Round fourteen of the MotoGP World Championship will be run at the Aragon circuit in Aragon, Spain, which is an autonomous community in Northeastern Spain which is considered a nationality of the country.
This is a 3.3. mile track and has two configurations that are the same length, but, there's one for cars and one for motorcycles. Five races remain in the season. Dani Pedrosa has to be perfect if he wants to beat Jorge Lorenzo. This is the Grand Prix of Aragon. This is the third MotoGP race in Spain in 2012. The weather is dry for the race, but, in practice, it rained. It was dry in qualifying. On the pole will be Jorge Lorenzo. Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi both ditched their bikes in qualifying, but will start with no issues. Cal Crutchlow had pole up until the last seconds. Johnny Rea is still riding Casey Stoner's bike.
The bikes set off on their warmup lap. This track has been around since 2009. Casey Stoner has won races here. There is a corner that is similar to "The Corkscrew" at Laguna Seca. 23 laps are scheduled. At the start, Jorge Lorenzo gets the lead into turn one as Ben Spies passes Cal Crutchlow with Stefan Bradl behind. All the bikes are safely through the first few corners. Ben Spies got a really good start. Nicky Hayden passes Valentino Rossi (his Ducati team mate). This could be Johnny Rea's final race on the Repsol bike as Casey Stoner could be back for the next round.
It's Lorenzo and Pedrosa 1-2. Valentino Rossi passes Johnny Rea. Someone made a mistake. Hayden passes Rea. Practice was a lottery in a way. Valnetino Rossi is not necessarily in a podium spot. Andrea Dovizioso runs sixth. Pedrosa settles into a rhythm while Cal Crutchlow pressures Ben Spies. Rossi has to pass many of the CRT bikes. This race will be a telling story of the championship and what that outcome may be. But, Nicky Hayden has crashed! He was sixteenth. He's out of it. Ben Spies is 1.8 seconds behind Dani Pedrosa.
Hayden slid, tried to bail out, and actually went OVER the barrier when the bike impacted it! But, he'll be OK. Pedrosa is right on top of Lorenzo at this point. It's going to be a battle between these two. Stefan Bradl passes Cal Crutchlow. Both he and Spies run laps in the 1:49 range. David Salom is another retirement in this race. He's also run in World Superbike. Three laps in, Lorenzo seems to be finding his pace. Bradl continues hounding Spies. Stefan Bradl still wants a podium, but he hasn't had a good record at Aragon (at least not during his Moto 2 career last year). But, Bradl ditches the bike here, too! Ugh!
He lost the front end in the third turn.
It's still Lorenzo vs. Pedrosa into turns eleven and twelve. News is still being sought about Nicky Hayden after his fall. The two Tech 3 Yamaha's were not at the FIM sanctioned test session at Aragon a few weeks ago. Nicky Hayden has been taken to the medical center for a checkup. Pedrosa passes Lorenzo. He'll just sit there and then, pounce. He's strong down the back straightaway. Sixteen laps left to run. Lorenzo is now running times in the 1:50 range. Stefan Bradl's crash was caused by carrying too much speed, and that's why he crashed. It's only his second DNF and his first since Assen at the Dutch TT.
Valentino Rossi is passing riders, having gotten by Hector Barbera. He's behind Karel Abraham and Randy de Puniet. de Puniet leads CRT. Alvaro Bautista runs sixth, five seconds behind Andrea Dovizioso. Bautista, and the two Tech 3 Yamaha bikes, were not at the test recently. The gap is up to 1.3 seconds. Lorenzo almost fell! Fortunately, he's still got an opportunity, to possibly pass Pedrosa. Pedrosa extends his lead. He's got a 2 second plus, gap. Ben Spies runs third. Andrea Dovizioso makes a pass. Dani Pedrosa needs to take as many risks as possible. Spies leads Dovizioso and Crutchlow. So, it's factory Yamaha vs. two Tech 3 bikes.
Bautista still runs sixth with Johnny Rea closing in. Randy de Puniet runs ahead of Alexei Espargaro in CRT. Pedrosa is really running consistently, performing much like Jorge Lorenzo would, opening a big gap over the rest of the field. Eleven laps remain. Dovizioso wants by Spies. Nicky Hayden will be fine after that fall. He's conscious and has full mobility. He'll be fine. Hayden, Salom, and Bradl are the bikes out of the race. The Tech 3 bikes still scrap. The hardest thing about riding in MotoGP is not making mistakes. But, at the top level of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, mistakes will REALLY affect a rider.
Dovizioso has passed Spies. Crutchlow is also going to have a say in this. He tries Spies, but can't quite get into the corner without sitting up. The bikes run through the Aragon corkscrew, which is a diving turn, but isn't anywhere near as steep as the one at Laguna Seca here in the U.S. It was Dani Pedrosa's 27th birthday yesterday. He still leads. Nicky Hayden is indeed OK as mentioned earlier. Pedrosa has a five second lead to try and claw his way back into championship contention. Will Casey Stoner be back next round? He might. Johnny Rea has done very well filling in for him.
If the result remains, there will be a 33 point margin between Pedrosa and Lorenzo in the world championship points. Karel Abraham is running well with Randy de Puniet and Alexei Espargaro behind. Hector Barbera, James Ellison, Colin Edwards, Matteo Passini, and Danilo Petrucci follow. Crutchow has gotten by Spies. Monster Tech 3 Yamaha will battle for the final step on the podium. Alavaro Bautista is now sixth. Rossi clipped Johnny Rea at the beginning of the race. He's made it to eighth, but is still languishing.
Four laps to go. Dani Pedrosa seems to be on his way to another victory. He says that he doesn't think about the championship when racing. He just enjoys himself when riding the bike. Cal Crutchlow is still third. He has one podium this year which came in the Czech Grand Prix at Brno. Dovizioso and Crutchlow take different lines. These bikes fly. Before crashing, Bradl ran 212 miles an hour! 212 MPH on a motorcycle! Holy smokes! A lap and a half to go now. Crutchlow tries to pass. But Dovizioso sweeps around him. Time is running out. It's the last lap.
Who gets third spot? Crutchlow is doing everything to get by Dovizioso. Where will he have a go? Colin Edwards runs wide to get out of the leaders' way. On the brakes, Crutchlow can't get by Dovizioso! What a battle! They cross over, passing each other again as they block each other! Dovizioso beats Crutchlow. Ben Spies is fifth. But, Dani Pedrosa wins it!
#26 Dani Pedrosa ESP Honda
The next MotoGP race is the Japanese Grand Prix at the Motegi circuit, taking place in two weeks.
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