MotoGP Sepang

[KUCIAR666]

Yamaha return to Sepang

Yamaha Factory Racing set up in Sepang this week straight from Japan for the middle of the three overseas back-to-back races, the Grand Prix of Malaysia. Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo arrives with a 28-point lead at the top of the standings after a strong second place finish at Motegi on Sunday. The Sepang circuit holds starkly contrasting connotations for Lorenzo, being the scene of his World Championship title in 2010 countered by the tragic passing of Marco Simoncelli in 2011.

Ben Spies moves to Sepang determined to complete the final three races of the season on a high note following a disastrous Grand Prix of Japan which saw him retire on the second lap with braking issues. Due to the cancellation of last year’s race Spies has only competed once at the Sepang circuit, taking an impressive fourth place finish from fourth on the grid in his rookie year.
Jorge Lorenzo

“So here we are back in Sepang, a track with difficult memories for all of us from Marco’s tragic accident last year. It is also a track which has very good memories for me from 2010 when I became MotoGP World Champion. With three races left to go we must stay very focused and do our best to put on a good show this weekend. The track is maybe more suited to our bike than Motegi so we will be aiming for the best possible result.”
Ben Spies

“It’s a strange feeling to come back here after last year. We will honour Sic in the best way we know how, by going out on track and giving 100% as always. Last weekend was yet another disappointment with brake issues, I really hope we can have a trouble free time here in Sepang and show our true podium potential.”

Wilco Zeelenberg - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
“Sepang is one of the tracks where we’ve covered more laps than anywhere else with two tests here. In the wintertime we improved a lot from last year which is important. The humidity and the temperature makes it much tougher for the riders but we feel quite strong here and we are prepared for to fight for the podium again.”


Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
“With just three races to go Jorge is now very close to securing the World Championship title, however we cannot afford to relax and each one will be crucial. We are not here aiming for second places so if a win is possible that is the result we are trying for. With very positive test results in the pre-season we are confident that Ben will also show his true potential here and we expect a trouble-free weekend to allow him to do that.”

Jorge Lorenzo
Age: 25
Lives: Barcelona, Spain
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 44 (23 x MotoGP, 17 x 250cc, 4 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Brazil, 2003 (125cc)
First GP: Jerez, Spain, 2002 (125cc)
GP starts: 176 (79 x MotoGP, 48 x 250cc, 46 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 50 (22 x MotoGP, 23 x 250cc, 3 x 125cc)
World Championships: 3 (MotoGP 2010, 250cc, 2006/7)

Ben Spies
Age: 26
Lives: Longview Texas / Lake Como Italy
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 1
First GP victory: Assen, Netherlands, 2011
First GP: Donington, UK, 2008 (MotoGP)
GP starts: 52
Pole positions: 1
World Championships: 1 (WSB 2009)

Sepang Record Lap
C.Stoner (Ducati) 2007, 2'02.108

Sepang Best Lap
V.Rossi (Yamaha) 2009, 2'00.518

 

[KUCIAR666]

THE PRAMAC RACING TEAM HEADS TO SEPANG FOR THE MALAYSIAN MOTORCYLE GRAND PRIX

The Pramac Racing Team and his rider H?ctor Barber? are getting ready for the 16th round of the season that will take place in Malaysia at the Sepang circuit, where, during last year?s race, Marco Simoncelli tragically lost his life.

The white and green crew arrives in Malaysia with a strong confidence that it can fight for a thrilling race into the top ten, also to pay homage to Sic.

H?ctor has strong memories at the Malaysian track, achieving important podium in the past years, like in 2009 or in 2007 aboard on his Aprilia 250cc and these keepsakes will be an extra motivation for him to do a great race.

The fast and technical Sepang track is without a doubt the most mentally and physically demanding on the calendar, with its frequent changes of direction that provides a great workout both for the rider and for the bike and also due to the extreme weather conditions and high humidity.

H?ctor Barber? ? Pramac Racing Team Rider ?

?I?m looking forward to going to Malaysia because we have a lot of positive data at the Sepang circuit. It is a track I know well, having spent much of the preseason testing there. I was quite fast during the winter and I hope it will be the same again this weekend, even if it remains one of the most demanding on the calendar. I will give the best I can from Friday to catch a great result?.

 

[KUCIAR666]

Mixed Weather Provides Frustrating Start in Sepang

The Grand Prix of Malaysia got underway today at the Sepang circuit in typically hot conditions with humidity over 85%. Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies spent the morning session working through a base set up to try and improve rear grip issues at a number of corners. The afternoon?s second free practice proved to be useless for the majority of the MotoGP riders as an early rain shower left them with a half wet, half dry track. As a result both Yamaha Factory riders only ventured out for a single lap on wet tyres and didn?t record a time, the conditions making it very easy to crash and providing little useful data.

Jorge Lorenzo
Position 3rd - Time: 2'01.934 - Laps 14
?This morning was great, from the beginning I was competitive and more or less at the same pace as Dani and Casey. Casey especially is much stronger than he was in Japan. This afternoon unfortunately we couldn?t practice because of the weather. We need to improve the behavior of the bike in acceleration for tomorrow, it?s a little nervous so we need to make it a little easier."


Ben Spies
Ben Spies
Position 6th - Time: 2'02.358 - Laps 16
?This morning was pretty normal, the track wasn?t so great and we had some electronic issues that hindered us a little but the bike was working pretty well. We were hoping to get a good session in this afternoon but the rain was against us. It wasn?t worth taking any risks with the track being half dry and half wet so we?ll wait for tomorrow and see what happens.?

Wilco Zeelenberg - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
?Overall it?s been a disappointing day because we missed a complete practice this afternoon which is a shame because I think everybody was ready to step up the game and improve things. There were four corners wet and the rest dry so a useless second practice. Let?s see tomorrow, hopefully we?ll have better weather.?


Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
?As has happened a few times this year, we have had almost a completely useless Friday. Fortunately we were able to get some data in the morning session as we could get nothing in the afternoon. We prepared some changes from the first session so we hope that tomorrow will be dry so we can test them. It could be that Sunday is mixed like today so tomorrow is very important to complete some laps and get as much information as possible.?

Rain disrupts Dovizioso and Crutchlow's preparations in Sepang

A heavy early afternoon rain shower prevented Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow from building on a positive opening practice session at the long and technical Sepang International Circuit today.

Dovizioso was fourth and Crutchlow fifth fastest in typically hot and humid conditions this morning, but torrential rain that fell shortly before the start of this afternoon's second practice session meant only 12 riders took to the track in mixed conditions.

