2011 MotoGP Highlights

Casey Stoner had a titanic tussle with his Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar in the first round of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship to snatch 25 points on his debut ride with Repsol Honda. Pedrosa took the lead from the start of the race and then it was the reigning World Champion, Lorenzo, who took up the mantle as race leader. What followed was fierce between the two Spaniards and Stoner, with the Repsol Hondas eventually pulling an advantage. Stoner and Pedrosa swapped position for the lead on several occasions and at the midway point, the pole sitter, increased his pace and set off for the chequered flag. This left the two Championship rivals from 2010 duelling it out for second place and it was the Yamaha rider who picked up the 20 points with second place. Dovizioso and Simoncelli were involved in a close battle for fourth place throughout the race and it was the Repsol Honda man who prevailed. There was much anticipation surrounding the debut of Valentino Rossi with the Ducati Team. The Italian finished seventh after racing Ben Spies, and having swapped places with the American the Yamaha got the advantage over the Ducati to take sixth place.

Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) took victory in the wet MotoGP race at the Gran Premio bwin de España after Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) crashed whilst leading. It was a Spanish one-two with Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) claiming second position and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) in third. The current MotoGP World Champion started from the front row and was able to pick up 25 points and claim his first victory of the 2011 season at the Gran Premio bwin de España. This result was his second successive win at the Andalusian circuit and a replica one-two with Pedrosa. The Mallorcan finished a clear 13.256s over his fellow compatriot after a chaotic race which was unpredictable until the very last lap. In a race which was run in wet conditions, making it very slippery, Simoncelli was on his way to his first victory in the premier class with a three second advantage over Lorenzo. The Italian suffered a nasty highside at turn one, losing a potential debut win. Pedrosa had made a tentative start to his race but managed to get back in the hunt for the win. Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) had passed the Spaniard for second in the dying laps, but made a mistake and ended up in the gravel, losing 20 points. It was the same story for Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) who due to Spies’ error, was on course to take a rostrum place behind Pedrosa. However the American also ended up visiting the gravel trap and was unable to restart. It was Hayden who finished in third to take the first podium for Ducati Team this season and his second of his career with the team. Qatar race winner Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) was victim to a mistake from Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) which ended his race prematurely. The Ducati rider who started from 12th, was up to fourth within the early laps and then joined the leading group. After passing Lorenzo, Stoner was his next target and as he made his manoeuvre on the Australian, he made it through on the inside and then lost control of his bike. His error caused a collision with Stoner, sending them both off. The Repsol Honda rider was unable to restart his bike, whilst the Italian was able to continue, albeit further down the field. Due to incidents further ahead, Rossi picked up 11 points for fifth place.

After a race long duel with fellow Spaniard, Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) raced to victory at the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal and with it, claimed his first win at the Estoril circuit in any class. Third was Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda). Pedrosa who only recently had surgery on his injured shoulder, had been seemingly pacing himself behind the leader, Lorenzo, until the final three laps, when the Repsol Honda rider, passed the Yamaha down the straight and then delivered a succession of fastest laps to pass the chequered flag first. Pedrosa finished just over three seconds ahead of the reigning MotoGP World Champion and closed the gap on Lorenzo’s lead in the standings to just four points. Pedrosa’s triumph also prevented the pole sitter clinching four successive victories at the Estoril circuit. Stoner had a lonely race in third and was over seven seconds behind his team mate who won the race. The former MotoGP World Champion has never won at Estoril (one of only five circuits the Australian has failed to clinch victory at). The eyes were all on the battle behind the Australian between Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) and Andrea Dovizioso. The Repsol Honda rider stayed close to Rossi throughout the race and managed to snatch the fourth place on the very last lap as they crossed the start finish line, by a mere 0.025s. The nine time World Champion’ previous lowest result here in Estoril had been a fourth place from 11 starts, before the pass from his fellow compatriot over the line. It was a good day for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team. Colin Edwards arrived home in sixth position, two ahead of Cal Crutchlow. The British rookie had been involved in a tussle with Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini), but the Japanese rider got the better of the former World Supersport champion. Crutchlow was one of many riders racing following an operation and has continued to pick up points in his first season in the premier class.

Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner secured victory for the first time in his career at the Le Mans circuit in Sunday’s Monster Energy Grand Prix de France. It was a close battle until the very end between two Italians for second place but it was the second Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso who clinched the 20 points, ahead of Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) who achieved his first rostrum riding the Desmosedici. It was a record-breaking attendance for the French GP with 88,400 fans attending the Le Mans circuit on Sunday. The rain managed to stay away and an eventful race was enjoyed by the large and enthusiastic crowd. There was action throughout the field but at the end all eyes were on the dice between Dovizioso and Rossi. As in the previous race in Portugal, the Honda rider managed to deny the advances of the nine-time World Champion and record his best finish of this year’s campaign so far, whilst Rossi scored his best result of the season four rounds in. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), who had made one his trademark rocket starts, led Stoner for the first lap until his team-mate came through on the next lap to take control of the race. The Spaniard stayed with the race leader for the first half of the 28-lap race, until he fell into the clutches of Simoncelli. The Italian passed the Repsol Honda rider on lap 17 but then a controversial incident occurred between the two when Pedrosa attempted to reclaim his second position and the two touched, sending Pedrosa crashing out. It was later confirmed that Pedrosa had broken his right collarbone, whilst Race Direction declared during the course of the race that Simoncelli had made an illegal manoeuvre, and served him with a ride through penalty. The 24 year-old eventually finished in fifth position and lost his opportunity of scoring his first ever podium in 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.

It was a Repsol Honda 1 – 2 on the podium, with Casey Stoner taking his 27th victory and the Championship lead in the AirAsia British Grand Prix MotoGP race with team mate Andrea Dovizioso in second. Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) rode a brilliant race with a broken collarbone, to land third on the podium. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) lead a rainy start of the Silverstone race, chased by the two Hondas of Dovizioso and Stoner, with Marco Simoncelli on the San Carlo Honda Gresini Team Honda close behind. But Lorenzo made a mistake on the first lap, allowing the Repsol bikes to pass and clearing the way for Simoncelli to challenge the Championship leader, who passed the Mallorcan for third several corners later. Stoner contended Dovizioso for the lead on lap two, with the Italian holding the top spot for several corners until pole position starter Stoner took over the lead from his team mate. Meanwhile, Simoncelli, who started from second position, positively hunted down the Repsol Hondas from his third position in the field until he ran wide on the 4th lap and lost the position back to Lorenzo. With rain steadily falling and conditions worsening, Lorenzo highsided out of third position on lap 8, making the Silverstone race the first he did not finish since 2009. This put the 25 year old Simoncelli in third position, but not content to settle for his first podium position to be third, he pushed to pass Dovizioso until he lost the front under braking on lap ten. Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team), who set the fastest lap of the race, followed fellow American Edwards across the line in fourth with Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) in fifth. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) finished sixth, in front of Czech rider Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing).