Australian Casey Stoner powered his Honda to victory in the MotoGP category of the Catalunya GP, the fifth race of the motorcycling world championship Sunday.
Stoner finished ahead of Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo and American Ben Spies, both on a Yamaha, at the Montmelo circuit to claim his third victory from five starts after winning in Qatar and France.
Lorenzo’s second place kept the Spaniard in the lead of the overall standings with a seven-point cushion on Stoner.
Honda rider Marco Simoncelli, who had to employ bodyguards after receiving threats from fans angered by his role in a collision which left Spanish rival Dani Pedrosa injured last week in France, started from pole position.
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MotoGP: Catalunya Grand Prix - Race Results
MotoGP: Simoncelli Beats Out Stoner For Pole at Catalunya
MotoGP: Catalunya Grand Prix - Race Line Up
However the Italian never got the start he hoped for, with Lorenzo pushing past second-placed Stoner to take the lead from the outset. Times of India
The Australian gradually stretched his gap over Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo and seemed certain to disappear when the first hints of rain began to fall around the midpoint of the race. Stoner’s gap came down over a series of a few laps while the rain bikes were readied in case the weather worsened.
“I was starting to get very nervous,” Stoner said. “There was more rain falling in some parts.” By being out front, “I didn’t know what pace to run. I didn’t know what the conditions were.”
“It was a high pressure race and to keep at the front was very nerve-wracking,” Stoner said. “It would’ve been easy to come down in the conditions, but we stayed on two wheels and brought it home today.”
Spies was happy to get his first podium for the factory after the team made a gamble in the race. He raced on a set of forks he’d never run and it took him a few laps to get used to them.
“It was a really important race,” he said. “We needed to be there. We just had some bad luck in the beginning of the season. This weekend was good. We didn’t have any great luck, but just nothing went wrong.
“It’s great for me, great for the team. The team’s behind me the whole time. They believe in me. At the end of the race it was just great to see the two guys in front of me. I could see them on the front straightaway.” Cycle News
Stoner’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso passed Ducati Team Valentino Rossi early in the race and to pursue Texan Ben Spies, but remained in fourth position until the finish, where he crossed just under a second behind the American. Valentino Rossi crossed the line in fifth place.
Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) started from his first pole in his MotoGP class career, was unable to sustain the previous day’s momentum and finished in sixth.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Cal Crutchlow had a good race after a good weekend. The British rookie passed Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) on brakes going into first corner on lap 10, and the World Supersport champion finished the race in seventh, in front of the Kentucky Kid. The veteran Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing) crossed the line in ninth, in front of Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), who completed the top ten finishers.
Hiroshi Aoyama of the San Carlo Honda Gresini Team and Frenchman Randy de Puniet of Pramac Racing both crashed out of the race in the same corner early on. Both walked away from the crashes. motogp.com
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