2012 Sepang MotoGP Race Result: Dominant Win In Red-Flagged Race

By David Emmett | Sun, 21/10/2012 - 09:35

Results and summary of the red-flagged race at Sepang:

Dani Pedrosa has taken his third victory in a row, after leading the MotoGP race at Sepang when it was red-flagged due to the heavy rain. Pedrosa's victory takes him 5 points closer to Jorge Lorenzo in the championship race, Lorenzo's advantage now down to just 23 points with two races left in the championship.

The race followed the pattern familiar from Motegi, Jorge Lorenzo getting the holeshot and leading for the first laps, with Dani Pedrosa following closely in his wake. Third man on the front row Andrea Dovizioso could not capitalize on his good starting position, the Italian spinning up the rear of his Monster Tech 3 Yamaha on the wet grid and losing a lot of ground at the start. Ben Spies, inevitably, was a victim of Dovizioso's problems, being forced to back off at the start and losing spots along with the Italian.

Dovizioso's poor start left Casey Stoner in 3rd, but the Australian's excessive caution in the first few laps meant Lorenzo and Pedrosa could escape. Stoner had a whole group of riders backing up behind him, with Valentino Rossi at the head, the Italian buoyed by the wet weather after struggling so badly in the dry. Stefan Bradl sat on Rossi's tail, with Dovizioso quickly making up for his mistake, ahead of Alvaro Bautista and Nicky Hayden.

Once Lorenzo and Pedrosa had a gap, they were gone. Lorenzo pushed hard to try to gap Pedrosa, taking advantage of the extra grip of the softer rain tire he had elected to run. Try as he might, however, he could not break the Repsol Honda man, Pedrosa sitting calmly on Lorenzo's tail awaiting his chance. Pedrosa's hand was forced on lap 10, after the rain started falling much more heavily. Aware that the race could be called at any moment, Pedrosa launched an attack on the way into the final hairpin, disposing of Lorenzo with relative ease. Once past, he was gone, opening up a gap with complete ease and controlling the race. The gap to Lorenzo quickly grew larger, as Lorenzo's pace dropped off along with the grip of his tire, and as Pedrosa had predicted, the race was red-flagged by Race Direction on lap 14, after a spate of crashes made it clear that conditions were no longer safe to continue.

With just 13 of the 20 laps completed, one lap short of two thirds distance, Race Direction waited for conditions to improve, in case the race could be restarted. They only grew worse, the rain getting heavier and visibility becoming dire. The race was called compete, and Pedrosa declared the winner.

The decision to red flag the race came just in time for Jorge Lorenzo. The Yamaha man had been losing ground fast, just as Casey Stoner was getting his confidence in the wet up again, and getting into his stride. Stoner was on course to catch Lorenzo if the race had gone on for another couple of laps, which Lorenzo made easier by locking up the front wheel as he braked for the final hairpin and running wide. Lorenzo was one of the lucky ones: three laps earlier, Cal Crutchlow, Randy De Puniet, Ivan Silva and Stefan Bradl all went down within a minute of each other. Andrea Dovizioso had already crashed and rejoined the race by that point, while Ben Spies had crashed on lap 9, falling heavily and banging up his shoulder.

The chaos behind the leaders left Nicky Hayden in 4th, the sixth time in his career he has finished 4th in Malaysia. Hayden inherited the position from his Ducati teammate Valentino Rossi, who had been running strongly in 4th before losing a lot of time on lap 9. Rossi battled his way back past Alvaro Bautista to take 5th, the San Carlo Gresini Honda man ending the day in 6th. Hector Barbera took 7th, not far ahead of Aleix Espargaro, who finished as first CRT in 8th despite a crash on the sighting lap on his Aspar ART machine. PBM rider James Ellison rode another outstanding race in the wet to take 9th, ending ahead of Karel Abraham on the Cardion AB Ducati, who rounded out the top 10.

Pedrosa's victory makes life that little bit tougher for Jorge Lorenzo, cutting back his advantage to just 23 points over the Repsol Honda man. That should be enough for Lorenzo, but Pedrosa's form has been impressive over the last few races, taking victory in five of the last six races. Pedrosa has now won three races in a row for the first time in his career, and won his first race in the wet, the first time in his entire Grand Prix career.

