2011 MotoGP Brno race report/results—Stoner runs away to dominant victory

Pedrosa crashes out on third lap, Dovisioso second with Simoncelli third; Lorenzo loses ground in points chase with fourth, Spies fifth, Hayden seventh, Edwards eighth

August 14, 2011

Casey Stoner increased his lead in the MotoGP World Championship with a resounding victory today at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic. The Repsol Honda rider took the lead on the second lap from teammate Dani Pedrosa, and after Pedrosa crashed out of the race on the same lap, Stoner quickly pulled away to an unassailable lead that was never threatened. Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo looked strong in the beginning of the race, but a wrong choice of front tire (Lorenzo chose the softer option) and some front end slides forced the reigning MotoGP champion to back off and allow Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovisioso and San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Simoncelli past, with the two Italians completing a Honda sweep of the podium in that order.

Ben Spies continued his struggles with a pinched nerve causing numbness and weakness in his left arm, but the American still was able to hold off a charging Valentino Rossi on the improving Ducati to briefly threaten Lorenzo for fourth. Lorenzo was able to respond and hold off his teammate, with Spies finishing fifth and Rossi sixth. Nicky Hayden finished seventh some 11 seconds behind Rossi, with Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Colin Edwards finishing eighth another second or so behind.

After grabbing the lead on the second lap, Casey Stoner pulled away to a dominant victory at Brno.

Stoner was glad to have scored the win after continuing issues with grip on Friday and Saturday. “This morning in warmup we found nothing, it was part of the reason we were struggling all weekend,” said Stoner. “Then in qualifying, probably two exits before the end we found something that was alright, gave us kind of a competitive bike for the end of the race. Turned some pretty competitive lap times with older tires that nobody else was really matching. So it gave us a little bit of confidence, but when we tried something else this morning, nothing worked; we couldn’t get the bike working properly, we couldn’t get it hooked up, it wasn’t turning, it was chattering a lot. For the race, we sort of calculated everything we had done for the sessions and what we thought would be the best direction. Other than that, it was up to me to find something extra for the race. I was pushing a lot more than what I’d like to in the beginning of the race, and watching everybody having small moments with the front gave me a little extra bit of confidence. Because the team, the bike, everything they’d given me, I was actually able to go through the corners with a little less lean angle than most with the same corner speed. So that gave us a little more safety, it gave us that edge, and from there we were just able to pull away. I’m really sorry for Dani because I think he would’ve been a tough competitor today. I think him and I would’ve been able to pull away from the rest but it’s the way it goes, and it happens to all of us. I’m really happy with the result today and a big thanks to the team because things were looking a little bit bleak going into the race and they’ve helped me pull it around.”

Dovisioso reveled in his second place finish after similar struggles in practice and qualifying. “I had a battle with Simoncelli and at the beginning with Lorenzo, but Lorenzo I think have some problem with the front tire, he chose the soft tire,” Dovisioso recalled. “I’m really happy about the result because we start on the seventh position on the grid, and we worked really hard in the practice for the race, and the race we were really competitive. I made a really good start, I tried to catch Casey, but I made a mistake, I arrive too long in turn 13. After that, I tried to manage Lorenzo and especially Simoncelli. I tried to push the last five laps and I went under 58 so he couldn’t stay with me. I’m really happy about my feeling on the bike, in the race, and all the people working for me, help me a lot for the weekend. Like I say, the level is always really high, and it’s difficult to always keep my motivation really high.”

After showing continual promise in practice and qualifying all year, Simoncelli finally put it all together to take his first podium of the year at Brno, and he was definitely a happy man. “It’s fantastic,” said the bushy-haired Italian. “This year I make a really big step, I was a lot faster compared to last year, but the result unfortunately in the race until now very similar; I had a lot of good opportunity, but every time for some different reason I lose it. After the qualifying I was not so satisfied because my bike was not working very well. But my team worked hard, we made some good adjustment, and today the bike works properly. I’m very happy, I want to say thanks to all my team, to Honda, and to everybody who stay with me in the bad moments.”

