by Mark Appleton
Jorge Lorenzo - Misano 2012
To say this was a strange race would possibly be a huge understatement. The day began in the worst possible way for Dani Pedrosa and Karel Abraham.
As the riders lined up on the grid and the red lights came on Abraham raised his hand and the yellow flags began waving, start aborted.
As the team mechanics ran out onto the grid Pedrosa’s look began to fail. First, the tyre warmer got stuck between the front wheel and the guard, the mechanics wheeled the bike off the grid before quickly realising what this could mean for the start and pushing the bike back, tyre warmer no luckily removed.
The incident seemed to have done more damage to the bike though as, on the warm up lap, Pedrosa could be seen struggling with what appeared to be his brakes. As the riders came back round to re-start the race Pedrosa had fallen behind the safety car and so was forced to start from the back of the grid.
Just before the lights came on Abraham once again raised his hand and this time the marshals pushed his bike from the grid. On and on it went with everyone’s luck running out except for Jorge Lorenzo’s who took the win.
“It’s been a very tough weekend because Dani and I have been very close in the qualifying and the warm up” said Lorenzo. “Unfortunately today he had really bad luck, first with the lights at the beginning of the race and then Hector took him out. This was really unfortunate for him. In Holland we were unlucky and today he was unlucky, anything can happen in these races. We have to be happy with our result and the point advantage we now have, for sure we are much more calm now than before the race! The race was difficult for everyone, only having qualifying was not enough when you have to set up the chassis and electronics and everything for the race. It was hotter during the race so there was less grip too. I almost crashed in turn one but managed to save it too!”
Lorenzo’s team mate Ben Spies’ luck also seemed to have changed as he actually managed to finish a race, and even had the possibility of a podium towards the end.
“I know we didn’t get on the podium but I’m glad we were able to finally just have a normal race” said Spies. “Some of the times weren’t quick enough for the podium but we put on a good charge in the end. We struggled with a few things, especially some feeling with the front tyre. It’s been a difficult weekend and we didn’t start the race with the perfect set up but luckily could still put together an ok race. After what’s happened in the last eight weeks it almost feels like a podium for me!”
Valentino Rossi had his best race so far aboard the Desmosedici. In sunny and warm conditions, the Italian made it to the second step of the podium, having ridden at a pace that was second only to that of the winner, Jorge Lorenzo.
“It was a really nice race, and I’m very happy” said Rossi. “It’s a great result, which I’d like to dedicate to Sic and his family, Paolo, Rossella, and Martina. I’d also like to thank all the guys who work with me and everyone at Ducati Corse who are giving their best, like me: after two difficult years, we really needed that. I’m very pleased because we did a dry race at a high level, always with a fast pace, and with a limited gap to Lorenzo. We worked well. The new frame and swingarm allow us to make more changes to the geometry, and in fact here the feeling with the front was improved and the bike also seemed to be better balanced on acceleration. The setup that we found was also good, as I managed to be fast and consistent for the whole race. It will be important to continue working well and do our best to take the Ducati as high as possible in the next races as well.”
His teammate Nicky Hayden rounded out the Ducati Team’s positive day, finishing seventh despite riding with a right hand that was still swollen and painful.
“I felt bad enough this morning that we considered not racing, but being here in Italy, I wanted to at least try” said Hayden. “This track seems to provide a lot of drama, and I thought if I could just stay clean and get to the finish, I might salvage somewhat of a result. I knew it was going to be extremely difficult. Unless you’ve ever used carbon brakes with a Bridgestone front tyre, you don’t realize how hard you can squeeze the lever on a MotoGP bike now, and a couple of laps, I had to slow down to try to let my hand recover. It wasn’t very strong, and it was really painful, but I was able to hang on and get a seventh today. Hopefully I can start building up for the rest of the season. It’s great to see Vale on the podium, and it’s a well-deserved reward for all the effort by Filippo, his staff, the team, and the factory.”
Getting back on the track after a six-week absence, Héctor was eager to ride his Ducati again, but unfortunately his race finished too early for him to demonstrate his potential.
Héctor lost the front of his bike in one of the first few corners, crashing and taking World Championship contender Dani Pedrosa out as well. The error was obviously unintentional and Héctor extends his apologies to the rider and his team.
“It’s a shame. I was impatient to get back on the track, but my adventure finished too early to enjoy myself” explained Barbera. “Unfortunately, when I followed Dani’s wheel I lost my braking point and hit the brakes far too late. I tried to slow the bike down, but I lost grip on the front. I’m very disappointed, even more so because I took out Dani in the process and that was the last thing that I wanted to happen. It was my fault that he crashed out and I apologise profusely to him for that.
I also apologise to my team that worked so hard this week.”
Technical problems on both bikes for Karel Abraham caused the heavy crash in the first lap of the race. Problems with the clutch have already occurred on the starting grid and the race had to be
restarted. The situation repeated again and Abaja finally started to the race with the second
bike from the end of the pit lane.
“This is like a really bad dream. It sounds unbelievable, but we had technical problems on
both bikes today” said Abraham. “I tried four times to leave the starting grid and the engine turned off four times. We found out the defect of the small ring on the clutch pistol. In the end I had to start to the race with the second bike from the end of the pit lane. After the race start it seemed to me that the bike slides on the left side. I thought it was due to the new tyres. In the half of the first lap the rear break stopped to work properly and than came the highside and really heavy crash. The problem was with the small screw which holds the brake tube. The oil from it dripped directly on the rare tyre. I must see doctors now as my right leg is aching. Then we´ll decide what to do.“
There was therefore virtually no competition for race winner Jorge Lorenzo with Dani Pedrosa out, Lorenzo now leads the championship by 38 points from the Repsol rider. Meanwhile, making a substitute appearance in place of the absent Casey Stoner, Jonathan Rea achieved a solid top ten finish on his World Championship debut.