With little to learn from lapping on a drying surface, Dovizioso and Crutchlow decided not to complete a lap this afternoon, but after a positive start this morning, both are optimistic they can challenge for pole position in tomorrow's qualifying session..

Dovizioso's best lap of 2.02.236 in FP1 meant he was the leading non-factory rider in the classification and he was just over 0.3s away from the top three, which included in-form Spanish duo Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.

Crutchlow was only 0.030s behind his Italian teammate after he quickly found a set-up that coped with slippery track conditions this morning. The British rider ended with a best time of 2.02.266.

Andrea Dovizioso
Position 4th - Time: 2'02.236 - Laps 16
?The track was very slippery this morning but I was pleased to finish fourth and my lap time was fast and competitive. I could go faster at the end of the session even with a lot of laps on the rear tyre, so it is a promising start to the weekend. I wanted to try some important changes to the set-up of the bike this afternoon but the rain that fell before the start meant we couldn't do the work we had planned. The conditions were mixed, so it wasn't worth going out and taking any risks and we will have to wait to try the
Cal Crutchlow
Position 5th - Time 2'02.266 - Laps 12

?It was a shame the rain meant I didn't get to go out on track for the second session because I had some work to do to improve the bike. I felt confident right from the start this morning and even though I wasn't pushing that hard because the track was quite greasy, the lap time still came quite easy. Hopefully tomorrow we will have better luck with the weather and we can focus on improving the bike for the race.?

2012 MotoGP Malaysia
Sepang 19/10/2012
1 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 2'01.621
2 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 2'01.773
3 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 2'01.934
4 Andrea Dovizioso Yamaha ITA 2'02.236
5 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 2'02.266
6 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 2'02.358
7 Stefan Bradl Honda GER 2'02.617
8 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 2'02.754
9 Alvaro Bautista Honda ESP 2'02.872
10 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 2'03.221
11 Valentino Rossi Ducati ITA 2'03.274
12 Karel Abraham Ducati CZE 2'04.624
13 Randy De Puniet ART FRA 2'05.029
14 Aleix Espargaro ART ESP 2'05.077
15 Colin Edwards Suter USA 2'05.387

 

[KUCIAR666]

Pedrosa and Stoner up front on Day 1 in Sepang

Fresh from victory in Motegi last week, the Repsol Honda Team continued to top the time sheets at the Sepang circuit today. Dani Pedrosa took first position recording a best lap time of 2'01.621 with Casey Stoner in second, only 0.152 off Pedrosa with 2'01.773.

It's been a typical first day of free practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, with high temperatures and humidity in the morning session and sporadic heavy showers arriving in the afternoon which reduced time on track. The Repsol Honda riders didn't complete a flying lap in the afternoon as the track was wet at the beginning but as the session progressed areas began to dry up creating awkward 50/50 conditions.

Anyway, the weekend has started very positive for Dani and Casey, both riding under the current circuit record in the dry conditions set by Stoner in 2007 (2'02.108). The team will be aiming to make the most of tomorrow's last free practice to be ready for a strong qualifying session.


DANI PEDROSA - 1st 2'01.621

"We've been lucky to have the first practice in the dry to begin setting up the bike for the race because as we've seen in the last few days sooner or later it rains here. The track was a little dirty in the morning and the grip level quite poor, but the lap times were not so bad and the conditions will improve throughout the weekend. In the morning I had a lot of vibration in the rear which we think was a problem with the wheel balance. I did a sighting lap in the afternoon and it was full wet until turn 4 but from there, full dry, so we decided to stay in the pits. We will have to make good use of track time tomorrow morning to prepare the bike for qualifying and the race".



CASEY STONER - 2nd 2'01.773

"I definitely feel more comfortable here than I did in Japan, I'm not sure if this is time on the bike or the fact that this track isn't quite so demanding on my right leg. The circuit goes to the right a lot, but there aren't so many slow corners that I need to pick the bike up from and I'm getting a better feeling here so the lap times came easier. We still have quite a bit of work to do and I don't think we are anywhere near the pace that we need to be but the first session went very well and hopefully we can continue in this way for the remainder of the weekend".



Practice Results

1 - Dani Pedrosa - 2?01.621 - SPA - HONDA - Repsol Honda Team

2 - Casey Stoner - 2?01.773 - AUS - HONDA - Repsol Honda Team

3 - Jorge Lorenzo - 2?01.934 - SPA - YAMAHA - Yamaha Factory Racing Team

4 - Andrea Dovizioso - 2?02.236 - ITA - YAMAHA - Monster Yamaha Tech 3

5 - Cal Crutchlow - 2?02.266 - GBR - YAMAHA - Monster Yamaha Tech 3

6 - Ben Spies - 2?02.358 - USA - YAMAHA - Yamaha Factory Racing Team

7 - Stefan Bradl - 2?02.617 - GER - HONDA - LCR Honda MotoGP

8 - Nicky Hayden - 2?02.754 - USA - DUCATI - Ducati Team

9 - Alvaro Bautista - 2?02.872 - SPA - HONDA - San Carlo Honda Gresini

10 - Hector Barbera - 2?03.221 - SPA - DUCATI - Pramac Racing

11 - Valentino Rossi - 2?03.274 - ITA - DUCATI - Ducati Team

12 - Karel Abraham - 2?04.624 - CZE - DUCATI - Cardion AB Motoracing

13 - Randy De Puniet - 2?05.029 - FRA - ART - Aspar Team MotoGP

14 - Aleix Espargaro - 2?05.077 - ESP - ART - Aspar Team MotoGP

15 - Colin Edwards - 2?05.387 - USA - SUTER - NGM Mobile Forward Racing

16 - Michele Pirro - 2?06.058 - ITA - HONDA - San Carlo Honda Gresini

17 - James Ellison - 2?06.452 - GBR - ART - Paul Bird Racing

18 - Roberto Rolfo - 2?06.470 - ITA - ART - Speed Master

19 - Yonny Hernandez - 2?07.257 - COL - BQR-FTR - BQR

20 - Ivan Silva - 2?07.291 - SPA - BQR-FTR - BQR

21 - Danilo Petrucci - 2?07.818 - ITA - IODA - Ioda Racing Project

 

[KUCIAR666]

After Friday Abaja on 12th place in Malaysia

The Friday?s free parctices at the Sepang circuit were again influenced by tricky weather conditions. The surface of the race track was due to heavy rain showers half dry and half wet in the afternoon and that also affected the attendance of the top MotoGP riders. The Czech Karel Abraham attended both free practices and set the best time 2:04,624 in the morning one with the loss 3,003 sec to the fastest rider of the day Dani Pedrosa. Abaja is in combined practice times on the 12th place.

