Repsol team leader Dani Pedrosa was so far the only man other than Rossi and Lorenzo to win this year, but he’d also had some troubled races - where Jorge had been first or second every time out. Round seven was the Grand Prix of Catalunya at the Barcelona circuit, where Pedrosa had won three GP races in the past, and Lorenzo only one. Rossi had won there nine times, but of course was still recuperating; but might he back in action sooner than initially expected?

There was more behind the scenes talk at this event, some of it concerning 2012, some concerning 2011, and some about the more immediate future. For instance, Rossi had been expected back for the ninth race, at Brno in the Czech Republic - but now rumours had him possibly back for round eight, at the Sachsenring in Germany. This event saw the début of his substitute rider, Yamaha company man Wataru Yoshikawa (see the Assen report), riding with the number 8. In light of his pace here, perhaps an early return for Valentino, if feasible, seemed all the more desirable. It was known that 35-time Honda MotoGP rider Alex de Angelis would be in the field in Germany.

The talk about next season was centred on rider-team moves. With rumours of a deal for Rossi to switch to Ducati seemingly now reasonably substantial, there were corresponding reshuffles to ponder. For instance, was Rossi’s apparent move going to fill a gap as Casey Stoner, in his fourth year with Ducati, switched back to a Honda ride - this time in the works team? Would Andrea Dovizioso lose his ride to Stoner; and would Ben Spies take over the works Yamaha left vacant by Rossi? The talk for 2012 was about the hope that the grid would expand to 22 bikes for that season.

In the present, qualifying in Barcelona saw Lorenzo take his third consecutive pole position. Yoshikawa on the sister Yamaha was at the opposite end of the grid in seventeenth position. Stoner had been on pole for Marlboro Ducati at round one, and here was starting from his best slot since then as he secured second. For the fourth time this year, the leading Honda qualifier was that of customer rider Randy de Puniet, third for the LCR team.

The works Honda men were on row two, with Pedrosa fourth and Dovizioso sixth. Tech 3 rider Spies was fifth, for the third time ahead of experienced team-mate Colin Edwards, who was tenth here. The Rizla Suzuki riders were in better shape than of late, with Loris Capirossi seventh, in his best showing since round one. Álvaro Bautistá, pretty much back to full fitness now, was a good ninth on a track he’d won at twice. In fact, ten of the riders on the grid had won a GP race here, but only Pedrosa, de Puniet (twice) and Bautistá had done so more than once.

Eighth went to San Carlo Gresini Honda rider Marco Simoncelli, and team-mate Marco Melandri managed P14, even though he had not only dislocated his shoulder a week earlier, but also cracked his sternum. Melandri was coping with pain from those problems, as might be imagined. Eleventh was a step backwards for Nicky Hayden on the second Marlboro Ducati, ahead of Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Ducati) and Héctor Barberá (Aspar Ducati). Between Melandri and Yoshikawa were Mika Kallio (Pramac) and Kousuke Akiyoshi (Interwetten Honda).

There were hot conditions on race day, but nothing could stop Pedrosa from making his usual good start and emerging as the leader in the long run down to the right-handed Elf corner, which is turn one. However, Dani found that he couldn’t get any brakes initially, and he had to run out wide onto the run-off tarmac. When he got things sorted out and back on course, he had dropped to eleventh position. The beneficiaries were new leader Lorenzo, from Stoner, Dovizioso, de Puniet, Bautistá, Simoncelli, Capirossi, Spies and Hayden. Pedrosa quickly regained a place to run tenth, from Melandri, Espargaró and Barberá.

To begin with, the action right behind Lorenzo involved Stoner, Dovizioso and de Puniet, with the rest of the field soon beginning to fall away from that quartet of pace setters. The first time back onto the main start-finish straight, Jorge had to defend his position. At the fifth corner, the left-handed Revolt Seat, Andrea overtook Casey braking on the inside for second place. Randy hung on initially, but he too began to drift off the bunch.

