Casey Stoner drew even with Jorge Lorenzo as he took his 3rd victory of the season at the 2012 Dutch MotoGP race in Assen, while Lorenzo was taken out after a clash with Alvaro Bautista’s Gresini Honda on the very first lap. Both men are now leading the championship with 140 points.
Pedrosa pulled clear early in the race and managed to keep a safe gap, thus securing 2nd place right behind his Honda teammate. Andrea Dovizioso meanwhile overtook Ben Spies after a race-long battle to finish 3rd.
Behind 4th placed Ben Spies came home Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow. The Briton was victim to the Bautista/Lorenzo crash; he dropped back to 15th and had to fight his way back up.
Nicky Hayden crossed the line in 6th position, followed by Pramac Ducati’s Hector Barbera in 7th and Aspar Aprilia’s Randy de Puniet in 8th.
Mattia Pasini completed the top 10 behind Gresini FTR-Honda rider Michele Pirro.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time/Gap 1. Casey Stoner Honda 41m19.855s 2. Dani Pedrosa Honda + 4.965s 3. Andrea Dovizioso Tech 3 Yamaha + 11.994s 4. Ben Spies Yamaha + 14.775s 5. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha + 22.074s 6. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 31.660s 7. Hector Barbera Pramac Ducati + 59.107s 8. Randy de Puniet Aspar Aprilia + 1m04.441s 9. Michele Pirro Gresini FTR-Honda + 1m06.980s 10. Mattia Pasini Speed Master Aprilia + 1m25.087s 11. Danilo Petrucci Ioda-Aprilia + 1m32.103s 12. Ivan Silva Avintia Inmotec-Kawasaki + 1m33.797s 13. Valentino Rossi Ducati + 1 lap 14. James Ellison Paul Bird Aprilia + 1 lap