 

[KUCIAR666]

Rain affects day one at Malaysian Grand Prix

GALLERY

The second free practice session at the Malaysian Grand Prix was affected by a typical tropical downpour that gave way to the sun just before the start. Riding on the track, which was neither completely wet nor completely dry, was rendered useless for the entire session.

Valentino Rossi paid the consequences, as he had intended to try some changes to the balance of his Desmosedici in order improve rear grip.

In the morning, Nicky Hayden had started doing some comparative tests with a swingarm with a different stiffness, which Rossi had begun using after Misano. Like his teammate, the American will work on improving grip tomorrow.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 8th (2:02.754)
?With my injury last winter, I didn?t really do much meaningful riding here during testing, so it?s hard to compare the bike from then to now. The main thing we?re working on is finding more edge grip, and we made a couple of improvements there. I was almost two seconds faster than last year here during FP1, which is nice. I tried the new swingarm, which definitely gave me better feeling at the rear. Then this afternoon was really strange. As can happen at long circuits, the track was completely wet on one part and completely dry on another, during the same lap! I did two laps, just to feel the wet conditions in case that?s what we have on Sunday. Anyway, I definitely felt a little better today than I did in Motegi, both with my wrist and on the bike, so hopefully we can have a much better weekend.?

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 11th (2:03.274)
?We?ve been a little unfortunate with the weather in recent races. This afternoon it rained right before the session, which made it difficult to work. It?s a shame, as we had two or three things to try with the balance of the bike after we were pretty slow this morning. We had continued working with some changes that we used at Motegi, where they?d helped us to have a little more grip under acceleration. Here, though, they weren?t as effective because they cause a lot of understeer. This afternoon it was important to be able to work because we wanted to return to a more standard setup, like at Aragon and Misano. I tried riding a little in an effort to understand as much as possible, but it?s difficult in these conditions. There?s nothing we can do about it, so we?ll have to wait until tomorrow.?

 

[KUCIAR666]

Good first impressions for Edwards at Sepang

The first impressions at Sepang are definitely positive for the NGM Mobile Forward Racing Team and Colin Edwards. The morning session proved to be the only productive session due to the afternoon rain. The American rider had already tested here during the winter and confirms his good feeling with his Suter- BMW by being right behind the De Puniet ? Espargaro duo.
Satisfying lap times for the Texan rider; at only three tenths from the top CRT bike. A gap that could have been narrowed during the FP2 if the rain did not interfered during the session.


Colin Edwards - 5

?We tested here at the beginning of the year a couple of times, the bike is a little bit different obviously since then, completely different electronics package that what we?ve finished on. Spent this morning trying to understanding if we were in the ballpark or not, bike setting obviously felt rigid this morning; we are going to play around with it and soften it up a little bit. This afternoon it rained so it was kind of a waste, we couldn?t get much done.?


Sergio Verbena ? Crew Chief

?We started off today?s first practice at only a few tenths from the best CRT. This is probably the best beginning of a GP weekend so far this season. This winter we tested here and that allowed us to have the data for the setup. We had to work on a few things this afternoon but due tot he rain we were not able to.?

 

[KUCIAR666]

Pedrosa second quickest at Sepang, Stoner a close fourth

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) will start tomorrow?s Malaysian Grand Prix from second on the grid after coming within 0.194s of scoring pole position at tropically hot and humid Sepang this afternoon. Team-mate Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC213V) was also in the fight for a front-row start today, finishing the session fourth fastest.

Impressive Pedrosa is very much the man of the moment ? having won four of the last five races, including the last two from second on the grid ? and will be doing everything he can to score another victory tomorrow and further close the gap on World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) who will start from pole.

Pedrosa believes he may well have had the pace to be quickest today, but for a return of the tyre chatter issues that have dogged him at many circuits this season. The Spaniard had similar issues at Motegi last weekend, but his crew was able to largely resolve them in time for the race, which he dominated.

However, the chatter seems worse than ever here because of the nature of the Sepang circuit, which has always created this phenomenon. Pedrosa is not the only one suffering ? all the fast riders have complained of chatter, a high-frequency vibration that can lead to a sudden loss of grip in the corners.

This is Stoner?s second race since returning from the nasty right ankle injury he sustained at August?s Indianapolis GP and he has done brilliantly to qualify less than half a second off pole. The injury was a major handicap in Japan last weekend, but is less so here, though it is still causing him problems, especially on the exit of right-handers because the ankle joint has only minimal movement. Stoner is also battling chatter and believes he would be significantly faster without the problem.

Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP RC213V) was another who complained of chatter, which hurt him most on new grippy tyres. The young German rookie worked with his crew to exorcise the problem, but ultimately had to do his best to ride around it.

Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC213V) qualified tenth after sliding off in the crucial late stages of qualifying when he was riding hard to get closer to the front of the grid. A superb third at Motegi, Bautista is lacking rear grip here.

Michele Pirro (San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR-Honda) was 15th fastest this afternoon, putting him 15th overall and making him third fastest of the CRT machines. He too had issues with chatter.

The weather has been changeable here, with a tropical downpour hitting yesterday afternoon?s MotoGP session, though the Honda-powered Moto2 series has had the worst of the rain with FP2 and FP3 both run on a wet track.


MotoGP rider quotes

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 2nd ? 2m 00.538s

?It was hard because we had a lot of chattering this afternoon and it was very difficult to get a clean lap as in some areas the bike was chattering too much, even on the straight! Nevertheless, we managed to get on the front row again and second position is good. The pace is high and after missing FP2 yesterday because of the mixed conditions, this morning we worked hard on the race pace. I just hope that we don?t have this chattering for the race. The weather can play an important role too, so we?ll have to see what happens tomorrow afternoon.?



Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda: 4th ? 2m 00.811s

?It?s been a really disappointing weekend, but especially today. We?ve had pace all weekend and the first session looked promising, but we?ve had problems with the brakes and some other small issues. Every step we take to try and improve the bike, we make it worse and it?s becoming very frustrating. Our potential is much higher than where we are currently at and now we go into the race without any real direction. Physically I?m not sure how I am going to be as we haven?t been able to complete many laps this weekend, our pace is there and I just hope that we can make some small improvements in tomorrow?s warm up.?



Stefan Bradl, LCR Honda MotoGP: 8th ? 2m 01.491s
?Today?s qualifying was extremely tough for us because we did not improve our set up before the afternoon session. This morning we have tried to find the right way to reduce the chattering because I could not entry the corner and we are losing too much in the middle of the corner and we are struggling to find the solution because we never had such a big chatter issue in the past. In these conditions I do not have enough confidence and this cost me a lot of time that?s why I am too slow in those areas. In the beginning of the session on used tyres it looked like we were capable to reduce the chattering problem but as soon as we went out on new rubbers the problem was still there. The guys are working hard to adjust the bike ahead tomorrow?s race and I am confident?.



