Casey Stoner narrowed the lead of Jorge Lorenzo at the pinnacle of the MotoGP standings after a dominant performance in challenging conditions during the Catalunya Grand Prix on Sunday. The Repsol Honda rider excelled against his competitors and the slick track, securing his third victory in five races this season, and reducing Lorenzo’s advantage to just seven points; Lorenzo, representing Spain, had to settle for second place in front of his home crowd.
Ben Spies claimed third place, marking his first podium finish of the year with the factory Yamaha team. Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso finished fourth, followed by Valentino Rossi (Ducati) and Marco Simoncelli, whose Gresini Honda seemed to lack the speed it demonstrated when achieving a surprising pole position the day before. Cal Crutchlow from Britain took seventh place for the Tech 3 Yamaha squad.
At the race’s outset, Stoner leapt ahead of pole-sitter Simoncelli, yet he found himself in second place as they approached turn one, due to Lorenzo’s superior start from third on his Yamaha. However, Lorenzo’s time at the front was short-lived, as by the conclusion of the opening lap, Stoner was preparing to overtake, successfully completing the maneuver into the first turn on lap two.
Stoner faced little difficulty maintaining his lead, consistently keeping a comfortable distance ahead of Lorenzo. The only threat to the Australian’s performance came from the weather, with light drizzle complicating the race for the riders; nevertheless, it never intensified enough to require wet-weather tires.
Stoner remarked that the overcast skies and drizzle contributed to a challenging race. “We made a good start, we tried to get past as soon as we could,” he explained. “We managed to pull an advantage and the bike started to work really well. Jorge got off to a good start and I had to wait until the end of the first lap to overtake him, and then he couldn’t stay with me, fortunately.”
In response, Lorenzo stated: “The race was hard. It was tough to fight with Casey today.”
The only retirements of the race were Hiroshi Aoyama (Gresini Honda) and Randy de Puniet (Pramac Ducati), both of whom exited after a collision at turn one.
