MotoGP News
Date: 21/October/2012
A Sepang rain storm and on-form Casey Stoner looked set to significantly tighten the MotoGP title race, until red flags stopped Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix with seven laps to go.
Having lost the race lead to title rival Dani Pedrosa just before mid-distance of the planned 20 laps, MotoGP Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo looked set to lose at least four more points as he dropped into the clutches of Stoner.
Unlike the Honda riders, Lorenzo had chosen the softer Bridgestone rear tyre and had less tread available to deal with the increased rain that arrived just before the midway point.
Lorenzo was clearly in trouble: Fellow Yamaha riders Ben Spies, Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso - also on the soft rear - had all crashed, and Lorenzo was seen pointing to the sky in an effort to alert Race Direction to the dangers.
By coincidence they responded just in time to save Lorenzo.
The Yamaha rider came close to losing a full 25 points when he almost crashed under braking for the final corner on lap 14, allowing Stoner to pull alongside. But as they accelerated along the start/finish straight the red flags were waved.
With the final result taken from the end of the previous lap, Pedrosa was officially credited with a 3.7s victory over Lorenzo, with Stoner 7.1s behind in third. In reality, Lorenzo was extremely fortunate to surrender just five-points from his lead.
Lorenzo said: “It was very difficult race, because we chose the soft rear tyre and Casey and Dani chose the hard
“The conditions were not so wet at the start and I pushed to try and get an advantage. But I wore down the tyre, so when it started to rain a lot I didn’t have any tread in the middle.
“I was struggling a lot and then in the last lap I almost crashed at the last turn. I have been very, very lucky because zero points here would mean the championship was much more difficult.
“I think it was the right moment to stop the race! Maybe one corner before would have been better for my heart!”
Pedrosa’s win was his sixth of the season and fifth in the last six rounds, yet he will still arrive at next weekend’s Australian Grand Prix 23-points behind Lorenzo with only 50 still available.
Despite seeing a rare opportunity to gain big points on Lorenzo slip away, Pedrosa stated that the race could not have gone on much longer.
“At the end it was hard to stay on the bike. I was lucky to win this race, and Jorge was lucky to finish second because he was almost on the ground,” he said.
“At maximum we could have done one more lap before stopping the race. The standing water was getting deep in some places and on the straight I was wheel-spinning in every gear.
“Anyway, this is my first win in the wet - ever! I’m really happy about that because it’s taken a long time. As far as the title, all I can do is keep focused and keep riding at my best.”
Reigning World Champion Stoner - competing in his second race back from ankle surgery - believes he could have won without the stoppage.
Stoner said: “I seriously considered not starting the race, because if I crashed and hurt my ankle again I’d be out for the rest of my final season.
“But as the race went on I got more confident and when the rain started coming down hard, that’s always my ‘playground’.
“If the race had gone full distance we had a very good chance of winning. But realistically I don’t think we could have done more than another 1-2 laps in those conditions.”
Another one or two laps would surely have been enough to overtake the struggling Lorenzo. The next best rider with the soft rear tyre finished seventh.
No comments:
Post a Comment