Alvaro Bautista, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 10th ? 2m 01.640s

?This morning we tried to improve our feeling with the bike from yesterday but we only partly managed it. In the afternoon we continued to work in the same way, but rear traction was still an issue and the small progress we made wasn?t enough to improve our position before the crash. There were a lot of riders on track at the same time and nobody wanted to give anybody else a tow so we lost some time there and when I tried to push again the tyre temperature had dropped and I lost control. Luckily I wasn?t hurt, but the bike needs rebuilding and I am sorry to the team for the extra work. It will be a tough race tomorrow but I am confident that we have found some solutions today that should work.?



Michel Pirro, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 15th ? 2m 04.152s

?We set a good lap time today and closed the gap to the top, but their pace was very strong. We are the third CRT behind the two Aprilias and now I am ready to give my maximum in a tough race. We still have some vibration problems that I am not comfortable with but if we can fix them then I am sure we can do well. It is important to be physically prepared here at Sepang because it?s such a long race but I feel fit and I?m determined to get a good result to dedicate it to Marco.?

Pole position : 2m00.334s (165.978km/h) Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha
Circuit record lap : 2m02.108s (163.566 km/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2007)
Circuit Best Lap : 2m00.334s (165.978km/h) Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, 2012
Qualifying position
1 Jorge Lorenzo 2m00.334s SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
2 Dani Pedrosa 0.194 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
3 Andrea Dovizioso 0.233 ITA YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
4 Casey Stoner 0.477 AUS HONDA Repsol Honda Team
5 Cal Crutchlow 0.844 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
6 Ben Spies 0.851 USA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
7 Hector Barbera 0.960 SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing Team
8 Stefan Bradl 1.157 GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
9 Nicky Hayden 1.192 USA DUCATI Ducati Team
10 Alvaro Bautista 1.306 SPA HONDA Honda Gresini
11 Valentino Rossi 1.449 ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
12 Aleix Espargaro 2.508 ESP ART Power Electronics Aspar
13 Randy De Puniet 3.055 FRA ART Power Electronics Aspar
14 Karel Abraham 3.440 CZE DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
15 Michele Pirro 3.818 ITA HONDA Honda Gresini
16 James Ellison 4.181 GBR ART Paul Bird Motorsport
17 Danilo Petrucci 4.392 ITA IODA Came IodaRacing Project
18 Colin Edwards 4.607 USA SUTER NGM Forward Racing
19 Roberto Rolfo 4.766 ITA ART Speed Master
20 Ivan Silva 5.587 ESP BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP
21 Yonny Hernandez -- COL BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP
Championship standings
1 Jorge Lorenzo 310 pts SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
2 Dani Pedrosa 282 pts SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
3 Casey Stoner 197 pts AUS HONDA Repsol Honda Team
4 Andrea Dovizioso 192 pts ITA YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
5 Alvaro Bautista 144 pts SPA HONDA Honda Gresini
6 Valentino Rossi 137 pts ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
7 Cal Crutchlow 135 pts GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
8 Stefan Bradl 125 pts GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
9 Nicky Hayden 101 pts USA DUCATI Ducati Team
10 Ben Spies 88 pts USA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
11 Hector Barbera 70 pts SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing Team
12 Aleix Espargaro 55 pts ESP ART Power Electronics Aspar
13 Randy De Puniet 53 pts FRA ART Power Electronics Aspar
14 Karel Abraham 37 pts CZE DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
15 Yonny Hernandez 28 pts COL BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP
16 Michele Pirro 26 pts ITA HONDA Honda Gresini
17 Colin Edwards 25 pts USA SUTER NGM Forward Racing
18 James Ellison 22 pts GBR ART Paul Bird Motorsport
19 Jonathan Rea 17 pts GBR HONDA Repsol Honda Team
20 Mattia Pasini 13 pts ITA ART Speed Master
21 Ivan Silva 11 pts ESP BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP
22 Danilo Petrucci 11 pts ITA IODA Came IodaRacing Project
23 Toni Elias 10 pts SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing Team
24 Katsuyuki Nakasuga 7 pts JPN YAMAHA Yamaha YSP Racing Team
25 Steve Rapp 1 pts USA APRILIA Attack Performance
26 David Salom 1 pts ESP BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP
27 Roberto Rolfo 0 pts ITA ART Speed Master
28 Franco Battaini 0 pts ITA DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
29 Chris Vermeulen 0 pts AUS SUTER NGM Forward Racing
30 Aaron Yates 0 pts USA BCL GPTech

 

[KUCIAR666]

Rossi improves pace, Hayden makes third row

Qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix left several question marks for both Ducati Team riders, who will have to decide during tomorrow?s morning warm-up session which tyre to use in the race.

Nicky Hayden, ninth today, will try some changes in order to reduce the chattering that bothered him today.

Valentino Rossi, eleventh, managed to lap at a decent rhythm with the hard tyre in qualifying, but having missed the chance to do more than just a few consecutive laps, he?ll try again in tomorrow morning?s twenty minute session before making a final decision.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 9th (2:01.526)
?It hasn?t been an easy day. In qualifying I lost some time due to a couple of issues I was having with the clutch and rear brake. Then we made a few little changes and got going better, but I had so much chatter that both of my hands are still tingling. I think a lot of guys are dealing with it, but it?s really making it difficult for me in the fast corners. I was able to do an okay lap, but the pace is really fast. I made one little mistake on what turned out to be my best lap, and that probably cost me two or three tenths. We?ve got a couple decisions to make for tomorrow, and we?ll see what we can do.?

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 11th (2:01.783)
?We were going pretty well at a certain point this afternoon, as I was able to do some laps with the hard tyre at a low-2:02 pace. We were pretty optimistic for the end, but when we put on the soft, it triggered a lot of chatter and I wasn?t able to improve enough to be further up the grid. Anyway, we?re not too far from Hayden, Barbera, Bautista and Bradl, so we?ll see. The warm-up will be very important for choosing the tyres. With the soft, it will certainly be necessary to slow down a lot in the second part of the race because today, it was already sliding a lot after just three or four laps. With the hard tyre, in theory we should suffer more at the beginning and then? we don?t know yet. Tomorrow we?ll try to understand. Finally, there?s the rain variable, which could shake everything up. We?ll see what time it comes.?

