MotoGP: Red Flag Interrupts Congested Qualifying at Estoril

With mixed weather at the Portuguese track, MotoGP riders headed out for their last qualifying session at Estoril for the foreseeable future. With the rain making a brief appearance, riders had to contend with changing conditions, though the biggest disruption to the qualifying session was the red flag stoppage for an injured rider.

With a congested track at Estoril, lapped bikes played a crucial element for riders trying to get in a flying lap. As such, the order for Sunday’s racing grid has some surprises from GP fans. Spoilers and qualifying results for the 2012 Portuguese GP are after the jump.

In a session that saw a number of riders go off course and through the gravel, though mostly staying upright, the biggest incident out of Estoril was the crash by Randy de Puniet that knocked down Colin Edwards. Sending both riders to Clinica Mobile, qualifying had to be stopped as Edwards lay near the track’s edge with a suspected broken collarbone. Letting RdP pass him on the inside, Edwards’s BMW/Suter was struck as de Puniet’s Aprilia lost the front, and skidded along the track.

The red flag broke up the rhythm of the day’s qualifying, which saw a number of riders caught out by encountering slower traffic during their flying laps. No one fell victim to this more than Ben Spies though, as the American had to scrub three of his fast laps of the day, and will thus start from the second row because of it.

With Estoril known for its many different types of asphalt, riders complained of grip and feeling issues. This plagued the factory Ducatis of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, as well as factory Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo. It didn’t seem to affect one Cal Crutchlow though, as the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha rider has again put himself on the front row, much to the dismay of Andrea Dovizioso and Mr. Elbowz.

Unsurprisingly, Casey Stoner sits on pole, followed by teammate Dani Pedrosa. With the Hondas being quick all week, they will surely be the ones to beat in tomorrow’s race. Don’t count out the Yamahas though, as all for of them have shown potential for podium positions.

Qualifying Results from the Portuguese GP at Estoril, Portugal:

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Time	Diff.
1	Casey STONER	AUS	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	1’37.188	–
2	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	1’37.201	0.013
3	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	1’37.289	0.101
4	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	1’37.466	0.278
5	Ben SPIES	USA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	1’37.723	0.535
6	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	1’37.917	0.729
7	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	1’37.943	0.755
8	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Pramac Racing Team	Ducati	1’38.006	0.818
9	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	1’38.059	0.871
10	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Team	Ducati	1’38.253	1.065
11	Stefan BRADL	GER	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	1’38.265	1.077
12	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Power Electronics Aspar	ART	1’39.353	2.165
13	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Cardion AB Motoracing	Ducati	1’39.398	2.210
14	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	Power Electronics Aspar	ART	1’39.586	2.398
15	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Avintia Blusens	BQR	1’40.029	2.841
16	Michele PIRRO	ITA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	FTR	1’40.225	3.037
17	Mattia PASINI	ITA	Speed Master	ART	1’40.387	3.199
18	Colin EDWARDS	USA	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	Suter	1’40.964	3.776
19	James ELLISON	GBR	Paul Bird Motorsport	ART	1’41.394	4.206
20	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Came IodaRacing Project	Ioda	1’41.486	4.298
21	Ivan SILVA	SPA	Avintia Blusens	BQR	1’41.490	4.302