A look at 2012 MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix – MotoGP Recap
2012 Qatar Grand Prix was the inaugural round of the 2012 MotoGP season.
In the Qualifying Practice Session, which was held on April 7, 2012, Jorge Lorenzo, riding for Yamaha Factory Racing, finished 0.221 seconds ahead of defending MotoGP champion Casey Stoner, thus taking the pole position. Cal Crutchlow finished third, only
0.167 seconds behind Stoner.
The race was held on April 8, 2012 in optimum riding conditions, with ground temperature around 23°C and humidity around 53%. 21 riders competed in the round over 22 rounds and ran a total distance of 118.36km.
Lorenzo was at the top of the grid, followed by Stoner and Crutchlow in the front row. The second row on the grid was shared by Ben Spies, Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso while Dani Pedrosa, Hector Barbera and Stefan Bradl shared the third row.
Lorenzo lead first two laps of the round. Dani Pedrosa, the Repsol Honda rider, who started 7th on the grid, had worked his way up to 2nd position by the end of the first lap while Stoner had dropped to 3rd after first lap.
In the third lap, Stoner overtook both Lorenzo and Pedrosa and was thus leading while Lorenzo and Pedrosa methodically dropped to 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
Between third and eighteenth lap of the Qatar Grand Prix, there was no change in the positions during which time, Stoner constantly lead followed by Lorenzo and Pedrosa respectively.
In the seventeenth lap, Crutchlow who had fallen to 5th place in the very first lap having started 3rd on the gird overtook Dovizioso, moving up to 4th place behind Pedrosa.
With only four more laps to go in the round, Lorenzo made his move. He overtook Stoner and by the end of the nineteenth lap, Lorenzo was leading, Stoner was in the second place and Pedrosa was constantly in the third place.
After 2 laps, Pedrosa overtook Stoner. With only 2 laps to go in the race, Lorenzo held the 1st place followed by Pedrosa, Stoner, Crutchlow and Dovizioso for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th places respectively. No changes took place in top five riders’ standings
until the end of the race.
Lorenzo completed the 22 laps in 44 minutes and 44.214 seconds. Pedrosa finished 0.852 seconds behind Lorenzo while Stoner finished 2.908 seconds behind the winner. A massive 14.206 seconds time gap separated Crutchlow and Stoner. Stoner posted the fastest
lap of the race finishing the fourth lap in 1 minute and 55.541 seconds. Hector Barbera posted a top speed of 342.3 km/h.
For the Losail circuit, Lorenzo holds the best lap record. In 2008, he finished a lap in 1 minute and 53.927 seconds. Amongst MotoGP riders, Stoner holds the record for most MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix wins. The Australian has won a total of 4 MotoGP rounds
in the Losail International Circuit. Amongst the constructors, Yamaha have won most races in Losail in the MotoGP class.
The next MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix will be held on April 7, 2013.
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