The Repsol Honda Team pair of Dani Pedrosa and Stoner gave the crowd action from the start, as the two touched fairings going into turn one, with Stoner taking the lead into turn two. Factory Yamaha Team’s Jorge Lorenzo took full advantage of this to sneak into second to hunt down the Australian, who was soon pulling out a gap.
Lorenzo’s teammate Spies, who had been in fourth, ran wide early on to drop back down the order into seventh, with Ducati Team’s Valentino Rossi on his tail. Meanwhile, four laps in, Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso pushed past his teammate Cal Crutchlow to g . . .
This Sunday sees the long awaited and hugely anticipated season opening race of the 2012 MotoGP™ Championship at the Losail circuit in Qatar. Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies will line up on the grid under the spectacular floodlights alongside their rivals for the first true test of the 1000cc era. A strong winter testing period with very competitive times means both riders arrive in Qatar confident in the abilities of their all-new 1000cc YZR-M1 as they set their sights on the podium.
2011 Championship runner up Lorenzo has a strong record at Qatar, starting every M . . .
How is the 1000 different from the 800 on corner entry, mid-corner, exit?
"Well, it’s not so much a difference between the 1000 and the 800, but just an improvement that we've made with Honda, is braking stability. The wheelbase is maybe a little different and when we go on the brakes we've got a bit more stability entering the corner. The rear does not want to hop as much and we can actually sink our hands into the brakes a lot harder. So it's actually changing the braking points by less than what we'd expected, because our bike has improved quite substantially in that point. I'd say corner . . .