“It was total chaos and many things happened at the same time” said Pedrosa. “It all began with the restart because the procedure was not at all clear. Nobody knew if it was one minute, three minutes, warmers on or off… We were also getting different information about the number of laps, 26, 27… Then suddenly we were told it was 1 minute to the start of the race, with no board signage, nothing. The mechanics were rushing to prepare and when they tried to take off the warmers my front wheel was somehow locked, they tried to unlocked it but they weren’t able to and due to the 1 minute warning —where they are not allowed to touch the bike anymore— they put me to the back of the grid.
“I tried to remain focused, not make any mistake on the first lap, make clear moves to overtake riders and I was 8th or 9th by the sixth corner when Barberá hit me from behind, and that was it. I’m very upset because even it’s easy to say now, I think I could have had a chance to win this race, even starting from the last place on the grid. Now the Championship is obviously more uphill for me, but I will continue the same way. We have done everything we could so far, the bike is working well and I’m riding well, too. So it’s not over for me; there are still 5 races to go and we will do our best.”
“It was a tough race and I just wanted to get into a rhythm and maintain it” said Rea. I’m still nowhere near the limit, I’m not really having any moments, just a few mistakes running wide, it’s a matter of trust and I’m still acclimatising to the machine. I’m really happy with the progress I made throughout the race and I learnt so much that you simply can’t pick up in testing about race distance, how the tyre wear goes down, the fuel load and how the bike behaves differently.
“In the beginning Nicky [Hayden] pulled a gap and I was catching him but in the end it wasn’t enough. To finish 8th is ok, but the gap to the front is a little frustrating. In general I’m really happy and I’m looking forward to the next challenge in Aragon. I want to thank all the Repsol Honda team for their hard work and support they’ve given me and to all the fans back home.”
Andrea Dovizioso finished a dramatic MotoGP race at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in fourth position, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider putting up a fantastic race long fight for the podium in hot and sunny conditions.
Valentino Rossi - Misano 2012
“It is a pity to finish so close to the podium in my home race because I really wanted to make the top three for the first time in Misano” said Dovizioso. “It was a difficult race right from the start because I had a problem with the front and could not brake hard and enter the corners like during the practice. That meant I had to change my lines and I was not as fast as I expected and I could not catch Valentino and I could not push. I just had to ride smooth and at the end my feeling improved a bit because I could at least fight for the podium. It is a pity I couldn’t take third from Alvaro but I ran wide exiting the final corner. I did my best and the good thing is that despite a difficult race I was still battling for the podium right to the very end. We still scored some very important points for the Championship and hopefully with a better feeling with the bike I can be back on the podium at the Motorland Aragon.”
“I got a really bad start from the front row and quickly lost a couple of places” said Crutchlow. “Actually it was not that I missed the lights but I released the clutch and nothing happened because the clutch was already out and that was my mistake. Luckily I managed to stay in fifth position but then it was really difficult to pass Andrea. On lap four I could see I was catching him a little but he is a demon on the brakes and I was also having a problem stopping the bike with a full fuel load. I wanted to pass him at the first corner but as soon as I got in the middle of the corner I lost the front. I got a bang on my left leg and thought it might be injured but the feeling came back quickly and I could have got back in the race. But the right handlebar was badly bent so the throttle didn’t move. I am disappointed because looking at how the race unfolded I gave up a great chance to be back on the podium. Rossi and Bradl recovered quite a few points on me too today, so I need to get back on track in Aragon to make sure I keep fifth place in the World Champions hip.”
Danilo Petrucci, finishing the race in 14th position, got the first constructor points for the new Ioda-Suter BMW. The Came Iodaracing Team rider, after a good start, began to fight for points and for the CRT podium. Unfortunately a problem to the quick shift, during the fifth lap, and then to the clutch forced Danilo to slow his pace and to ride in very difficult conditions, but it didn’t stop him to finish the race getting two points in the championship.
“I know that it could be an hard race because we did just one practice on the dry with a brand new bike” Petrucci said “but my team find the right way to set up the bike. Unfortunately from the fifth lap I had a problem to the quick shift and then to the clutch, but I finished the race because this two points are very important for the next race in Aragon that is a track that I like very much”.
Britain’s James Ellison made up for the disappointment of previous recent rounds by claiming a battling 13th place at today’s San Marino MotoGP held at Misano in Italy.
It was James’ best result since he won the CRT class at Le Mans and took his points scoring tally to eight out of the 13 Grands Prix held so far and consolidates his position in the standings in 18th.
Colin Edwards overcame a very complicated situation during the Misano GP starting the race from the 20th place and finishing it in 11th, also as his best result so far this season.
“It hasn’t been the best of weekends with no dry time and brand new electronic system to sort out in one session, kind of the same as Brno” said Edwards. “Started the race and had no idea how it was going to work or if it was going to work, and just like in Brno, it took about 2 laps for me to figure it out and get comfortable. The way they are now are really allow for a weight shift on to the rear and this is where all of the time came from. It felt good, this is the best its been all year, I felt like I could actually push. I obviously passed a few guys this race, I felt like I could battle. The bike still ahs its issues, overall today it was good. Thanks to all my guys, they worked their asses off to try to figure this thing out with very little track time, so thank you to them.”
