MotoGP
Casey Stoner took his first ever MotoGP victory at the Grand Prix of Spain and Dani Pedrosa, third on his 100th race in MotoGP, joined him on the podium at the Jerez circuit, where the Repsol Honda Team has celebrated the second consecutive double podium of the season.
The current World Champion had a difficult start but quickly recovered proving to have something extra in his pocket to fight for his first victory of the season after a superb race in front of a strong Lorenzo.
Dani Pedrosa had a perfect start again, but he got passed on the second lap and dropped to the fourth position. The Spaniard was quite cautious at the beginning and lost precious time that he was unable to regain in the second half of the race, when he started lapping faster than the leaders.
Dani recovered 3 seconds in the last 13 laps and held off the pressure from Cal Crutchlow to finish third and taste the podium at Jerez for the eighth successive year.
Jerez results: 1º Stoner, 2º Lorenzo, 3º Pedrosa.
Rider Championship:
1º Lorenzo (45 pts.)
2º Stoner (41 pts.)
3º Pedrosa (36 pts.)
Moto 2
Pol Espargaro beat Marc Marquez and claimed his maiden Moto2 victory in a rain-shortened thriller at Jerez.
The race was stopped with eight laps to go as rain arrived. Marquez had passed Espargaro and rapidly built a lead when the red flags flew, but with the race being reset one lap it was the Pons man who was handed victory.
Espargaro had only come to the fore late on in a race in which the leader was never able to build a clear advantage as Thomas Luthi (Paddock Suter), Marquez (Monlau Suter), Scott Redding (Marc VDS Kalex) and Espargaro all took turns at the front.
Redding was the star early on, working his way through from 12th on the grid to capture the lead from Luthi when the Swiss rider made a mistake on lap seven.
His spell at the front lasted just four laps - during which he was passed by and then repassed Marquez - before Luthi outdragged him down into Turn 1. Redding then dropped back, eventually finishing fourth - like Espargaro gaining one position on countback.
Out front Luthi fell victim to a decisive but fair pass by Marquez going into the final turn of lap 15, which forced him wide and allowed Espargaro to come through into second.
Espargaro then shadowed Marquez for two more laps before diving past on lap 17. His lead lasted all of one lap - Marquez coming through at the start of the 18th – but his timing was impeccable as the race was called early, handing him victory.
Luthi finished third ahead of Redding and Kalex's Takaaki Nakagami, who had been closing on the lead quartet until rain started to fall.
Claudio Corti finished seventh, ahead of Mika Kallio – the latter having been part of the lead battle until running wide and through the gravel on lap 13.
Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP Suter), Toni Elias (Aspar Suter) and Johann Zarco (JIR Motobi) rounded out the top 10.
Rider Championship:
1º Márquez (45 pts.)
2º Espargaró (41 pts.)
3º Luthi (27 pts.).
Moto 3
Romano Fenati claimed victory in only his second Moto3 race as mixed conditions produced a thrilling but treacherous race at Jerez.
While Fenati ran at the front throughout, set a flurry of fastest laps at the end and lapped several riders on the way to a 30-second victory that also gave him the points lead, his win also owed to the high number of riders who fell foul of the circuit conditions - with just 17 riders able to finish the race.
The tone of the race was set from the start, as three riders - including Jack Miller from second - all high-sided at the damp Turn 9.
Two laps later and Jakub Kornfeil, who was leading, lost the rear of his Ongetta FTR-Honda on the final corner. He managed remarkably to hang on to the bike and stay upright, only to drop the machine on the wet astroturf as he attempted to rejoin.
That left Alex Rins, Fenati and Louis Rossi in a three-way fight for the lead, and it was Rins who looked the most likely of the trio as he began to stretch away.
His advantage was undone when he too slipped off track and was passed by both Fenati and Rossi. The order lasted all of one lap, as Rossi then dropped his FTR-Honda at Turn 1 and surrendered what would have been a career-best finish.
Fenati then began to pull away from Rins, before the Spaniard dropped it at Turn 1. Once again he was able to get going, but his fight for victory was over as he slipped back into the chasing pack of Sandro Cortese, Luis Salom and Alexis Masbou.
The quartet traded places almost corner by corner in the final laps their battle a direct contrast to the serenity of Fenati, 34s down the road with Salom eventually claiming second ahead of Cortese and Rins.
Qatar race winner Maverick Vinales was another early victim, running through the gravel on lap three, but the championship favourite staged a remarkable recovery and fought his way back to sixth at the finish.
Alberto Moncayo, Niccolo Antonelli and Hector Faubel rounded out the top nine, having been locked in a fight for sixth throughout the race.
Jerez results: 1º Fenati, 2º Salom, 3º Cortese.
Rider Championship:
1º Fenati (45 pts.)
2º Viñales (35 pts.)
3º Salom (33 pts.)
(motogp, eurosport)
Iveco is a partner of the 2012 MotoGP World Championship
For the third consecutive year, Iveco is once again a partner as Trucks & Commercial Vehicles Supplier for the 2012 MotoGP season, the main international motorbike championship that started with the exciting floodlit Qatar race in Doha last Sunday (8 April). The opening round of the World Championship has seen the first two corners branded Iveco New Daily, together with the iconic Superman logo which Iveco has used alongside its launch.
The 2012 MotoGP season, which stretches over 18 Grand Prix in 14 different countries, builds on the sport’s 60 year history and is broadcast on television in 207 countries, with an average audience of 30 million people per race. Thanks to an agreement reached with Dorna Sports, the Iveco brand will be present and highly visible at many circuits this year.
Iveco is also Title Sponsor of both the Assen race in Holland and the Aragon race in Spain, taking place on the 30th June and 30th September respectively. The events will be referred to as the Iveco TT Assen 2012 and the Iveco Grand Prix de Aragon. On both tracks the Iveco brand will be visible along the entire circuit, including on the bridge over the starting grid.
And once again this year, Iveco will provide essential support for the championship organisers by supplying 13 Stralis and four New Dailys that will transport fittings, materials and equipment, offices and mobile workshops for all competition venues.
The partnership also continues between Iveco and Team Yamaha Factory Racing, which has entered 2011 Championship runner-up Jorge Lorenzo and MotoGP's rising star, Ben Spies, who was ranked 5th overall last year. Iveco will be the Official Sponsor of the Team and, as in the previous seasons, it shall provide 7 Stralis and 2 Dailys to transport the Yamaha motorbikes and personnel between circuits, along with their equipment, workshops and mobile offices.
The partnership between Iveco and the Pramac Racing Team of rider Héctor Barbera will also continue, with Iveco supplying 3 Ecostralis tractor units to support the team. In synch with Iveco and with the principles of increasingly sustainable mobility, the Team Pramac's "eco" efforts continue as they show an increasing concern for the environment: the structure they will be using to house the team and personnel at events will be extra-lightweight in order to reduce fuel consumption during shipment, the interior décor will be made from entirely recycled materials and like the mobile offices it will be powered using wind turbines. Furthermore, the Team will be using electric motorbikes to move around the Paddock.
Iveco’s close involvement with the World Motorcycle Championships continues to be viewed by Iveco as a great opportunity to promote its full range of commercial vehicles and its brand throughout the world.
