MotoGP
Casey Stoner took his 26th victory in the premier class at the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya, with last year’s race winner Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) finishing in second followed by teammate American Ben Spies in third.
Despite missing out on pole position, Repsol Honda rider Stoner took the lead in the second corner and faced no challengers for the entire 25-lap race. Reigning MotoGP World Champion Lorenzo finished just under two-and-a-half seconds behind him across the finish line, cutting the Mallorcan’s championship lead over the Australian to just seven points.
Lorenzo got a great start and was first into turn one, but he could not hold off Stoner, who passed the reigning World Champion in the second corner and held the lead. Ben Spies started from fourth and quickly moved in to third position, where he remained until he crossed the finish line for his first podium finish for Yamaha Factory Racing this year.
With 12 laps to go, drops of rain hit the track under threatening skies and the white flag was produced, allowing riders the option to change bikes for the anticipated downpour, though the rain drops stopped shortly after and none of the riders left the track.
Stoner’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso passed Ducati Team Valentino Rossi early in the race to pursue 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. The seven time premier class Champion last won at the Montmeló circuit in 2009, when he beat his then team mate Lorenzo with a memorable pass on the Spaniard at the very last corner.
Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) started from his first pole in his MotoGP class career, but was unable to sustain the previous day’s momentum and finished in sixth.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow had a good race after a solid weekend. The British rookie passed Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) on the brakes going into the first corner on lap 10, and eventually 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 tangle unharmed.
Both Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) and Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) were absent due to injuries that prevented them from lining up on the grid for the race. Edwards wanted to make the start so as not to put an end to his 141 consecutive premier class start run, but was denied after a medical exam declared him unfit to race.
Moto2
Pole position starter and championship leader Stefan Bradl took a dominating third win of the season in the Moto2 race, giving him a 43-point lead in the standings. The young Marc Márquez steadily made his way through the field at his home track to finish second, and Aleix Espargaró (Pons HP 40) who started from the front row for only the second time in his career, produced his first podium finish of his GP career with a third place. Simone Corsi (Ioda Racing Project) finished in fourth.
A sunny start saw the German Bradl leading the field, pursued by Aleix Espargaró of the Pons HP 40 team off the start. Fellow Spaniard Julián Simón overtook Espargaró with 11 laps to go, but a determined Espargaró was in top form in front of his home crowd, and put up a fight and took back the position.
Dominique Aegerter of Technomag-CIP lowsided with eight laps to go, and team mate Kenan Sofuoglu was involved in a spectacular crash that took out Julián Simón three quarters into the race. Sofuoglu appeared to have made contact with the rear wheel of Simón, sending the Spanish rider into a highside and taking him out of the race. Simón sustained a fractured right tibia and fibula in the crash. Following the incident it was confirmed that a hearing organised by Race Direction will be held this Thursday (June 9th).
Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) crashed out along with last year’s Catalunya race winner Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) with 18 laps to go. Bradley Smith (Tech 3) managed to avoid being collected in the crash, but later ran off in the last lap to finish the race in 19th.
The battle for fifth was close, with Randy Krummenacher (GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing) finally nabbing the spot, just in front of Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2) in sixth and Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX) in seventh. Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing) followed in eighth, in front of Yonny Hernández (Blusens-STX). German rider Max Neukirchner (MZ Racing) completed the top ten.
The close racing produced several more non-finishers, including Axel Pons (Pons HP 40), American rider Kenny Noyes (Avintia-STX), Javier Forés (Mapfre Aspar), Mike di Meglio (Tech 3) and Robertino Pietri (Italtrans Racing). Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda Singha-SAG) did not start after crashing in the morning warm up session.
125cc
Nico Terol took his fourth win of 2011 after Johann Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) was penalised 20 seconds for an illegal overtake on the last lap in the 125 race. Maverick Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) finished second with Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) promoted to third.
A tactical battle ensued at the start of the race between Terol (Bankia Aspar), Zarco and Viñales. The very experienced Terol pulled a gap of over six seconds pursued by Zarco, who battled him for the win, overtaking Terol in the last few laps.
Terol, who celebrated his 100th start in last month’s Le Mans race, proved a tough a competitor, and regained the lead in the final lap. But Zarco was determined for the win, and in the last corner tried to overtake again, pushing Terol off the track into the grass. Zarco was penalised 20 points and thereby demoted to sixth position, giving Terol his fourth win of the season. Viñales claimed his second podium of the 2011 season with a second place finish, followed by Folger.
Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar) ran wide with seven laps to go when he and Folger nearly touched, forcing Faubel out of the top five.
After a wet weather warm up, the 125cc race start was held in drying conditions. Most of the field chose slick tires for the race including all of the race leaders, though several riders opted for rain tyres at the start, including Taylor Mackenzie (Phonica Racing) who had nothing to lose after qualifying last on the grid due to technical problems that saw him miss FP3 and most of qualifying. However as the race progressed, the sun came out and progressively dried the track, forcing those who chose the rain tyres to the pits for a change to slicks.
Fourth place finisher was Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany), followed by Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo), Zarco and with Faubel following in seventh. Eighth place finisher was Sergio Gadea (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team), Adrián Martín (Bankia Aspar) took ninth and Jakub Kornfeil (Ongetta-Centro Seta) rounded out the top ten.
Treacherous conditions early in the race claimed several victims, including two Brits Danny Webb (Mahindra Racing) and Harry Stafford (Ongetta-Centro Seta) who both crashed in the first corner on the opening lap, and Miguel Oliveira (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica) who went down after a lightening start, suffering a fractured wrist.
Zulfahmi Khairuddin (AirAsia-SIC-Ajo) crashed in turn 8 after an incredible start that helped launch him to fifth in the beginning of the race.