MotoGP Estoril Race Results & Report: Pedrosa Wins in Portugal After Canny Stalking of Lorenzo

What Happens When It’s Only the Leader at the End That Matters

8:52am EST — Dani Pedrosa won the 2011 Grand Prix of Portugal after spending nearly the entire race in second, behind second-place finisher Jorge Lorenzo. The two set a punishing pace over the rest of the field, in a race marked by drama at the beginning and end. Marco Simoncelli and Hector Barbera crashed out on the first lap, with Karel Abraham joining them on the second. Ben Spies also crashed out after spending his race with an apparent lack of grip. It was nearly the end when Pedrosa finally took the lead from Lorenzo, striking into the first turn and not looking back. It was the end when Andrea Dovizioso took fourth from Valentino Rossi across the line.

Lorenzo started on pole, with rival Simoncelli starting next to him after leading much of Saturday’s qualifying session and crashing in the final minutes. The two had it out in the post-session press conference, as Lorenzo has been complaining about the Italian’s riding style. Pedrosa took the final front row starting position on his final qualifying lap, beating out teammate Stoner, who started fourth. Spies and Dovizioso completed the second row, while Rossi’s improvements did not continue for qualifying. He and teammate Hayden managed only ninth and thirteenth, respectively. It was a dry qualifying session, but the morning warm-up on race day was wet, leaving Edwards on top of the timesheets. Stoner, Rossi, Hayden, and Simoncelli completed the fastest five.

It was a sunny Sunday as the lights went out, with Lorenzo leading into the first turn, with Pedrosa close behind. Simoncelli had a moment leaving the turn, right with Stoner and Dovizioso. Just a few turns later, Simoncelli was out, with Barbera right behind with his own massive highside. Simoncelli’s had him spiraling through the air like a large, furry ballerina. Bother were down, but got gingerly up after a few moments. Simoncelli was directly in front of Stoner, but the Australian continued on. At the end of the first lap, Lorenzo led Pedrosa, Stoner, Rossi, Dovizioso, Spies, Capirossi, Edwards, Hayden, and Crutchlow. Abrham was the next out, soon assisted to the barried by marshals whilst holding his wrist.

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MotoGP Estoril Quali Results & Report: Lorenzo Wins Pole, Simoncelli to Start 2nd Despite Crash

What Happens When Binning It Can Keep One From a 1st Pole Position

10:12am EST — Jorge Lorenzo won pole for the 2011 Portuguese Grand Prix in a session that started under threatening clouds, but was marked instead by Marco Simoncelli’s dominance. The Italian, who will start Sunday’s race second, spent two thirds of the session leading by well over a half second. Lorenzo fought back in the closing minutes and took provisional pole, solidifying his position as Simoncelli lost the front end whilst on a hot lap with just a couple minutes to go. Dani Pedrosa took the final front row starting position after the flag, leaving teammate Casey Stoner to head the second row. Ben Spies and third Repsol Honda teammate Andrea Dovizioso complete that row. Despite quicker times during practices, the factory Ducati team continues to drift back, with Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden qualifying only ninth and thirteenth, respectively.

Simoncelli led both dry Friday practice sessions, ahead of Stoner, Pedrosa, Lorenzo, and Rossi as the top five in the morning, then Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Rossi, and Stoner in the afternoon. Saturday morning was a wet/dry session, with intermittent rain in Portugal. Capirossi was quickest in the slower conditions, followed by Lorenzo, Hayden, Rossi, and Stoner as the fastest five. Alvaro Bautista did ride during the Friday sessions, about a month and a half after shattering his femur, and planned to race. The Stoner/Rossi anger continued from Jerez, with Stoner still cheeky, but Rossi regaining some of his usual verve after quick sessions and a stronger shoulder on Friday.

Most of the riders were out quickly with the threatening rain, hoping to set a quick time early in the session. Lorenzo was the very early leader with a 1:41.986, five minutes into the hour long session, followed by Cal Crutchlow, Toni Elias and Pedrosa, all on their first flying laps. Of course, times quickly dropped as riders circulated more, though the track still had damp patches after rain during the morning practice. Ten minutes into the session, Simoncelli (1:38.647) led Stoner, Lorenzo, Crutchlow, Spies, Pedrosa, Dovizioso, Hector Barbera, Colin Edwards, Karel Abraham, and Rossi eleventh.

Pedrosa was quickest next, only to have Simoncelli retake the provisional pole by .008s. Meanwhile, the still-recovering Bautista was fourteenth, nearly 1.7 seconds faster than slowest rider Loris Capirossi. Simoncelli led Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Dovizioso, and Edwards twenty minutes in, with Stoner taking a hard position on Hayden and giving the (possibly the wrong) Ducati no room. Simoncelli continued to improve his time, soon extending his gap over Pedrosa to nearly three tenths as the halfway point of the session approached.

