The 16th round of the 2012 World Championship at the Sepang International circuit was full of joy, but it also had a lot of drama in this second consecutive race weekend.
It started Friday morning when Maverick Vinales decided in an unexpected and shocking move to quit his team while he was second in the Moto3 championship.
The second surprise was Malaysian rider Zulfahmi Khairuddin in pole position in Moto2 and leading the race for a while to the delight of a fan packed Sepang circuit, until Sandro Cortese decided that he wanted the victory along with winning the inaugural Moto3 World championship title, all in the same day.
The German rider would deny Khairuddin the win by just 0.
028s.
The Moto2 race was barn-burning shocker.
Three riders got on the podium for the first time this season, Alex de Angelis, Anthony West and Gino Rea in a wet and wild race that had to be red flagged after 17 laps, which saw a highly disappointed Marc Marquez crash out of 6th after coming under pressure by Andrea Iannone, and having to postpone his championship title till next week.
The surprise of the Moto2 race was wild card rider Hafizh Syahrin, who gave the regular riders and even the wet weather specialists a run for their money after coming from 26th on the grid to lead the race for several laps until he started to fade and finish fourth, but he like Kharaddin were the real two stars of the day for the Malaysians.
The MotoGP race saw a superb Dani Pedrosa take another victory (his fifth in the last six races) and his first ever wet race and shorten the gap in the standings to Jorge Lorenzo, but the red flag on lap 14 that halted the race, sparked controversy and conspiracy theories from many fans.
Many believed that a struggling Lorenzo, who had already worn down his soft rain tire (the harder compound rear was chosen by the four Honda riders and Ducati’s Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden) and was being caught by a hard charging and hounding Casey Stoner, had raised his hand twice in order to get the Race Direction to stop the proceedings a couple of laps to early in order to insure his second place in the race, however Valentino Rossi also raised his hand and many riders also agreed once in their garages, that the race couldn’t have continue in such treacherous conditions and even a re-start would be impossible with monsoonic rains pouring down from the heavens and with the impending dusk, as the race was scheduled at 4pm instead of the usual 2pm, to avoid the maximum heat of the day.
Even if Pedrosa does win the next two races (even if Phillip Island seems unlikely, with team mate Stoner who will go all out and throw caution to the wind to take a final victory in front of his home crowd before he retires) Lorenzo needs only come third in both rounds to take the championship crown and the Yamaha rider is playing it very, very safe.
Dani Pedrosa – 1st “This victory is really amazing for me; it’s the first time I’ve won in the wet in my life and I’m really, really happy.
I want to thank my team and the people who helped me to get here because when I started racing in these conditions I was weak and they know how difficult it’s been during all this time! Jorge set a really high pace at the beginning of the race and I remained calm to stay with him.
I knew he was on a soft rear tyre and he could pull out some good laps at the start.
Lap by lap I got a little more confident and I could still push and at half way in the race I overtook him and built a good gap.
Some laps later the rain came down heave and it was hard to stay on the bike.
I was lucky to be able to win this race, and also Jorge to finish second because he was almost on the ground.
So, I’m happy for the victory, but especially happy to be able to dedicate it to Ginés, a good friend and member of the Repsol Honda Team that sadly passed away yesterday.
This one is for you!”Jorge Lorenzo – 2nd“If we were riding at 20km per hour it is easy to stay on the bike but it is very difficult to find the limit in these conditions.
They made the right decision to stop the race, for us it was great because we might otherwise have finished on the ground and crashed.
We used the soft rear where Dani and Casey used the harder one.
When the conditions were ok they used less of the centre of the tyre so when the conditions became worse they had more to play with.
”Casey Stoner – 3rd “At the start of the race, I would have been very happy for a podium.
I was considering not taking part in the rain at all as the risks were very high – if I had come off the bike again and hit my ankle, it would have been game over for the rest of the season.
As the race progressed I slowly got my confidence back and I was working on different things, as I hadn’t ridden in the wet in quite some time.
I slowly began to catch the front two but unfortunately ran out of time as the red flagged the race.
In a lot of ways I’m disappointed, but I’m happy with the points haul we took today and another podium.
”Nicky Hayden – 4th “Those were really tough conditions.
I got a good launch, but when Dovizioso got sideways in front of me, I shut off the throttle and lost positions.
