Resident MotoGP “alien” Casey Stoner was basically in another galaxy compared to the rest of the field at Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain, quickly grabbing the lead after an average start on the first lap and disappearing off into the distance. Stoner’s speed was such that he set a race lap record at Aragon on his first flying lap; he then went on to set the race lap record on his fourth lap with a pace that none of the other riders could hope to match. Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa finished a distant second some eight seconds back, with Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo coming in third another six seconds behind. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Simoncelli finished fourth after working his way back up from a mistake that let fifth-placed Ben Spies get by for a few laps. Nicky Hayden was the top Ducati finisher in seventh place, with Valentino Rossi starting from the pitlane in order to use his seventh engine in the new aluminum chassis. Rossi quickly made his way up to the group battling for ninth spot, eventually finishing tenth. Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Colin Edwards achieved his 150th MotoGP start, but it was a day he’d rather forget as tire problems dropped him to the rear of the field to finish 13th.
Casey Stoner was in a class...
Casey Stoner was in a class by himself at Aragon, turning lap times the others had no hope of matching.
“Before the race, everybody was a little bit cautious I think because the wind had picked up from morning warmup,” said Stoner. “Conditions were a lot different from what we’d ridden all weekend. There was thinking about warming the hard tires up and making sure everything’s good at the start. Our start was pretty average, off the start I sort of tucked the front a little bit and started going over to the left, and managed not to hit Dani. Ben came around the outside, and we ended up third into the first couple of corners. But then from there we were able to feel pretty comfortable with the bike and I wanted to get to the front as quick as I could. The bike’s been working fantastic all weekend, and it was our race to lose really. I wanted to get to the front and see if I could pull that gap early and get comfortable for the rest of the race. I passed Dani as early as I could, then got past Ben as quick as I could, and tried to pull that gap. Dani was strong in the first laps and kept me honest, and I had to keep pulling off some really fast laps. And then from there we just tried to manage the race, but I think everyone was struggling with tires to some degree. I don’t mind the bike when it’s sliding around, so maybe we felt a little more comfortable than some of the others.”
Dani Pedrosa finished a distant...
Dani Pedrosa finished a distant second to Stoner after keeping the Australian honest for the first few laps.
Pedrosa tried to keep Stoner in sight, but it eventually was a lost cause. “It was very windy so it was hard to keep the tires warm,” admitted the Spaniard. “I tried to take care in the first laps so I got overtook by Spies and Stoner, and then I couldn’t do any better. I tried my best but Stoner was very fast, very good riding, so he deserves the win. We had a lot of problems with the rear tire, but I’m happy to finish second and I hope to do better next race. We are working to get closer to first, but for now, three second places is not so bad.”
Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo fulfilled...
Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo fulfilled his pre-race prediction of finishing third, the best he thought could be done.
True to his prediction after qualifying, Lorenzo filled out the podium position in the best spot he could hope to achieve given the speed of the leading duo. “The third position today was the best result we could get,” said the Yamaha rider . “And we made it, you know? The beginning of the race we were faster, but it was because the Honda was pushing, so Ben and Marco were able to stay a little bit with them, but then after the Honda riders’ pace keep going much more constant than us and we were slower and slower. I was able to keep a higher pace than Ben and Marco, and I make sure of the position. I try to catch Dani but was impossible because he was so far.”
Ben Spies led part of the...
Ben Spies led part of the first lap before Stoner and Pedrosa got past before it was completed, eventually finishing fifth.
“I knew that (lead) wasn’t going to last long the way Casey and Dani were going,” admitted Spies. “I felt really good in the beginning. And then even when the laps started going, the fourth and fifth lap, I felt our advantage to fourth was growing. I felt really comfortable, I knew I didn’t have Casey and Dani’s speed, but I felt like we definitely had a podium fight in us. But about the sixth or seventh lap, the rear tire just made a huge drop, and it just kept going down. Usually the tires make one drop and stay consistent. I had no confidence in the rear grip and struggled; I definitely could see why after I saw it when we pulled in pit lane. I’m frustrated, but I felt like I was riding good and the bike was working great, and like I said, I thought we definitely had a podium fight in us, but it didn’t work out that way and we had some struggles, that’s the way it goes.”
Nicky Hayden became involved...
Nicky Hayden became involved in a tussle for seventh place with satellite Ducati rider Hector Barbera (background) that Hayden eventually won.
Hayden became locked in a battle with satellite Ducati rider Hector Barbera, which let sixth-placed Alvaro Bautista get away. “I had a good start and was decent at the very beginning. We knew tire wear was going to be an issue, and we had a drop in performance after the first couple of laps. It lost grip, and I also wasn’t able to load the bike well for turning. I was okay in parts of the track, but compared to the fast guys, I was losing time in the last corner. I hoped to hang onto the second group for a while, but it just wasn’t possible. I’d like to have fought with Bautista on the last lap because he was on our pace, but Barbera and I were going back and forth, which hurt both of us and let him escape. It’s unfortunate, because coming here we hoped that we could put up a better fight. Still, this is the first race I’ve finished normally with the GP11.1, since at Indy I reentered just to get points. Hopefully that will help us to get some data and be better off in the future.”
Valentino Rossi had to start...
Valentino Rossi had to start 10 seconds after the field from pitlane due to his using a seventh engine, but he still worked his way up to 10th place at the finish.
Because the newer chassis used different engine mounting points, Ducati was forced to use a seventh engine for Rossi, causing him to be penalized for exceeding the MotoGP season engine limitation. The penalty was starting from pitland 10 seconds after the actual start, but Rossi didn’t feel it was that much of a disadvantage considering the circumstances. “Yeah, it was…I don’t lose a lot starting from the pit,” said Rossi. “I can arrive on the last group quite soon. But the bigger problem is that we spin (the rear tire) very much during the race at a level that we never see during the weekend. After some laps, we destroyed the tire, and we don’t understand, maybe the tire have something wrong. But anyway, with the good tire we are not as fast as we expect, and we don’t reach the result that we’re waiting for. So we work together with Ducati, we try but at this moment we don’t fix a lot.”
MotoGP Aragon race results:
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda
2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda
3. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha
4. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) Honda
5. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha
6. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Suzuki
7. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati
8. Hector Barbera (SPA) Ducati
9. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha
10. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Ducati
11. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Honda
12. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Ducati
13. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha
DNF Toni Elias (SPA) Honda
DNF Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati
DNF Andrea Dovisioso (ITA) Honda
DNF Karel Abraham (CZE) Ducati