While Lorenzo was disappointed with the race’s outcome and the increasing gap to Stoner in the championship, he still knows there’s plenty of races to be run. “We guess it’s the front tire that was not the best option today,” admitted Lorenzo. “We tried it in the qualifying yesterday and it looks fine, I had a very good feeling and I could make a constant pace with it. But today with the conditions, with the temperature and also the tires from Moto2 made the track different, more slippery. So from the beginning, from the second lap I was very close to losing my front tire in all the corners so it was very difficult to maintain the fourth position. Yes, the championship looks more difficult for us, but it doesn’t mean it’s finished, no? I think there is still a lot of points to be played, so we must focus on winning the most possible races we can in the future. Now we have to forget this race, it’s one of the worst races we have done this year for sure and maybe my whole career in MotoGP.”

Most of the teams will be staying behind for a one-day test tomorrow, and the Yamaha Factory Racing team will be testing both the 2012 prototype with 1000cc engine, and an updated 800cc engine to help with the rest of this season. “To be honest, I’m really excited to try the 1000cc bike,” revealed Lorenzo, “also the new engine in the 800 tomorrow. Tomorrow we have a lot of work, so I have to sleep well and get ready for the test.”

Spies was glad to come out of the weekend with a fifth place finish, as the weakness from the pinched nerve was affecting his endurance. “I’m happy with it, for sure,” related the Texan. “With the way I felt going in, on the grid, the first couple laps, the whole weekend, it ended up good. Valentino (Rossi) pushed me the whole race and luckily pushed me enough to catch Jorge and Simoncelli and then it was kinda easy to sit on the back and get away from them. Luckily we had that second and a half gap because with three laps to go I was hanging on basically with one arm and trying to do the best I could. All I could think about during the middle of the race was November, when the season’s over, getting the most out of every weekend, and that’s what we did. We had to think about championship but also be smart about it and not throw it down the road. I did the best I could this weekend, and we didn’t leave anything out there. I wish we could have been 100% because the bike worked good. I think we definitely could have challenged for the podium at least; you don’t know if you can do it, but after the race, seeing where we were, I think we could’ve been close. That’s the way it goes. Everything’s not always 100% but we got the best we could out of the weekend.”

Although he’ll be testing the 2012 prototype and upgraded 800cc engine tomorrow along with Lorenzo, Spies doesn’t feel the nerve issue will be a hindrance. “Luckily the testing plan isn’t too rigorous,” said Spies. “You don’t really have to do a lot of stuff as in like achieving a lap time which is good for me. We just need to get some data, ride both bikes, not that much. I look forward to riding the 1000, feeling the power, but there’s nothing in mind that we have to do a certain lap time or go testing anything like that. Mainly for me, it’s get some sleep tonight and not too many laps tomorrow, and get ready for Indy.”

While he’s obviously used to winning races rather than finishing off the podium, Rossi was upbeat about his finish at Brno. “You know, sixth place is nothing fantastic,” admitted Rossi, “but if you consider our situation, we are quite happy because we make a clear step. From Saturday morning, we modify something in the front, and I have a better feeling braking and entering (corners) so it looks like I have more potential. I think maybe this is the best race of the season with this bike. We know that we have to work hard because Honda and Yamaha are very strong. But we arrive more or less 10 second from the top, four or five second from the podium, so we are not so far.”

The Ducati team will also be staying behind to test on Monday, but their testing will be centered around the current 800cc machinery, rather than the 2012 prototype that has already seen some test mileage (unlike Yamaha). “Tomorrow I will try another time the old bike, but at this moment is not very important because we arrive at a better potential with the GP11.1, but we have some new stuff, especially electronics things to try tomorrow to try and improve, different setting, different stuff. So it will be an important test and I hope we have good weather.

“I think it’s too risky to go to Motegi,” said Rossi. "Sincerely, I’m very scared."