 

[KUCIAR666]

Lorenzo Sets Scorching Sepang Pole Record

Yamaha Factory Racing?s Jorge Lorenzo left it until the last moment this afternoon to smash the Sepang track record with a scorching pole position run ahead of tomorrow?s Grand Prix of Malaysia, his third successive pole in a row. The Championship leader had shown good pace from the start of the session but dropped off the provisional front row as a flurry of late laps saw a number of riders including Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa take the top spot. As the last minutes ticked away Lorenzo reclaimed the top spot from Pedrosa with a stunning 2?00.438 then immediately followed it with a flying final effort to deliver a new pole record for the Sepang circuit of 2?00.334.

Fellow Yamaha Factory rider Ben Spies was quick to get on the pace in the session, climbing to fourth just off the front row and looking threatening to break into the top three. As the session wound down a succession of hot laps and pole position changes from rivals saw him drop to fifth and then sixth for a second row start on tomorrow?s grid.

Jorge Lorenzo
Position 1st - Time: 2'00.334 - Laps 23
?We made a very good lap at the end of the session with the new ?qualifying? tyre. In the middle of the practice we struggled a little bit because we had a bit of chattering and the rear tyre wasn?t working as well as it had been in the morning session. We need to still work a little on our pace as it?s not extremely good yet but we have some options for tomorrow. Let?s see what happens, it?s going to be a long race in difficult conditions.?

Ben Spies
Position 6th - Time: 2'01.185 - Laps 22
?Qualifying was good, we had good pace in early in the session but when it came down to putting in that one fast lap we didn?t quite have enough. We also wanted to bring the bike back in one piece and not a broken one like we?ve done a few times this year. We?re looking forward to tomorrow and getting stuck into the race.?

Wilco Zeelenberg - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
?Pole again, number 51! It hasn?t been the best qualifying session of the year so to get pole at the end is great. We had some problems initially and Jorge had to go in and out a few times. He did his qualifying stints on the soft front tyre which is quite unusual so let?s see what we can solve to make us better for tomorrow.?


Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
?Another impressive pole position from Jorge, he really wanted to show everyone that he?s not here to get second place if he can help it. Overall no major problems so far this weekend and there?s pretty good pace on both sides of the garage. A lot is going to depend on the weather conditions tomorrow; it?s going to be a really tough race. Hopefully we will see a great spectacle!?

Dovizioso secures front row at scorching hot Sepang

Andrea Dovizioso extended the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team's outstanding qualifying record in 2012 by securing the French squad's 10th front row start of the season at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia this afternoon.

For the sixth race in succession, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team will be represented on the front row after Dovizioso battled for pole position throughout a closely fought qualifying session in searing heat and humidity at Sepang.

Dovizioso's silky smooth riding style helped him adjust brilliantly to slippery track conditions after earlier rain and his fastest lap of 2.00.567 put him on the top of the timesheets in the final stages of the session.

But in-form Spanish duo Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa were able to improve their pace in a dramatic finish.

Dovizioso's best pace was only 0.039s behind Pedrosa in second and having made significant progress in improving rear grip with his YZR-M1 machine, the Italian rider will start tomorrow's 20-lap race confident he will be in the hunt for a seventh podium finish.

Cal Crutchlow was reasonably satisfied with his afternoon's work, despite seeing his sensational run of four successive front row starts come to an end this afternoon.

The British rider will start from the middle of the second row in fifth position after a stunning last lap of 2.01.178 put him inside the top six on the grid for the 14th time in 16 races.

After battling for the podium right down to the last lap in the previous two races, Crutchlow is optimistic he will be in contention for the top three again to boost his hopes of securing fifth position on the overall World Championship standings.

Andrea Dovizioso
Position 3rd - Time 2'00.567 - Laps 19
?I am very happy with today's front row because it is confirmation of how strong we have been all weekend. I have to say a big thanks to my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew because in every session we have made progress with the set-up of the bike and for qualifying we made another big improvement. It is always good to be on the front row but the pleasing aspect is my race pace. I am very close to Lorenzo and Dani and my goal will be to stay with them for as long as possible tomorrow. With more rain earlier it meant the track was quite slippery, but normally when that is the case I am very fast and again today I have proved that. Hopefully it will be a dry race tomorrow but if it is raining then it will be the same for everybody and nobody has an advantage because we haven't tested on a full wet track.?

Cal Crutchlow
Position 5th - Time: 2'01.178 - Laps 21

?After qualifying on the front row at the last four races I should be pretty disappointed with fifth position and I am. To be honest I am not happy with the performance of the bike and I had the same issue that struck in qualifying last weekend in Japan. I had a big vibration and all the changes we made to improve the situation didn 't work. It felt like I had zero grip and we can see the problems on the data but we still haven't been able to identify what is causing the vibration. We have a lot of work to do tonight and I will be sitting down with my crew and analysing a lot of data to come up with a plan for the race. If the situation remains the same for the race it will be really difficult and demanding. As always I will try my best and the main goal will be to claw back some of the points I lost to Alvaro and Valentino with the bad luck in Japan.?

2012 MotoGP Malaysia
Sepang 20/10/2012
1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 2'00.334
2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 2'00.528
3 Andrea Dovizioso Yamaha ITA 2'00.567
4 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 2'00.811
5 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 2'01.178
6 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 2'01.185
7 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 2'01.294
8 Stefan Bradl Honda GER 2'01.491
9 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 2'01.526
10 Alvaro Bautista Honda ESP 2'01.640
11 Valentino Rossi Ducati ITA 2'01.783
12 Aleix Espargaro ART ESP 2'02.842
13 Randy De Puniet ART FRA 2'03.389
14 Karel Abraham Ducati CZE 2'03.774
15 Michele Pirro FTR ITA 2'04.152

 

[AV8TOR]

Let it rain let it rain only 3 races to go for Vale on that piece of crap but would be nice if he could just win once on it, but on the upside only 3 races to go until Tracy Moaner fcuks off.

 

[KUCIAR666]

Chatter limits Edwards during qualifying at Sepang

Colin Edwards and the NGM Mobile Forward Racing Team do not shine as they would have wanted to during the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix?s qualifying session after the great performance throughout all free practices.
The American rider has proven to have a constant fast lap time to be able to fight with the top CRTs. The warm up tomorrow morning will be key in order to solve the chatter problems that have complicated the Texan?s afternoon.

Colin Edwards ? 18th (2?04.941)

?We had so much chatter when we came here to test compared to now. We changed the gearing at the beginning of the session because this morning it felt too short and bike was too busy, so we went a little bit longer and lengthen the swingarm a little bit and created a lot more chatter. We went for a soft front, still had strong chatter, I was having to ride the bike differently, couldn?t carry the lean angle. We have a couple of ideas to work on during the warm up, let see how it goes.?