Results:

Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Time Diff
1 26 Dani PEDROSA HONDA 29'29.049  
2 99 Jorge LORENZO YAMAHA 29'32.823 3.774
3 1 Casey STONER HONDA 29'36.193 7.144
4 69 Nicky HAYDEN DUCATI 29'39.567 10.518
5 46 Valentino ROSSI DUCATI 29'45.808 16.759
6 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA HONDA 29'46.325 17.276
7 8 Hector BARBERA DUCATI 30'19.331 50.282
8 41 Aleix ESPARGARO ART 30'20.634 51.585
9 77 James ELLISON ART 30'25.725 56.676
10 17 Karel ABRAHAM DUCATI 30'26.671 57.622
11 9 Danilo PETRUCCI IODA-SUTER 30'31.854 1'02.805
12 51 Michele PIRRO FTR 30'31.940 1'02.891
13 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO YAMAHA 30'58.038 1'28.989
Not Classified
  6 Stefan BRADL HONDA 25'10.154 2 laps
  35 Cal CRUTCHLOW YAMAHA 22'51.268 3 laps
  14 Randy DE PUNIET ART 23'20.028 3 laps
  22 Ivan SILVA BQR 23'38.031 3 laps
  5 Colin EDWARDS SUTER 24'12.202 3 laps
  11 Ben SPIES YAMAHA 18'23.381 5 laps
Disqualified
  84 Roberto ROLFO ART    

 

2012
16
MotoGP
Sepang, Malaysia
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Comments

You don't know if to be sorry for Dani (all the stars aligned against him) or happy that there were no serious consequences for the ones that hit the ground.
This is the downside of racing late to please the old continent ... it gets darker and restart are more difficult.
Congrats to Sandro and Alex (very happy for him, finally some shine). And to Pedrosa, take away the mess on the pit lane, and the number of victories back to back it is truly impressive!

I would never presume to say that Lorenzo's save was luck, because the man is pure skill and we've seen major saves from him before. BUT WHAT A SAVE! But Yamaha also majorly lucked out. Stoner was about a corner away from overtaking Lorenzo, and that would have made a big difference in the championship. As it stands, Lorenzo can now afford to make a big mistake or just play it safe. Incredible ride from Dani. If anyone ever deserved the championship it's him in 2012, but then Lorenzo deserves it too. It's just too bad we couldn't see the full race, but the call was the right one

theese tracks are great for F1 but too big, too long, too wide for motorcycle racing.
Just better suited track would be much greater. Even in North Korea;)

with Lorenzo putting his hand up considering how close Stoner was to him.
No doubt Stoner would of passed him and taken points off him.

POOR LOSER..... DANI TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Pedrosa is really stepping up this season. He looked rattled for a long time after Stoner joined the team but this season he has been strong. But what has impressed me the most is how he has changed since Stoners injury. He has seen his chance & is fighting like hell to make the most of it.
Lorenzo looks like he is cruising, but when you stop pushing the mind can wander & danger awaits. The near fall today may be the best thing for him.
But Stoner is amazing. Having already announced his retirement you would think he was the one who would be cruising but no way. I have one of his black T-shirts he was selling in the main street of Cowes on the Saturday night when he was still a kid in 2003. "Never ever ever give up". He is in the pits, 3 weeks from retirement & he is still pushing everyone as hard as ever for more, in the rain with a busted ankle.
Never satisfied is the creed of the champions. Bring on Phillip Island.
My pick for # 1 plate next year. Pedrosa. Sometimes it's your time.

3 in a row for Dani! Great ride. How about Stoner in the interview saying if the race went all the way he could of won it. Such confidence after early in the interview saying he wasn't going to race....

Its always a good chance to have a downpour like we just had at Sepang if the race is held in October because, guess what?, its the rainy season at this time of the year in Malaysia. For logistical reasons they probably want to string Japan, Malaysia and Australia together but having Malaysia now is a high probability for a shortened race.. or even an abandoned one.
I can remember serious discussion from some riders complaining about the fickle and changable PI weather... and it is! But theres no clearly forseeable bad weather season to be avoided like in Sepang.
Great to be out there today and see how excited the Malaysian fans were about the performances by the local riders in Moto 3 and then in Moto 2. That sort of level and performance by Asian riders needs to be fostered and will be a very good thing for the sport.

What is the rule for determining the results for a red flag situation ?

Moto2 was cancelled in halfway lap 17. Race results determined at lap 15.
MotoGP was cancelled on lap 14. Race results determined at lap 13.

Also can full championship points be awarded when 2/3 of total race distance has not been reached?

I'm trying to ingore all ifs here, but have Honda lost this years drivers championship due to too good line-up? Stoner was the dominant Honda driver in the beginning of the season and Dani in the end. Will Yamaha suffer same problems next year, with points lost when drivers takes points of each other? As it is right now, Lorenzo can be 100% sure that he is best Yamaha.

The only reason they still have a chance is because they have the strongest line-up. If Yamaha had lost Lorenzo to injury as HRC has lost Stoner from the championship charge, where would they be? Backing up Dovizioso? Not to mention the wisdom of HRC's strategy was already proven last year, it worked and they won a stomping 13 races.

If Honda would have only Stoner they would be out at this point. But if Dani would be top rider he would have more points at this moment. So you are both right. One top rider is better option if he dont crash. There is no team rider eating points of primary rider. But if your top rider crash and get injured you are out.

So what is better?

Depends on circumstances.

LP

JLorenzo is not a coward. Hes racing in motogp, doing close to 200 mph running over standing water. The vast majority of people wouldn't be able to do even half that speed in similar conditions, in a car. He is a hero, they all are.