I was able to recover, but I lost some confidence when the rear tried to come around a couple times.
I had to be really patient in the beginning, but once I got rolling, I had good rhythm.
It was clearly the right decision to call the race.
There was a lot of water those last couple of laps, and it was almost impossible to see, although the rear lights on the bikes helped a lot.
In dry conditions, I would’ve been thrilled with fourth, but I know our potential is higher in the wet.
It would’ve been amazing to give my guys a podium today, but it’s a decent result.
Hopefully, it can help me come out of the difficult period and give us something to build on.
”Valentino Rossi – 5th“Our race wasn’t bad because I got a great start despite being so far back, on the fourth row, and then I managed to be pretty fast.
I was riding with Dovizioso and Stoner, when unfortunately I started having some problems with my visor fogging, and in those extreme conditions, with low light and a lot of water, it was very difficult.
I made a mistake in turn 7, and I was lucky not to crash because it was the same point where Dovizioso, Spies and then Bradl went down.
Without that mistake, I could have finished fourth because honestly, Stoner was a bit faster than I was, especially in T2.
In general though, it didn’t go bad.
Of course I would’ve liked to finish the full race, but there was really too much water.
I think the decision to stop was correct because in these conditions, the bikes can aquaplane and you can go down in any corner.
”Alvaro Bautista – 6th“Racing in these conditions is always a lottery.
It was raining at the start but not too much and I was able to ride well with confidence in the bike.
The only problem was under braking and I had trouble trying to control the bike over the bumps.
I was close to crashing but I tried to adapt as best I could.
Towards the end the track was like a river and I was aquaplaning down the straight.
It was the right call to stop the race.
I am happy because we improved our feeling with the bike in the wet but we still need to work on our chatter problems.
”Héctor Barberà – 7th “I’m obviously happy for the seventh place.
It was my goal, even if I thought I could catch it in a dry race.
We worked well during the whole weekend and I was sure I could achieve a positive result.
But the rain arrived and I was a little bit concerned about it because I certainly did not have the same great feeling with my Ducati in the wet.
Fortunately, on the contrary, during the race I got my confidence back and I was able to stay on the bike, finishing the race and achieving a satisfying result.
”Aleix Espargaró – 8th“I am very happy, because today we took a big CRT victory in a tough race.
I started well and battled with some of the satellite riders at the start, then Randy passed me at a good pace and I struggled to keep with him.
Soon that intensity dropped, so I decided to pass him again.
Later I caught up with Barberá until it started to rain more heavily and it was almost impossible to stay on the bike -on every corner both wheels were sliding around.
Seeing Randy had crashed, I decided to focus on staying upright and taking as many points as possible.
That was a valuable result and we must continue like this in Australia, in order to reach Valencia calm and able to enjoy the weekend.
I think the decision to stop the race was the right one, because the way the track was made it too dangerous for the riders.
”Karel Abraham – 10th “It was one of the worst racing experiences in my life.
It was hard to get used to the conditions from the beginning.
I was extremely nervous and I did not pull the throttle as much as I should have.
Eventually I got used to the wet conditions and started to race properly, as one can see from the lap times.
Perhaps there was an opportunity to overtake one more rider, but that’s just a pointless what-if debate.
I am very disappointed about my today’s performance.
”Danilo Petrucci – 11thI’m very happy for this result– we begin to get the results of the hard work that we did in the past races on the new IODA-SUTER.
I didn’t a good start but after few laps I found a good feeling with my bike doing a good pace despite I was forced to switch off the Traction Control because was too strong.
I reached Abraham and I stayed with him for some laps, then the rain began to be strong and I had some problem to control the bike but after one lap the race was stopped when the track was awash”.
Michele Pirro – 12th“I am disappointed because we found a good solution for our chatter problems this morning and the race was looking good, especially for the second half – I felt we had a chance to fight to be the top CRT.
Then the rain came and ruined everything for us because we still have so much work to do with this bike in the wet.
Anyway, we fought hard and could have still fought to be the top CRT if the red flags came later because I was the only one with the hard rear tyre.
Now we want to hang on to third place in the CRT standings.
I want to thank the team for their efforts here.
I wanted a better result to dedicate to Marco but it will have to be next time.
”Andrea Dovizioso – 13th “It’s a real pity that the rain came this afternoon.