Sergio Verbena ? Crew Chief
?We had higher expectations for today?s qualifying session but chatter problems have limited our performance during the afternoon. The race pace is good but during qualifying we miss those three or four tenths on the fast lap in order to be closer to the front of the grid. Tomorrow morning we will work on reducing the chatter in order to be ready for the race.?

 

[KUCIAR666]

POSITIVE QUALIFYING SESSION FOR THE PRAMAC RACING TEAM AT SEPANG CIRCUIT, IN MALAYSIA

The Pramac Racing Team and his rider, H?ctor Barber?, achieved the 7th spot on the grid in today?s qualifying session at the Malaysian Grand Prix scheduled for tomorrow at 10:00 GMT.

Setting a best lap time of 2?01.294, the Spaniard will start from a promising third row, putting in for a strong performance for tomorrow?s 20 laps race.

H?ctor struggled a little with some chattering problems, but these small issue seems to be no cause for concern for the Pramac Racing Team, that tomorrow will use also the twenty-minute warm up to adjust the bike set up, trying to help H?ctor to fight for a brilliant result.

H?ctor Barber? ? Pramac Racing Team Rider ? 7th place in 2?01.294

?I?m very happy about today. The Sepang circuit is one of my favourite tracks and I always went quite fast here. I achieved a good result in today?s qualifying session, finding a good pace. The 7th place of today, allows me to arrive on the grid tomorrow, with confidence to battle for a great race and it was what I needed. I?m feeling good on my Ducati and I know we can hunt for one of our best results, in this 2012 MotoGP season.
Today I rode with the same lap times I set during the winter test (even if during the preseason test we found different weather conditions compared this weekend) and this improved a lot my confidence for tomorrow?s race.?

 

[KUCIAR666]

Second for Lorenzo in treacherous Sepang Race

Yamaha Factory Racing?s Jorge Lorenzo endured a treacherous ordeal to take second in this afternoon?s Grand Prix of Malaysia. The Championship leader took the hole shot from pole on the wet track with closest rival Dani Pedrosa in pursuit less than half a second behind. Lorenzo maintained his lead until just before the last corner on lap nine where Pedrosa was able to pass. The rain increased at this point making riding extremely difficult for the entire grid, Lorenzo himself miraculously saving a near fall into turn 15. The red flags were eventually brought out to halt the race on lap 13 after a number of riders fell in the treacherous conditions. The second place finish means Lorenzo moves on to the final two races with a 23 point lead in the Championship.

Lorenzo?s team mate Ben Spies had dropped three places from the start grid, working hard to avoid another rider spinning off the line. As a result he went into the first corner in ninth position, then dropping to tenth on lap three. The Texan then found an impressive race pace matching the front runners and looked threatening to move up the field until disaster struck on the eighth lap as he became one of the many victims to fall in the incredibly slippery conditions. The DNF means Spies heads to the final two races of the season remaining on 88 points in tenth position.

Jorge Lorenzo
Position 2nd - Time: +3.774
?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.?

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.?

Wilco Zeelenberg - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
?A very wet race! I think Jorge did great, he tried in the beginning to get away and escape, finally he kept a bit of safety to stay on two wheels. In the end second position is great for the Championship. We still have two races to go and he is ready to try again in Phillip Island.?


Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
?The conditions were very bad today, I think the decision to stop the race was the right one. The safety of the riders has to be guaranteed. We are leaving here with 23 points, still leading the Championship which is important. Hopefully Ben can have different results in the next two races; fortunately he didn?t receive any serious injuries and should be fine for Phillip Island. We won?t be going there looking to finish in second place.?

Dovizioso and Crutchlow fall in Malaysian monsoon

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow both fell out of contention while challenging for the top five in monsoon conditions at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia this afternoon.

The 20-lap race started in treacherous conditions, but Dovizioso and Crutchlow quickly calculated how hard they could attack the rain-soaked Sepang track, despite having no previous wet time on track this weekend.

Italian Dovizioso immediately put himself in contention for a seventh podium finish of the season and he was in hot pursuit of reigning World Champion Casey Stoner. But with the rain getting heavier and track conditions worsening by the second, he crashed out of fourth position on lap 10.

Dovizioso was able to remount his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine and re-join the action in 14th position. The race was then red flagged on lap 13 with Race Direction halting proceedings as standing water began to appear in sections of the track.

With seven laps still to be completed, a scheduled restart was later abandoned with the conditions showing no sign of improving and full World Championship points were awarded, with Dovizioso picking up three points for 13th.

British rider Crutchlow was also having a very strong race after a cautious start. The 26-year-old expertly judged where he could push without too many risks to climb from 10th to fifth. He had just passed Nicky Hayden and Stefan Bradl when he fell out of contention at the final corner on lap 11.

The spill cost Crutchlow more precious points in his quest to finish fifth in the World Championship rankings but he is confident he can return to the podium battle in next weekend's Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

Andrea Dovizioso
Position 13th - Time: +1'28.989
?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 Alvaro 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.?

Herv? Poncharal - Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team Manager
?We were really confident last night after Andrea had finished on the front row of the grid. He was very positive that he could battle for the podium again and we were even thinking that he might be able to push Dani and Jorge in the dry. But the weather played a pivotal role today and it turned out to be a very disappointing afternoon for us. The conditions were very unpredictable but Andrea and Cal were doing a very good job. Andrea was pushing very hard and after only two laps he was back in fourth and in the hunt for the podium. It is a pity that he crashed because we were confident that he was going to put pressure on Casey and go for the podium. It is the same story for Cal. At the stage of the race he crashed the conditions were incredibly difficult and I suppose we can be thankful that both of them are fit for Phillip Island. It wasn't a good result for the Championship but at least Cal was fighting inside the top five again. I don't think anybody can say the race wasn't stopped at the right time and hopefully we will have dry weather in Australia and both of them will be pushing for the rostrum.?

