Jorge Lorenzo took another faultless win at the MotoGP Catalunya to make it three wins in a row from the pole position and his fifth victory of the season, while Andrea Dovizioso, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner, all made costly mistakes that left them out of the contention in trying to take on the Fiat Yamaha rider.
Dani Pedrosa was the first to make a mistake.
Getting his usual holeshot, the Honda HRC at turn 1 was in the lead, but ran wide after missing his braking point and then rejoined the field in 9th to then do a series of furious overtakes to finish in second with Casey Stoner hot on his tail.
Pedrosa would later explain that his front brake gave out and that he had to pump it several times before it starting working again.
Casey Stoner also missed his breaking point on turn 1, running wide on lap 5, loosing this third spot behind Lorenzo and Dovizioso.
The Australian re-entered the race behind Randy de Puniet in fourth and took two laps to overtake the French rider and then set his sights on Dani Pedrosa who was riding in third.
Stoner reached Pedrosa and after a timid overtake attempt that was promptly returned by the Spaniard, would settle for a third place podium.
Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso seemed the only rider who could put some pressure on Lorenzo, sticking constantly on his rear, but the Italian rider lost his front and lowsided on the 14th lap.
Dovizioso was able to rejoin the race and finished in 14th ahead of Yamaha’s test rider Wataru Yoshikawa.
Randy de Puniet claimed fourth, the only rider using the hard tire option in scorching track temperatures.
Alvaro Bautista took fifth in front of his home fans, his best result so far this season.
Ben Spies came back to take sixth after a slow start almost catching Bautista, ending up just 0.
142s behind the Spanish rookie.
Loris Capirossi running with a ‘hybrid’ Suzuki came in seventh, his best result of the season.
Struggling Nicky Hayden managed to pass injured Marco Melandri for eighth, while Gresini team mate Marco Simoncelli crashed out of sixth.
Tenth went to Hector Barbera.
Colin Edwards finished in a lowly eleventh place and Mika Kallio took twelfth, after team-mate Aleix Espargaro crashed out.
Honda test rider Kousuke Akiyoshi who subbed for injured Aoyama in the last two races finished in 13th and will be replaced by Alex de Angelis in the upcoming round at the Sachsenring circuit-Hot rumors have it that Valentino Rossi will try riding a street bike on one of the Italian circuits to see if he’s fit enought to try an earlier return than the programmed Brno race.
MotoGP Catalunya Race Results:01- Jorge Lorenzo – Fiat Yamaha Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – 25 giri in 43′22.
80502- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 4.
75403- Casey Stoner – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 4.
95604- Randy De Puniet – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 18.
05705- Alvaro Bautista – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 21.
36106- Ben Spies – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 21.
50307- Loris Capirossi – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 24.
18108- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 27.
94109- Marco Melandri – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 28.
04610- Hector Barbera – Paginas Amarillas Aspar – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 32.
43911- Colin Edwards – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 38.
40612- Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 58.
25713- Kousuke Akiyoshi – Interwetten Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 1′09.
34814- Andrea Dovizioso – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 1′32.
40215- Wataru Yoshikawa – Fiat Yamaha Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1′35.
237