Pedrosa did well enough to advance to fifth place on lap two, now heading Simoncelli, Bautistá, Spies and Melandri. From there he set a new fastest lap and chased after the leaders, closing in on de Puniet. The race in front saw Dovizioso get on the inside of Lorenzo for Elf, and pass the Yamaha man. As the new leader, Andrea now took fastest lap, but with Jorge and Stoner still in tow. Jorge regained the advantage in an unusual move at the left turn Revolt Würth, leading into an immediate uphill kink to the right.

Fourth man de Puniet had lost touch with the leaders, and was now closely followed by the recovering Pedrosa. The Spaniard overtook on the power along the main straight, and would soon start to out-distance the French rider. Not unlike Pedrosa at the beginning, at this stage third man Stoner ran off track at the Elf corner, rejoining behind the two Honda riders. That left Lorenzo and Dovizioso with a two-second lead over the nearest pursuer. Espargaró suffered a lowside crash at Elf to end his race at this point.

Lorenzo continued to be tracked by Dovizioso, and by now Pedrosa was clear in third but no longer matching pace with the two ahead. There was a race on for fourth, with de Puniet holding on even when he took a wider line at the Revolt la Caixa left-hander. However, Stoner had soon got onto the inside of the Honda for Elf, braking a little bit late for the corner but still making it round to take the position. From there he was able to move clear and latch onto the rear of Dani ahead. Sadly for Simoncelli, having run in a clear sixth for a while, even closing the gap to de Puniet, he now disappeared with mechanical troubles.

Ten laps from the finish things changed for Lorenzo. His shadow Dovizioso managed to crash out on the lowside at la Caixa. The Italian got up and moving again in 15th position, but by now his Honda was no longer able to run at full speed. Jorge now had a lead of six seconds over Pedrosa and Stoner, the Australian pushing his rival but without quite the straight-line speed where it was needed. A few laps from the end the lead was almost seven seconds, and so Lorenzo went on to make it five wins for the year. Pedrosa just held off Stoner for second.

Fourth place was clearly held by de Puniet to the end, but there had been more action behind him. Bautistá was up to sixth when Simoncelli went out, with Spies having lost out to Melandri and Capirossi for seventh position. Loris passed Marco to run behind his Suzuki team-mate, with the Gresini rider then battling Ben’s Yamaha. Spies got past, then caught the two ahead, passing Capirossi on the inside through the long right Curvone Renault bend. He was on the tail of Álvaro at the finish line as the 25-year-old Spaniard took his best result of the season to date, as had de Puniet.

Capirossi improved on his result from Qatar as he took seventh, and then there followed Hayden, Melandri, Barberá, Edwards, Kallio and Akiyoshi. Dovizioso got a couple of points with 14th position, and he still beat one of the works Yamahas as Yoshikawa was last home. The Japanese rider looked spent in the heat of the action, and the day’s temperatures, not having raced competitively for a time. The Lorenzo’s Land flag made a reappearance for the race winner’s celebration.

Jorge Lorenzo now had a 52-point advantage after his tenth MotoGP race win. It was also his 25th podium in the class and the 30th win for Yamaha with the Fiat colours. Dani Pedrosa took his fourth podium result of the year, whilst Casey Stoner took only his second. With Pedrosa ahead on this occasion, after four-and-a-bit seasons these two are now level on 1053 points at MotoGP level. Elsewhere, Suzuki had a much improved showing here, and it would seem a good bet that there is more to come from Álvaro Bautistá. But will Lorenzo have Rossi to deal with again next time out?

Standings after seven races: Lorenzo 165; Pedrosa 113; Dovizioso 91; Hayden and de Puniet 69; Stoner 67; Rossi 61; Spies 59; Simoncelli, Edwards and Melandri 39; Barberá 34.
Yamaha 170; Honda 137; Ducati 97; Suzuki 37.

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