MotoGP Jerez Race Report: Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Hayden Podium in Crazy, Rain-Soaked GP

What Happens When Rain is an Enemy of Racers and Friend of Exciting Racing

9:08am EST — Jorge Lorenzo won the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix as seemingly the only rider to not crash out of the race. Ailing countryman Dani Pedrosa finished second after drifting well back during the race, with Nicky Hayden completing the podium, holding off Hiroshi Aoyama on the straight. Early on, Casey Stoner led, until he was overtaken by Marco Simoncelli. Stoner was under attack from Valentino Rossi when Ducati’s front end issues slid the Italian off and Stoner with him. Rossi rejoined and fought back to finish fifth while Stoner did not continue. Ben Spies was in position to finish second with a lap or two left, until he slid out, leaving Colin Edwards to finish on the podium. Except, he also had issues and was unable to finish the race. The rain and slippery conditions made for some exciting and shocking racing.

Stoner (1:38.757) continued his domination of the early MotoGP season, winning pole despite an incident on his final lap during Saturday’s qualifying. Teammate Pedrosa was second fastest while Lorenzo, who spent much of the session in the provisional pole position, completed the first row for Sunday’s starting grid. Spies started just behind Stoner, with Simoncelli and Dovizioso completing the second row. Many riders lost front end grip and slid out during the qualifying session, including Valentino Rossi. He was unhurt, but ended the session twelfth fastest on his backup bike, behind the Ducatis of Hayden (7th) and fellow crasher de Puniet (11th). Stoner was fastest again in the morning warm-up, though the damp conditions jumbled up the typical running order. Rossi was second fastest, with Dovizioso, Hayden, and Lorenzo completing the top five.

Rain was falling heavily before the race began, and the race officially started a wet one. Stoner led into the front turn, as Lorenzo slid into second through the turn, with Simoncelli into third and Dovizioso fourth. Stoner quickly attempted a gap, moving out with a lead of eight tenths by the end of the lap. Pedrosa driften well back though the first two laps, and was down to ninth by the end of them. Rossi was the shocking rider of the first few laps, moving up to sixth, then pushing hard past Spies. Meanwhile, former teammate Lorenzo was running after Stoner. He was just .390 behind the leader at the end of the third lap.

MotoGP Jerez Quali Report: Stoner Takes Pole, Many Crash in Cool Temps

What Happens When Things That Looked Rosy, Aren’t

9:12am EST — Casey Stoner (1:38.757) continued his domination of the early MotoGP season, winning pole for the Spanish Grand Prix despite an incident on his final lap. Teammate Dani Pedrosa was second fastest while Jorge Lorenzo, who spent much of the session in the provisional pole position, completed the first row for Sunday’s starting grid. His factory Yamaha teammate Ben Spies will start just behind Stoner, with Marco Simoncelli and Andrea Dovizioso completing the second row. Many riders lost front end grip and slid out during the cool qualifying session, including Valentino Rossi. He was unhurt, but ended the session twelfth fastest, behind the Ducatis of Nicky Hayden (7th) and fellow crasher Randy de Puniet (11th).

Practices at Jerez continued much as they were at the season opening round at Qatar, with the Repsol Hondas quickest Friday and Saturday. Stoner was first fastest on Friday, followed by Pedrosa and and apparently quickly recovering Rossi. In the morning, Simoncelli and Lorenzo completed the fastest five, while Pedrosa led Stoner, Lorenzo, Simoncelli, and Rossi in the afternoon session.

Saturday morning, the standings remained much the same, with Pedrosa fastest, Stoner second, Simoncelli, Lorenzo, and de Puniet the top five. Rossi was sixth fastest. Time were slowest Friday afternoon, with cooler temperatures and gusts of winds causing complaints from the riders. John Hopkins made his return to MotoGP to fill in at Suzuki for the injured Alvaro Bautista, who broke his leg in a practice crash at Qatar.

Qualifying continued to be a cool and windy affair, with clouds covering the Spanish sky. Ten minutes into the hour session, Lorenzo (1:39.430) led Pedrosa, Simoncelli, Stoner, Aoyama, Rossi, Spies, de Puniet, Crutchlow, and Dovizioso. About five minutes later, Rossi had crashed at Turn 6, walking away and riding back to the garage on a scooter to continue qualifying. Moments later, Aoyama suffered a similar but force fate, losing the front and getting smacked in the left leg by the rear wheel of his Honda. He was carried off the track on a stretcher but was soon back in the garage. Quickly, both Rossi and Aoyama were back out to improve their times.

Spies Wins Race 1 at Nurburgring

What Happens When Starting Fifth is Not a Problem

9:19am EST — While John Hopkins and Makoto Tamada crashed just after the start and have been hospitalized with a shoulder injury and concussion, respectively, Ben Spies made his way through the field and capitalized on an error made by championship leader Noriyuki Haga to win the first WorldSBK race at the Nurburgring.  This brings rookie Spies two points away form the championship lead.
(Results of Race 1 courtesy of WorldSBK website, full report to follow)

1  19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 39’04.818 (157,737 kph)
2  41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 3.850
3   7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 6.990
4  65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 7.109
5   3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 12.825
6  91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 13.243
7  84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 14.223
8  11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 14.382
9  66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 17.206
10  67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 26.547
11  14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 27.388
12  31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 30.968
13  96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 31.069
14   9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 31.188
15  71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 40.165
16  99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 54.897
17  25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’01.958
18  88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9
RET  56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory
RET  10 Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R
RET  94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1
RET  77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR
RET  47 Cooper R. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR
RET  23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R
RET  15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R
NP 121 Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR
NP 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R