Casey Stoner won his first MotoGP race of the season at the inaugural Aragon Grand Prix this weekend in Spain. Starting from the pole position aboard his factory Ducati machine, Stoner led the race from start to finish. His only challenge came from Dani Pedrosa who stayed within a second of the leader after moving from fifth to second on lap three. The Spaniard backed off in the final laps though—later citing tire problems—and allowed Stoner a 5 second margin at the checkered flag.
The real racing took place further back. Stoner’s team-mate Nicky Hayden stole the final podium position from championship leader Jorge Lorenzo in the S-turn on the last lap, while Pedrosa’s team-mate Andrea Dovizioso crashed out on final lap during an exciting battle for fifth with satellite Yamaha rider Ben Spies. Ducati’s double podium at Aragon is their first in MotoGP since 2007.
Although he has now bettered his fellow countryman three races in succession, Dani Pedrosa still sits 56 points behind Jorge Lorenzo in the overall standings. Pedrosa may have taken 70 out of a maximum 75 points in the past three contests, but Lorenzo, even with his season’s worst fourth place at Aragon, has still managed 49 points.
Five rounds and 125 points remain undecided in the 2010 MotoGP World Championship. The next race takes place October 3 at Montegi in Japan.
2010 Aragon MotoGP Results
1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 42m 16.53s
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 42m 21.678s
3. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 42m 26.026s
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 42m 26.11s
5. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42m 30.301s
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 42m 43.86s
7. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m 45.041s
8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 42m 51.784s
9. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m 51.923s
10. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 42m 51.997s
11. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 42m 52.052s
12. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43m 1.89s
13. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 43m 4.849s
14. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 43m 14.577s
DNF:
Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team
Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP
2010 MotoGP Rider’s Championship
1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 284
2 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 228
3 Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team 155
4 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 140
5 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 139
6 Ben Spies Monster Yamaha Tech 3 131
7 Nicky Hayden Ducati Marlboro Team 125
8 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 81
9 Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda Gresini 74
= Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini 74
11 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3 70
12 Hector Barbera Aspar Racing Team 66
13 Alex Espargaro Pramac Racing Team 50
14 Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 49
15 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 41
16 Mika Kallio Pramac Racing Team 33
17 Hiroshi Aoyama Interwetten Honda 29
18 Alex de Angelis Interwetten Honda 11
19 Roger Lee Hayden LCR Honda 5
20 Kousuke Akiyoshi Interwetten Honda 4
21 Wataru Yoshikawa Fiat Yamaha Team 1
