Round thirteen of the 2012 MotoGP World Championship is at the Misano Adriatico circuit in the Rimini province of Italy. In honor of Marco Simoncelli (who was killed in a crash there last year), the track has been renamed partially in his honor as the Autodromo di Marco Simoncelli. Dani Pedrosa is polesitter for the race. There's a half a dozen races left going into San Marino. Thirteen points separate both Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo in the championship fight.
1993 World Champion Kevin Schwantz cycled with a team and the rest of the MotoGP paddock cycled to the track across a section of Europe. News of that tribute was posted on this blog. Also, Ben Spies will ride for Ducati next year (a satellite team). Colin Edwards will also return to Forward Racing for next year. Nicky Hayden is back on the bike this weekend after his hand was hurt in a crash at Indianapolis, two races ago. He watched the Brno round on TV but didn't find that to be too much fun and is glad to be back in the race. There was no free practice due to rain. In qualifying, Dani Pedrosa scored the pole with Jorge Lorenzo second. Cal Crutchlow is third with Stefan Bradl fourth.
Johnny Rea from World Superbike is now on Casey Stoner's bike. David Salom replaces Ivan Silva. The countdown is on to the start. The start has been aborted with Karel Abraham stalling his bike. So, there will be one more pace lap. The race will be 27 laps. Dani Pedrosa has been forced to start from the back and Karel Abraham will need to get on his spare bike. At the start, Jorge Lorenzo takes the lead with Valentino Rossi second. But, Pedrosa crashes! He's taken down by Hector Barbera! His race is over on lap one! Oh my! Barbera tried to slide around him and ran into him. Pedrosa is out of it.
Valentino Rossi is now second on the Ducati. Karel Abraham has also ditched his bike. Cal Crutchlow and Stefan Bradl are up there. Bradl wants a podium. Rossi also wants a result. Mattia Passini has also crashed. Meanwhile, Jorge Lorenzo is in cruise mode. After that crash, Pedrosa and Barbera are OK. It could have been that Pedrosa was injured. Three laps have been completed. Ben Speas is sixth and Johnny Rea runs ninth now, riding in place of Casey Stoner. Cal Crutchlow has crashed into Rio.
There's been some real madness in these first few laps. Crutchlow went down in the first corner. Lorenzo, Rossi, and Bradl are the top three. There will be someone new on the podium, taking their first podium finish of 2012. Rossi is still under pressure from Bradl. Pedrosa was the only rider to score points in all the races until today. Cal Crutchlow is OK after his crash. Nicky Hayden is seventh, Johnny Rea is eighth, ahead of Alexei Espargaro. Johnny Rea wobbled his bike a little bit but kept it upright. Lorenzo continues to lead.
With Pedrosa, the tire warmer got jammed in the fender, and then he couldn't get to the safety car, and that's why he started caboose on the field. Alexei Espargaro and Randy de Puniet battle in CRT. Rossi and Bradl continue to scrap. With Rossi, he wants a podium because it's his last race on a Ducati in Italy before going back to Yamaha next year. Johnny Rea is closing on Nicky Hayden. Hayden almost didn't start the race because of the pain in his hand and having to have medication injected into it.
Rossi and Bradl continue to scrap. Bradl was second in Moto 2 last year, and has 100 starts under his belt in the series. Fifteen laps to go. The gap grows between Johnny Rea and Nicky Hayden. Jorge Lorenzo has a 4.5 second lead over Valentino Rossi. He'll dominate this race. Bradl cannot get by Rossi. Now, next year, Rossi and Lorenzo will be team mates. Alvaro Bautista is also in sight of a podium behind Andrea Dovizioso. Ben Spies is two seconds behind Bautista. He's just looking for a finish. Lorenzo runs a best lap at 1:34.6.
Dani Pedrosa made a really good start before his crash when he got caught in that crash. He was running right behind Johnny Rea. Pedrosa made contact with Alexei Espargaro. The race is now half over. Lorenzo is looking for yet another victory. Valentino Rossi is gapping Stefan Bradl while Andrea Dovizioso is catching Alvaro Bautista as well. The two Tech 3 Yamaha's of Crutchlow and Dovizioso are not quite at their optimum performance levels. Randy de Puniet is top CRT rider in ninth spot. Ten laps remaining now as the battle rages between Bradl and Bautista.
Johnny Rea is catching Nicky Hayden by half a second a lap. It'll be the right hand side of the tires getting worn down slightly with the sun out and the warm temperatures. Bautista nearly passed Bradl. Not quite. Can Bautista pass in Quercia? Yes. Everything looks OK down the back straight and into Curvone. Ben Spies is chasing Andrea Dovizioso with eight laps left. On Friday, the track was wet and the weather was cold. No running could take place. On Saturday, there was qualifying. But, today, the race conditions are totally different.
Ben Spies was the fastest rider on track. He's 6/10ths of a second quicker than Lorenzo. He could get on the podium, possibly. The battle for third is closing up. Bradl and Dovizioso are being closed in on by Spies, and quick. Bautista is third. It's Bautista, Bradl, Dovizioso, and Spies. Alvaro Bautista (if he gets a good spot), he might be back in MotoGP next year. Jorge Lorenzo might just be en route to his sixth win of the season. He does a wheelie. But, it's not quite in celebration. At least, not yet. Alexei Espargaro has fallen off his bike. Just two and a half laps left.
Spies MUST take a chance at Dovizioso into Tramanto. That's turn ten. Spies is running a very different line than Dovizioso. Alvaro Bautista might hold on to a podium place. This is lap 25 of 27. Valentino Rossi will get on the podium and the fans of the nine-time champ will go berserk! Alvaro Bautista is backing his pace down on the last lap. There has been tribute paid to Marco Simoncelli and his team will get a podium in this race. Andrea Dovizioso, though, is right up behind Bautista. Lorenzo wins it for the second straight year! Rossi is second. Alvaro Bautista is third, getting his first ever MotoGP podium!
#99 Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha
He's got even more points in the bag now. The next race in MotoGP is in Portugal at the Motorland Aragon, taking place in two weeks.
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