2012 MotoGP Malaysia
Sepang 21/10/2012 13 Laps
race I
1 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 29'29.049
2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 0'03.774
3 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 0'07.144
4 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0'10.518
5 Valentino Rossi Ducati ITA 0'16.759
6 Alvaro Bautista Honda ESP 0'17.276
7 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 0'50.282
8 Aleix Espargaro ART ESP 0'51.585
9 James Ellison ART GBR 0'56.676
10 Karel Abraham Ducati CZE 0'57.622
11 Danilo Petrucci Ioda ITA 1'02.805
12 Michele Pirro FTR ITA 1'02.891
13 Andrea Dovizioso Yamaha ITA 1'28.989
MotoGP World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 16 of 18
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 330
2. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 307
3. Casey Stoner Honda AUS 213
4. Andrea Dovizioso Yamaha ITA 195
5. Alvaro Bautista Honda ESP 154
6. Valentino Rossi Ducati ITA 148
7. Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 135
8. Stefan Bradl Honda GER 125
9. Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 114
10. Ben Spies Yamaha USA 88
11. Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 79
12. Aleix Espargaro ART ESP 63
13. Randy De Puniet ART FRA 53
14. Karel Abraham Ducati CZE 43
15. Michele Pirro FTR ITA 30
16. James Ellison ART GBR 28
24. Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha JPN 7


Circuit Length:
5548

Temp:
25

Crowd:
77000

Weather:
Heavy Rain

Lap Record:
2'02.108
(Casey Stoner, 1/1/2007)

Fastest Lap Ever:
2'00.334
(Jorge Lorenzo, 10/25/2012)
Manufacturer Standings
21/10/2012
1 Honda 362
2 Yamaha 346
3 Ducati 174
4 ART 87
5 BQR 31
6 FTR 30
7 Suter 25
8 Ioda 16
9 BQR-FTR 2
10 Kawasaki 2
Team Standings
21/10/2012
1. Repsol Honda Team 537
2. Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Team 418
3. Monster Yamaha Tech3 330
4. Ducati Marlboro Team 262
5. San Carlo Honda Gresini 184
6. LCR Honda MotoGP 125
7. Power Electronics Aspar 116
8. Pramac Racing Team 89
9. Cardion AB Motoracing 43
10. Avintia Blusens 40
11. Paul Bird Motorsport 28
12. NGM Mobile Forward Racing 25
13. Came Ioda Racing Project 16
14. Speed Master 13

 

[KUCIAR666]

MALAYSIAN GP: HECTOR EQUALLED HIS BEST RESULT OF THE 2012, CATCHING A POSITIVE SEVENTH PLACE

A difficult race at the Malaysian Grand Prix, affected by a torrential rain, a raft of crashes and a red flag that broke off the 16th round of the 2012 MotoGP World Championship at the Sepang circuit, due to the tricky weather conditions.

In a race that was declared wet from the start, the Pramac Racing team rider, H?ctor Barber? got a good start, moving into sixth, but he immediately found a small issue with the electronic control unit, losing important positions as consequence.

Lap after lap, with the rain was getting heavier, the Spaniard was able to find a good rhythm with his Ducati, keeping his bike upright and gaining some places, also thanks to the numerous crashes.

With seven laps remaining, the race was red-flagged (due to safety reasons) and it was interrupted: H?ctor finished his Malaysian weekend in seventh place, equalling his best result in this 2012 and taking home some important points for the world ranking.

H?ctor Barber? ? Pramac Racing Team Rider ? Position 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.?

 

[KUCIAR666]

An electrical problem constrains Edwards to retire

Complicated race for the NGM Mobile Forward Racing Team and Colin Edwards, constrained to retire due to an electrical problem while he was within the points.

The American rider had a good start being in the points in the very first lap with the other CRTs and Karel Abraham, the difficult weather conditions and an electrical problem with his Suter ? BMW prototype prevented him from finishing when he was in fifteenth position.


Colin Edwards ? Not Classified

?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. And when pit in.?


Sergio Verbena ? Crew Chief

?Difficult day in which we started of in the warm up in the dry and the complete opposite conditions for during the race. Colin had a good feeling with the bike in the rain even though we didn?t have the opportunity to work on the right setting in wet conditions but the setup seemed to work well for the race. Unfortunately an electrical problem constrained him to retire.?

 

[KUCIAR666]

Pedrosa wins in tropical downpour, Stoner takes third

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) won a shortened Malaysian Grand Prix in thunderous, rain-lashed conditions at Sepang this afternoon. The result was his third consecutive victory and reduces the advantage of World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) to 23 points with two races remaining. Team-mate Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC213V) finished third in his second race since returning from injury.

Pedrosa?s win gave the Spaniard his first premier-class hat-trick and continues a remarkable run of form that has seen him win four of the last five rounds aboard his Honda RC213V. It was also his sixth success of the year and his first victory in the rain.

The race got underway on a wet track, with steady raining falling, following earlier downpours that had seen the Moto2 race delayed due to a flooded track. About halfway through the 20-lap MotoGP race the rain intensified, triggering a rash of crashes, including Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP RC213V) who had been going well in sixth place.

Bradl, like all the other fallers, was not hurt, but by now conditions were rapidly worsening and there was standing water in several areas. Halfway through lap 14 the Race Director stopped the race, counting the results from lap 13. But because two-thirds race distance had not been completed, Race Direction considered a restart, until it was decided that conditions were too dangerous.

Pedrosa started well from second on the grid, while Lorenzo charged into the lead. Within a couple of laps Pedrosa was on the back wheel of his compatriot and getting into his rhythm. At half-distance he out-braked Lorenzo into the final turn and quickly built a gap, then controlled his RCV brilliantly as the conditions became increasingly treacherous. Four laps later the race was red-flagged. By then six of the 20 starters had crashed out.

Stoner only came back from injury at Motegi last weekend, so the Australian was delighted to score his first podium since he won July?s US GP. With his right ankle still healing, he had considered not racing because it?s so easy to fall in the rain and because he didn?t want to risk putting himself out for the rest of his final season.

During the early laps Stoner was at the head of the pack fighting over third, then he steadily established himself in that position before starting to close on Lorenzo when the rain got heavier. Had the race gone full distance he was sure he could have passed Lorenzo and challenged for the win.

The Repsol Honda Team riders? double podium secured the MotoGP team championship for the second consecutive year. Honda still have the chance to add the constructors? and riders? titles in the final two races of the year.

Bradl was running strongly in sixth, just behind Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC213V) and just ahead of Valentino Rossi (Ducati) when he ran into engine-braking issues. The rookie adjusted the engine-braking map on his RCV but continued to struggle, then fell at the extra-slippery turn seven which had already claimed three other riders.

Like most riders, Bautista believes that Race Direction made the right call to stop the race when they did, because the track was ?like a river?. The Spaniard rode well in spite of some issues on the bumps while braking.

Michele Pirro (San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR-Honda) was third CRT rider home, finishing in 12th spot. The rain was a disappointment for the Italian who had make good progress on his bike during morning warm-up and was confident of a strong showing in the dry. He crossed the line just a fraction of a second behind Danilo Petrucci (Suter BMW).

The MotoGP circus now continues its Asian-Pacific adventure and heads to Australia for next weekend?s penultimate Grand Prix at Phillip Island. The season concludes back in Europe, at Valencia, on November 11.

MotoGP rider quotes



Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: race winner

?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 heavy 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 Gin?s [Guirado], a good friend and member of the Repsol Honda Team that sadly passed away yesterday. This one is for you!?



Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda: 2nd

?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.?



Alvaro Bautista, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 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.?



Michel Pirro, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 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.?



Stefan Bradl, LCR Honda MotoGP: DNF

?First of all we must check the data to understand what happened. I took a very good start from eighth 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-braking. Since that moment something changed and the engine was pushing me in the corner entries and I lost two positions because I did not know what was going on. After that I came back to the standard engine-brake setting, but it was too much in those difficult conditions and I 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.?

Pole position : 2m00.334s (165.978km/h) Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha
Fastest lap : Lap 7 - 2m14.670s (148.309km/h) Dani Pedrosa, Honda
Circuit record lap : 2m02.108s (163.566km/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2007)
Circuit Best Lap : 2m00.334s (165.978km/h) Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, 2012
Event results - Round 16 - Race 1
1 Dani Pedrosa 29m29.049s SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
2 Jorge Lorenzo 3.774 SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
3 Casey Stoner 7.144 AUS HONDA Repsol Honda Team
4 Nicky Hayden 10.518 USA DUCATI Ducati Team
5 Valentino Rossi 16.759 ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
6 Alvaro Bautista 17.276 SPA HONDA Honda Gresini
7 Hector Barbera 50.282 SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing Team
8 Aleix Espargaro 51.585 ESP ART Power Electronics Aspar
9 James Ellison 56.676 GBR ART Paul Bird Motorsport
10 Karel Abraham 57.622 CZE DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
11 Danilo Petrucci 1'02.805 ITA IODA Came IodaRacing Project
12 Michele Pirro 1'02.891 ITA HONDA Honda Gresini
13 Andrea Dovizioso 1'28.989 ITA YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
14 Stefan Bradl DNF - 2 Laps GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
15 Cal Crutchlow DNF - 3 Laps GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
16 Randy De Puniet DNF - 3 Laps FRA ART Power Electronics Aspar
17 Ivan Silva DNF - 3 Laps ESP BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP
18 Colin Edwards DNF - 3 Laps USA SUTER NGM Forward Racing
19 Ben Spies DNF - 5 Laps USA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
20 Roberto Rolfo DNF - Disqualified ITA ART Speed Master
Championship standings
1 Jorge Lorenzo 330 pts SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
2 Dani Pedrosa 307 pts SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
3 Casey Stoner 213 pts AUS HONDA Repsol Honda Team
4 Andrea Dovizioso 195 pts ITA YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
5 Alvaro Bautista 154 pts SPA HONDA Honda Gresini
6 Valentino Rossi 148 pts ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
7 Cal Crutchlow 135 pts GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
8 Stefan Bradl 125 pts GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
9 Nicky Hayden 114 pts USA DUCATI Ducati Team
10 Ben Spies 88 pts USA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
11 Hector Barbera 79 pts SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing Team
12 Aleix Espargaro 63 pts ESP ART Power Electronics Aspar
13 Randy De Puniet 53 pts FRA ART Power Electronics Aspar
14 Karel Abraham 43 pts CZE DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
15 Michele Pirro 30 pts ITA HONDA Honda Gresini
16 James Ellison 29 pts GBR ART Paul Bird Motorsport
17 Yonny Hernandez 28 pts COL BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP
18 Colin Edwards 25 pts USA SUTER NGM Forward Racing
19 Jonathan Rea 17 pts GBR HONDA Repsol Honda Team
20 Danilo Petrucci 16 pts ITA IODA Came IodaRacing Project
21 Mattia Pasini 13 pts ITA ART Speed Master
22 Ivan Silva 11 pts ESP BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP
23 Toni Elias 10 pts SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing Team
24 Katsuyuki Nakasuga 7 pts JPN YAMAHA Yamaha YSP Racing Team
25 Steve Rapp 1 pts USA APRILIA Attack Performance
26 David Salom 1 pts ESP BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP
27 Roberto Rolfo 0 pts ITA ART Speed Master
28 Franco Battaini 0 pts ITA DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
29 Chris Vermeulen 0 pts AUS SUTER NGM Forward Racing
30 Aaron Yates 0 pts USA BCL GPTech

 

[KUCIAR666]

Dramatic race in Sepang saw Abraham finish tenth

Czech rider Karel Abraham finished tenth in last weekend's dramatic Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix and collected six points in the overall championship standings. A light rain was falling down on the riders on the grid before the start of the MotoGP class, but as the race progressed, the weather conditions kept getting worse and the track started to resemble a stream. During the early laps of the race, Abaja had to battle with himself and started to fall behind. Eventually his lap times started to improve and Karel managed to stay on his bike despite the terrible weather. With just seven laps to go, the race was red flagged due to the unacceptable track conditions. A lengthy debate ensued as to whether the race should be restarted and the remaining laps completed. The race directorate eventually decided to abandon the race and award points based on the standings in the last fully completed lap.

Karel Abraham
?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.?

Marco Grana, Chief Mechanic, Cardion AB Motoracing
?Seeing the results, one could say it is a reason for optimism, but unfortunately the opposite is true. During the early stage of the race, Karel hardly raced at all. He mostly had to battle with his own mental condition. Sure, the weather was terrible, but everyone had the same rain to deal with. I am very upset because this is not a MotoGP level of performance. We need to find an effective solution.?

 

[KUCIAR666]

Hayden fourth, Rossi fifth in Malaysian rain

Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Malaysian Grand Prix, which was marked by very wet conditions.

Rain had already fallen during the Moto3 race, which saw German Sandro Cortese take the win and the title, and it had an even bigger influence on the Moto2 race, which started late and ended early. But it was the MotoGP race that was most affected, with delays, crashes and eventually a premature finish. Nicky Hayden passed the chequered flag in fourth place, having lapped at a competitive pace and avoided mistakes.

After an excellent start from the fourth row, Valentino Rossi was fifth at the end of lap one, and until eleven laps from the end, he was involved in a fight with Dovizioso and Stoner for the third step of the podium. With the rain increasing in intensity, he ran long in turn 7, dropping to ninth place as a result. From there, he once again advanced as high as fifth place, when the red flag fell seven laps before the scheduled finish. With the rain only falling harder after that, the decision was made not to restart the race.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 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 (Ducati Team) 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.?

Vittoriano Guareschi, Team Manager
?It was certainly a strange Sunday, with conditions that we hadn?t ridden in the whole weekend. We started with the tyres as an unknown and opted for the hard rain, which in the end turned out to be a good choice. Both Nicky and Vale were very good because they brought home a good haul of points in an extremely difficult situation that cost many others. Our bike performs very well in wet conditions, and both riders took good advantage of that.?