The racing weekend that was

MotoGP, the Italian GP at Mugello:

Mugello Areal photo

On Saturday, Dani Pedrosa riding his Repsol Honda took provisional pole position at Mugello with a 1 min 47.284 sec on his last lap. However, not to be out-qualified, Jorge Lorenzo (Factory Yamaha) was aiming to take pole away from Pedrosa when an "apparent" electronic problem cut-out the engine at the very final corner and the fellow Spaniard had to settle for second. Third on the grid and flying the home crowd colours was Hector Barbera aboard the Pramac Ducati.

Jorge Lorenzo (Spain)

It was a different story on Sunday though, as Jorge Lorenzo put the hammer down and broke clear of Dani Pedrosa, as he sliced under pole man Pedrosa at the apex of turn one. After hanging on to Lorenzo for the first half of the race, his searing pace was too high for a "worried" Pedrosa, who slowly slipped back. As the checkered waved, Lorenzo was 5.223 seconds clear of second place finisher Pedrosa.

Casey Stoner's hopes of retaining his World Championship crown have suffered another set-back [last week he crashed out of the race] when they made a costly mistake by opting to run the "special" harder tires. From the very get-go Yamaha rider was running towards the back of the chasing pack but an error on lap ten saw him drop further to tenth. He would finish in eight place.

Valentino Rossi was one second away from a podium finish, while Andrea Dovizioso completed a hat trick with his third straight podium finish. For more race results, please click here.

Lorenzo's fifth win of the season puts him 19-points clear of nearest rival Pedrosa and 37-points ahead of reigning champion Casey Stoner, at the season's midway point.

So, the cat and mouse game continues on July 29 for the Red Bull US GP, at Laguna Seca, one of America's legendary tracks. For more info, please click here. To watch a one-minute video by MotoGP of last year's race, at Laguna Seca, please click here.


NASCAR, at Louden, New Hampshire:
It would be a dramatic finish to the LENOX Industrial Tool 301 race as the with 65 laps to go to the end of the race, a miscommunication pushed the race leader Denny Hamlin back to 13th place.

NASCAR has a short video on the final laps of the race. Please click here to watch it.

The pit stop that cost Hamlin the race

Denny Hamlin dug deep and raced hard to try and catch Kasey Kahne, who inherited the lead due to Hamlin's pit stop miscue. He had wanted 2 tires changed [right side only] but his crew chief Darian Grubb somehow understood a four tire change which cost them precious time. In the end, he passed 11 out of 12 cars in the final 65 laps but he didn't have enough time to catch up to and pass race leader Kasey Kahne, who ended up winning the race.

Race results:
1. Kasey Kahne, 2. Denny Hamlin, 3. Clint Bowyer, 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. , 5. Brad Keselowski

The next event is the Crown Royal race at Indy. For more info, please click here.

Thanks for reading.

Source: MotoGP, Crash.net, Wikipedia, NASCAR.
Photo credit: MotoGP, Getty Images.

Qatar 2012 MotoGP recap

The MotoGP season got underway this past weekend with the running of the Qatar GP at Losail circuit. Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) utilized Bridgestone's softer compound to push hard and secure pole position over reigning champion Casey Stoner by a margin of 0.221 seconds.

On race Sunday, it was good to be a Spaniard, as Jorge Lorenzo's fighting spirit carried him to victory, his first at the Losail circuit. In the beginning Casey Stoner was very strong and opened up a gap, however, towards the end he struggled and had to drop his pace. As Lorenzo had no problems he capitalized on this and passed Stoner for the lead, while keeping hard charging Dani Pedrosa at bay.

"From lap three you are really sideways," said the Spaniard when asked about his new Bridgestone tires. "It is fun to ride because you are always sliding and trusting the traction control but it is not so easy."

Lorenzo leading the Honda's

Dani Pedrosa rocketed from seventh to second at turn one, but then was passed by his team mate Stoner as he set his eyes on polesitter Lorenzo. Pedrosa was able to stick with the second place rider Lorenzo throughout the middle stages and later the duo caught up to Stoner, as his performance started to fade with only a few laps remaining. Pedrosa briefly passed Lorenzo for second only to have the Yamaha rider responding in kind and then putting Stoner between them.

Barbera about to pass through Rossi

As for 79 time MotoGP winner Valentino Rossi, his struggles continue with a poor performing Ducati. He finished the race in tenth place, 33.6 seconds behind Lorenzo. At one point he was even pushed off the track by privateer Hector Barbera, also on a Ducati!

Rossi on his Ducati: "The problems with the bike haven't changed, and neither have my requests. It's unridable, and it doesn't make much difference what track we are on".

The podium results:
1. Jorge Lorenzo, Spain, Yamaha Factory
2. Dani Pedrosa, Spain, Repsol Honda
3. Casey Stoner, Australia, Repsol Honda

Next race will be the Spanish GP at Jerez, on April 29.

Thanks for reading.

Source: MotoGO, Crash.net
Photo credit: Ducati Corse, The Australian