Although other riders—including Stoner—have since softened their stance on attending the Motegi event scheduled for October, Rossi was still against going. “I think it’s too risky to go to Motegi,” said Rossi. “The nuclear center that is out of control is just 70 km from the track (actually the Twin Ring Motegi circuit is more than 120km from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant), and that area in this period is very dangerous because of the earthquake. Sincerely, I’m very scared. I think it is not a good idea to make a motorcycle race at that track. So I’m scared, all the people that have to come with me are scared, all my team and my mechanics are very scared to go. So I will decide in the next days with quiet, but for me is not a good idea.”

Despite finishing right behind his teammate, Hayden was in no mood to celebrate. “Well no, I can never be happy with seventh place,” said Hayden. “But considering yesterday, we were last with about 20 minutes to go in qualifying. Certainly from there forward the team have done a big, not a big step, but gotten the bike better and better, and we had a lot better bike today. But Friday we went nowhere, Saturday morning was wet, and it wasn’t until yesterday afternoon that I got going. So I’m not thrilled, but considering how it looked for part of the weekend, at least we salvaged a somewhat decent result. The time to the front was 23 seconds, which is a lot, but that’s actually the closest I’ve been in the dry in quite a while, so we gotta try to look for some positive somewhere.”

Ever the hard worker, Hayden was looking forward to the Monday test to help sort out some of the problems plaguing the Ducati. “We got a lot of stuff to test. Valentino tried some stuff yesterday on the front of the bike with some different parts that their side of the garage thought was a real good step forward. So hopefully we’re going to have enough of those parts that I can try tomorrow. Obviously the GP11.1 we have to spend some time on that, and we also need to understand why my top speed has not been good. I mean I was last this morning, so we went to the other engine from qualifying because it felt a little bit stronger for the race. In the race I was even worse; not only was I last, I was last with a gap, so we need to understand where that was from, because we know the Ducati engine is strong. We got a lot of work to do tomorrow. Hopefully the track will stay dry, there’s a chance of rain, but it would be really nice to get in a couple of good hours. We haven’t tested since Le Mans, and it’s clear we—myself included—still have some stuff to work on. So I look forward to getting my head down tomorrow and doing a good job.”

As for attending Motegi, Hayden was non-commital. “You know, it is risky. Radiation is something we don’t wanna play with. Some of the reports are saying it’s OK, but then again, we’ve also seen reports that say it’s not OK. So we need to understand more so hopefully we can get it all clear and move forward.”

Edwards wasn’t over-enthused with his finish as well. “Not great,” lamented Edwards, “I did all I could do. It’s like I got my hands tied, you know? I know I gave it my absolute maximum out there but eighth position was the best I could do. In the warm-up this morning I had zero traction, so we made a small geometry change for the race and it was definitely better. I had more grip but lap times, it just seemed like traction was off a little bit this afternoon compared to yesterday. Everybody’s pace seemed to be a little bit slower; I guess the rain last night must’ve done a little bit more damage than we thought. All I kept seeing on my lap timer on the dashboard was 58.5, 58.5. It must have been like that for about 14 laps in a row and at one point I thought it was broken. I just couldn't go much faster and it seems we are lacking traction compared to the others. I was spinning the rear tire a lot and right now our bike feels a little bit unforgiving. I was right on the back of Nicky for pretty much the whole race but I couldn't do anything with him. Our lap times just didn't deviate at all, so I couldn't get close enough to him. It wasn't like he had more grip than me, but because we were doing the same pace I didn't get close enough to attack him.” Edwards will be using the Monday test to get some more time on new parts for his satellite M1. “Honestly I have no idea what we’re testing. I know we have a swingarm that we’re going to test; I think it’s more my crew chief Guy wanted Yamaha to build something. We tested it already, not real accurate, we tested it on Friday, we didn’t have enough time yesterday, but we’ll try it again tomorrow.”

MotoGP Brno race results:
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda
2. Andrea Dovisioso (ITA) Honda
3. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) Honda
4. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha
5. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha
6. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Ducati
7. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati
8. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha
9. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Honda
10. Hector Barbera (SPA) Ducati
11. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda
12. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Ducati
13. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati
DNF Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Suzuki
DNF Karel Abraham (CZE) Ducati
DNF Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha
DNF Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda

2011 MotoGP Brno race report/results—Stoner runs away to dominant victory

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