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VALENCIA,
Spain - World MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo was denied a victorious
season finale on home soil - he crashed while leading an incident-packed
2012 Valencia FP on Sunday.
The tumble handed the win to fellow-Spaniard Dani Pedrosa.
Yamaha rider Lorenzo, who clinched his second World title two weeks earlier at Phillip Island in Australia, lost control of his machine with around 17 laps remaining and catapulted off the track to leave Honda's Pedrosa with a comfortable lead over Briton Cal Crutchlow.
CRUTCHLOW GOES TOO
Lorenzo walked away from the incident and did not appear to have been injured.
Crutchlow crashed with seven laps left and Pedrosa cruised to his seventh win of the year, one more than Lorenzo, almost 40sec ahead of Japanese Yamaha pilot Katsuyuki Nakasuga who was substituting for injured American Ben Spies, second.
Pedrosa's Honda team mate Casey Stoner, in the Australian double World champion's final race before retiring, pipped Yamaha's Alvaro Bautista to third a further 23sec back.
The Honda mechanics paid tribute to Stoner as he crossed the line and hung out a sign reading "Going fishing" for the 27-year-old, who decided to retire after falling out of love with the sport.
"There are a lot worse ways to end my career," Stoner said later in an interview with Spanish TV.
Lorenzo is on top of the championship standings with 350 points from 18 races, Pedrosa second on 332 and Stoner third on 254.
Results from the 2012 Valencia MotoGP on Sunday
1 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 48min23.819
2 Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Japan) Yamaha 49min01.480
3 Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda 49min24.452
4 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda 49min26.630
5 Michele Pirro (Italy) Honda 49min50.427
6 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Yamaha 49min54.242
7 Karel Abraham (Czech Republic) Ducati 49min55.608
8 Danilo Petrucci (Italy) Ioda 29 laps
9 James Ellison (Britain) Aprilia 29 laps
10 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati 29 laps
11 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia 29 laps
12 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia 28 laps
13 Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) BQR 28 laps
14 Colin Edwards (US) Suter 27 laps
15 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha 22 laps
Standings after the Valencia MotoGP on Sunday
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha - 350
2 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda - 332
3 Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda - 254
4 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Yamaha - 218
5 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda - 178
6 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati - 163
7 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha - 151
8 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda - 135
9 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati - 122
10 Ben Spies (U.S.) Yamaha - 88
11 Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati - 83
12 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia - 74
13 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia - 62
14 Karel Abraham (Czech Republic) Ducati - 59
15 Michele Pirro (Italy) FTR - 43
The tumble handed the win to fellow-Spaniard Dani Pedrosa.
Yamaha rider Lorenzo, who clinched his second World title two weeks earlier at Phillip Island in Australia, lost control of his machine with around 17 laps remaining and catapulted off the track to leave Honda's Pedrosa with a comfortable lead over Briton Cal Crutchlow.
CRUTCHLOW GOES TOO
Lorenzo walked away from the incident and did not appear to have been injured.
Crutchlow crashed with seven laps left and Pedrosa cruised to his seventh win of the year, one more than Lorenzo, almost 40sec ahead of Japanese Yamaha pilot Katsuyuki Nakasuga who was substituting for injured American Ben Spies, second.
Pedrosa's Honda team mate Casey Stoner, in the Australian double World champion's final race before retiring, pipped Yamaha's Alvaro Bautista to third a further 23sec back.
The Honda mechanics paid tribute to Stoner as he crossed the line and hung out a sign reading "Going fishing" for the 27-year-old, who decided to retire after falling out of love with the sport.
"There are a lot worse ways to end my career," Stoner said later in an interview with Spanish TV.
Lorenzo is on top of the championship standings with 350 points from 18 races, Pedrosa second on 332 and Stoner third on 254.
Results from the 2012 Valencia MotoGP on Sunday
1 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 48min23.819
2 Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Japan) Yamaha 49min01.480
3 Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda 49min24.452
4 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda 49min26.630
5 Michele Pirro (Italy) Honda 49min50.427
6 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Yamaha 49min54.242
7 Karel Abraham (Czech Republic) Ducati 49min55.608
8 Danilo Petrucci (Italy) Ioda 29 laps
9 James Ellison (Britain) Aprilia 29 laps
10 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati 29 laps
11 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia 29 laps
12 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia 28 laps
13 Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) BQR 28 laps
14 Colin Edwards (US) Suter 27 laps
15 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha 22 laps
Standings after the Valencia MotoGP on Sunday
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha - 350
2 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda - 332
3 Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda - 254
4 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Yamaha - 218
5 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda - 178
6 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati - 163
7 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha - 151
8 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda - 135
9 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati - 122
10 Ben Spies (U.S.) Yamaha - 88
11 Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati - 83
12 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia - 74
13 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia - 62
14 Karel Abraham (Czech Republic) Ducati - 59
15 Michele Pirro (Italy) FTR - 43
