept calm in the first laps in order to try to find the right rhythm. After a few laps I increased the feeling and I managed to recover several positions. The front riders, however, were quite strong before and after the fall of (Alex) Rins I tried to push more but for the foot pain was hard. I preferred to slow down trying to bring home the result.” More, from a press release issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway: Stoner climbs from fifth starting spot for first career win at Jerez INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, April 29, 2012 – Casey Stoner finally has conquered Jerez. Reigning MotoGP World Champion Stoner earned his first career victory at the Jerez Circuit with a stunning triumph April 29 in the Spanish Grand Prix. He rode his Repsol Honda from the fifth starting spot on the grid to victory over Yamaha rival Jorge Lorenzo by .947 of a second. Dani Pedrosa finished third on a Repsol Honda, with Tech 3 Yamaha teammates Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso fourth and fifth, respectively. “We didn’t get a great start, so I tried to stay out of trouble,” Stoner said. “There were people out-braking each other, touching, and it was important just to keep out of the way. Then I managed to gain a lot of positions in a short space of time and reached the front. I didn’t try to pull a gap, as I knew Jorge and Dani were very fast, but I just wanted to stay in front with them and pull away from the others.” Pedrosa grabbed the lead at the start, negotiating wet spots from morning rain on the tricky track. Stoner avoided the early jousting for position, which included Crutchlow bumping American Nicky Hayden wide in a turn on the first lap. Stoner then took the lead on Lap 2 and threatened to pull away at the halfway point of the 27-lap race for a trademark march to victory. But Lorenzo clawed back time over the second half as both riders struggled with tire wear and Stoner suffered a minor reoccurrence of the arm pump that plagued him in the season opener April 8 at Qatar. But 2011 Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Stoner mustered two strong final laps to hold off 2010 World Champion Lorenzo. Stoner’s previous best finish at Jerez – a track he openly detests – in all World Championship classes was third, in 2009. Hayden led the American contingent, finishing eighth on a factory Ducati after starting an impressive third on a Ducati. Ben Spies finished a disappointing 11th on his factory Yamaha for the second consecutive race, while Colin Edwards placed 16th on his NGM Mobile Forward Racing Suter-BMW. The next race is the Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday, May 6 at the Estoril Circuit. The Red Bull Indianapolis GP is the 11th of 18 races this season, Sunday, Aug. 19 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. PODIUM FINISHER QUOTES CASEY STONER (Winner, Repsol Honda Team): “We didn’t get a great start, so I tried to stay out of trouble. There were people out-braking each other, touching, and it was important just to keep out of the way! Then I managed to gain a lot of positions in a short space of time and reached the front. I didn’t try to pull a gap, as I knew Jorge and Dani were very fast, but I just wanted to stay in front with them and pull away from the others. I did get some arm pump again but thankfully not to the extent I had it in Qatar. Considering the weekend, in general, and how fast Dani and Jorge are at this track, to win here is something very special for me.” JORGE LORENZO (Second, Yamaha Factory Racing): “Today I knew it would be a very important decision on the grid to choose the right front tire. Finally we chose the soft one. Unfortunately we were wrong and had a lot of problems during the race; I wasn’t as confident as in practice. Without good feelings, to finish second is not so bad. We are still leading the championship and have good motivation for Estoril.” DANI PEDROSA (Third, Repsol Honda Team): “It’s been a strange race for me. On the grid, I thought it might not be a completely dry race, so I was very cautions at the beginning also after we saw so many crashes in the first laps of Moto3 and Moto2. So I started well, but I was passed, and then I lost too much time with Dovizioso and Hayden. When I managed to overtake them and take the third position, Casey and Jorge were already too far in front, four seconds ahead. In general, I feel happy with my performance on a really tricky weekend.” *** AMERICAN RIDER QUOTES NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Team, eighth): “It was fun for a couple of laps. We know our bike is great at generating heat in the tires, and for the first few laps, I was able do what I wanted. Then about the time it looked like the other guys’ tires came up to temperature, mine had already started losing grip, especially in the front. I was pushing wide in places, and guys started coming past me. We knew it would be tough in the dry. My setup was OK, but to really try to go with those guys wasn’t possible. I was able to close back down on Bradl at the end and have a bit of a race the last couple of laps, but he beat me. Eighth place is certainly not what our goal is. The bike’s got a lot of potential, but at the moment, the gap to the rest is still too far. Hopefully we can get a dry weekend in Estoril and try to be closer to the front on Sunday.” BEN SPIES (Yamaha Factory Racing, 11th): “I don’t really know what happened. I got off to a pretty good start from the line, but after that I didn’t have a good feeling with the bike. It was a pretty pathetic race really for me. I’ve apologized to the team, and we’ve had a long meeting about what I was feeling with the bike. I just wasn’t comfortable. I rode as hard as I could, but the speed just wasn’t there. We need to find something because we can see the Yamahas are working well, but my feeling with the bike is not great. It was a bad day at the office today.” *** POINTS Riders: Jorge Lorenzo 45, Casey Stoner 41, Dani Pedrosa 36, Cal Crutchlow 26, Andrea Dovizioso 22, Alvaro Bautista 19, Nicky Hayden 18, Stefan Bradl 17, Valentino Rossi 13, Hector Barbera 13, Ben Spies 10, Aleix Espargaro 5, Colin Edwards 4, Danilo Petrucci 3, Randy de Puniet 3, Mattia Pasini 2, Yonny Hernandez 2, Ivan Silva 1. Manufacturers: Honda 45, Yamaha 45, Ducati 18, ART 7, Suter 4, Ioda 3, BQR-FTR 2, BQR 1. *** MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS Moto2: Pol Espargaro, Spain, Pons 40 HP Tuenti Kalex-Honda. Moto3: Romano Fenati, Italy, Team Italia FMI FTR-Honda. 2012 tickets: Tickets for the 2012 Red Bull Indianapolis GP MotoGP event, scheduled for Aug. 17-19 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, are on sale now at www.imstix.com, by calling (800) 822-INDY or (317) 492-6700 or by visiting the IMS Ticket Office at the IMS Administration Building at the corner of Georgetown Road and 16th Street between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday-Friday. Tickets for groups of 20 or more also are on sale. Contact the IMS Group Sales Department at (866) 221-8775 for more information. Information on camping at IMS during the Red Bull Indianapolis GP is available at www.imstix.com. Hotel package information can be found at visitindy.com/redbull.