When the England/Poland game got called off during the week, were they all cowards too? To use your lingo, was Wayne Rooney acting like a bit of a "Winona Ryder"? If they had played (soccer), it would have been a farce due to the severity of the conditions, and injuries would have been much more likely. So they played the next day instead.

On the BBC footage I saw, we only saw JL put his hand up, but that does not mean others did not do the same, we just didn't see it. But it doesn't matter, race direction were going to stop the race regardless, too much running water across the track, especially that last corner. J.Ellison said he was coming into that corner on the brakes, letting off going over the river, then back on the brakes before tipping in. That is less than ideal.

Now, It was a let-off for Lorenzo getting 2nd before Stoner came past him (and probably the 2 ducatis, if the race went to 20 laps), but the race had to be stopped at that stage in fairness! So many guys went down before that, it was getting too dangerous. We saw Cal go down, and it was only by pure chance and luck that he and the marshals helping him out of the gravel were not hit by RdPs bike. THe way it flicked into the air, whoever it hits, they are dead. Not sure about you, but I don't like seeing guys get injured or killed.

It would have made for a more exciting finish to the championship I agree if Lorenzo had been pushed back to 3rd or 4th (or even slid out) but that didn't happen, so roll on the best track of the championship, hopefully Dani can win again to keep the pressure on for the last race.

Yes i agree with your sentiments but i and most other posters on here and other forums feel Dorna pandered to JLO's instructions and feel 'Done' for want of a better word.
In answer to your question.. No i don't like to see riders fall off regardless of whether i support/like said rider doing the falling off as horrific things can happen as shown 1 year ago.
I still feel the emotions of that day every day just the same as losing my brother 10 years ago. RIP Sic #58 and Colin (nobby)
As stated by many and even the organizers the 'show' is dire and is in need of major changes and i do hope for their and our sake they get it sorted soon.
Up until this season i never really cared for Dani but with the clean bill of health this year he has shown a real maturity in his riding and even smiles now and really once he got out of moaners shadow he has come of age and i would like to see him win this years championship.

Fair enough. I think it would have benefited Dorna better if Lorenzo finished further back though. Would have made the end of the championship more exciting, generated more audience for the last 2 races. Don't think Dorna care who wins. I hope Dani wins a MotoGP title this year, or one day. I think most people do tbh!

I am sorry to hear about your brother. My aunt was killed off a bike in 83, 4 years before I was born. She was my mams only sister, and only 15. RIP Sic, Colin and Lorraine.

Do you and all these forum posters realize that it wasn't Dorna who stopped the race? Pedrosa was in first but if it kept going or was restarted the only place he could go was down. If the race went on and Dani slid off giving the title to Jorge everyone would be crying about how the race should have been stopped when Jorge was raising his hand.

Problem is you're predicting too far, which other opposite predictions may living up too. It's understandable that riders would eventually say the race was dangerous etc. just like indianapolis 2008 (which not stopped prematurely).

The realistic prediction for 1 further lap is obvious, Stoner passed Lorenzo and that's it. Further speculation is just a speculation, such as: Hayden to passed Jorge or Jorge can't keep up with his tyre condition.

Just a matter of 1 or 2 missing laps which AGAINST the rule.

Wouldn't have mattered if Lorenzo did get passed where it was at cause it would have rolled back to the last lap in which ever rider out crossed the finish line. It's not like if Stoner had got past that would have just been a automatic 2nd for him.

I am huge fan of Dani from 250cc onwards. I do not like Lorenzo. So I rally, really wish for Dani to win championship.

I have hoped Lorenzo get taken by Stoner and Nicky. But the track really was dangerous. It has to be stopped. Nothing wrong there from Lorenzo. He was extremely reliable this year and did not make any mistake whatsoever.

I hope there is mistake from Lorenzo in next two races. If not then, well .... He deserves to win.

All I hope now is for Dani to win more races. We know that next year he will be top contender for championship.

I believe Jorge was very lucky because he made a wrong decision of tyre and in the end he walked away without paying for it (i.e. finishing out of the podium).

I also believe it looks much better when is the leading rider calling for an halt (Rossi) rather than someone who will get a benefit out of it.

Nevertheless it was right to be stopped .... Race Direction should have flagged it a little before no matter what. That way there was no gesturing from #99 or Stoner so close to upset the fans.

Lorenzo was lucky because the rain came harder (and the dark) not because some conspirator ruled in his favour.

Dani is right now in the zone and in its own league and if he will not win the WC it will probably be the most-deserved-not-won-one. That does not implies that Lorenzo deserve it a little less. In a way it should make the maillorcan even more proud of his achievement.

God Bless to you and yours brother.
At the end of the day mate, we all want the same thing, someone deserving to win the championship (Dani) and for the frikkin organgrinders to sort the low level championship out for the coming years...
WSB & BSB both put MGP to shame on virtually ALL counts so if they want to retain or polish the self proclaimed tag of 'The Pinnacle' of bike racing they must sort their shit out now, if not sooner..