We did such a good job during the weekend with the bike in the dry and we started strong from the first session, so to find these really bad conditions was unlucky for us today.
I was ready for a really hard race in hot weather and I’m sure I would have been fighting for the podium in the dry.
We can’t change it and I certainly didn’t have the same good feeling in the wet.
I had a big slide off the start and lost some places but I managed to get into a fast pace quite quickly.
It is very difficult to start a race in the rain with no other time on track in the wet all weekend.
I was quite fast but I was lacking rear grip.
I could brake very strong but I struggled at exit of the corner.
I pushed really hard trying to pass Casey and I lost the front without braking while at maximum angle.
I still managed to score some points and finish the race but we expected much more and I am determined to bounce back quickly next week in Australia.
”Cal Crutchlow – DNF“It has been a pretty disappointing weekend to be honest and another DNF has really hurt my chances of finishing fifth in the Championship because Valentino and Álvaro were behind me in the race.
When I crashed the rain had really started to fall heavily and I was braking upright.
I must have hit some standing water but I was down with no chance to save it.
We struggled all weekend to find a good set-up in the dry and I had no rear grip.
Unfortunately it was the same in the rain and we need to understand why for the future.
I had to make up all my time on the brakes and I was pushing and got caught out.
Phillip Island is a track I love, so hopefully I can put the disappointment of here and Japan behind me to finish the season strong.
”Stefan Bradl – DNF “First of all we must check the data to understand what happened.
I took a very good start from the 8th place but it was pretty tough out there because of the wet and slippery surface.
But I could lap with a good pace and constant speed but after some laps I had to change the map because we had too much engine break.
Since that moment something changed and the engine was pushing me in the corner entries and I did not know what was going on.
After that I was back to the standard engine brake but it was too much in those difficult conditions and started to be slower.
In the heavy rain I was more careful but suddenly I lost the rear and crashed out.
I do not think it was completely my fault and I feel sorry for me and the team.
”Ben Spies – DNF “What a shocking race, the water on the track was incredible.
I’m really sorry for rubbing into Nicky, I thought I had enough space to brake; I’m relieved we didn’t go down together and he was ok.
It was a close one at the start as well, Dovi spun off the line and we were lucky not to make contact.
That was one of the wettest races I’ve had in a long time, my shoulder’s really sore from the fall but thankfully nothing too serious so I’ll be able to ride in Australia.
”Randy de Puniet – DNF “Today I made a pretty good start; on the first few laps I felt fine.
But when the rain intensified I started to lose confidence.
Aleix overtook me, I tried to follow him but he was going very fast, so I tried just to keep my position at all costs.
I knew it would be difficult to re-pass him, so the most logical choice, seeing the state of the track, was to try and pick up as many points as possible.
When it started to rain more I couldn’t see anything at all.
On lap ten, the final corner, I ran through too much water and lost the front.
It’s a pity, but we can’t wallow in this and at least we are just ten points behind Aleix.
We have to focus on catching him however we can; it will be difficult, but we won’t throw in the towel.
”Colin Edwards – DNF“We had no real idea of what the rain setting was; we just kind of put what we had in Aragon.
Got a good start of the race, felt immediately comfortable, there are still some things that we can still improve.
Dry gearing with this bike in the rain is not really working, getting yanked of the corner so bad having to make it up on breaks and corner speed to stay with them.
I had three aprilias right in front of me and was waiting to see if anyone makes a mistake but then something went wrong, we still have to go over the data to see what went wrong but it was just not safe to stay on the track.
”Roberto Rolfo – DSQ “This was quite a strange race.
In the sighting lap, the tyres were working well and I was confident for the first part of the race, also because we chose a soft rear tyre.
After the start, in few turns I managed to find a good pace and to keep close to the guys ahead of me.
When the other riders started to put in a more competitive pace, I struggled to stay close to them, I had some problems when braking and to keep a good speed in the central part of the corners.
I tried to improve, changing my lines as well, but it wasn’t easy.
When it started raining again, I was in thirteenth position and I crashed out at the seventh turn, where some other riders fell, too.
It’s a shame because I didn’t manage to get back to the pit box, therefore we achieved no points — which would have cheered us up a little.
Now we’re headed to Australia and there we’ll try to do better.
”