Pedrosa out as MotoGP heats up

From motogp.com

The fifth round of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship, the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya, takes place this weekend as a sequence of six races in the space of eight weekends kicks off.

Current standings leader and reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo heads into Round 5 holding a 12-point advantage at the top of the Championship, and the Yamaha Factory Racing rider has been strong at the circuit in recent years. In 2009 he had a famous battle to the final corner with Valentino Rossi for victory, eventually finishing second, and last season won from pole position. His closest rival in the Championship at present, Casey Stoner, has stood on the podium at the track for the past four seasons and the Repsol Honda rider arrives at Catalunya coming off the back of a victory at Le Mans – the 25th premier class win of his career.

Unfortunately, this weekend the Repsol Honda team will compete without Dani Pedrosa, third in the standings. The Spaniard had surgery on May 18 to repair a fractured right collarbone caused during his crash in the Le Mans race. It was hoped that through rehabilitation he would be ready to participate this weekend in the Grand Prix of Catalunya, however, due the bone healing slower than anticipated he has been forced to follow a more conservative treatment. How the injury heals from this point on will determine the timetable for his return to competition.

Third Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso scored his first podium of 2011 at Le Mans and is just three points ahead of fellow Italian Valentino Rossi, whom he held off to take second place in France. Rossi, fresh from his first podium finish with Ducati at the previous round, is the most successful rider at the Catalunya circuit with nine victories to his name there (including six in the premier class).

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) and Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) are both closely matched in the standings, while Aoyama's team-mate Marco Simoncelli is on a mission to secure his first premier class podium finish. The Italian, at the centre of controversy following Pedrosa's crash at Le Mans, finished the French GP in fifth position having incurred a Ride Through penalty, and has a 250cc win at Catalunya in his bank of experience.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow are level on 21 points with Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar Team), the Brit once again making his debut at a new track, while Yamaha Factory Racing's Ben Spies will aim to break into the top five for the first time this season – he placed sixth on his debut at Catalunya last year.

Rookie Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) continues his development in the premier class, he finished fourth in last year's Moto2 race at Catalunya, while Toni Elías (LCR Honda) and Pramac Racing pair Loris Capirossi and Randy de Puniet will all be looking for improved results. Rizla Suzuki's Álvaro Bautista will ride in what will be his third race of the season, as he continues to work his way back to full fitness following a broken left femur.

Stefan Bradl is the man to catch in the Moto2 class having opened up a 28-point advantage at the top of the Championship after four rounds, and the Viessmann Kiefer Racing rider is in fine form as the 2011 season pushes on with the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya this weekend. The German has won two of the four races in 2011 to date, finishing third at Le Mans in the previous round, and by qualifying in pole position in France became the first rider to take four successive poles in the intermediate category since Jorge Lorenzo did so in 2006.

His closest rival at the moment is Julián Simón, and the Mapfre Aspar rider is hungry for his first Moto2 win. Italian Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) is just a point behind Simón in the standings and after crashing out in France will be steeled for an assault on the podium at Catalunya. Just three points separate Simón in second and Simone Corsi in sixth position in the standings ahead of this weekend. Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) and Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) have each taken two podiums so far this season.

Bankia Aspar rider Nico Terol remains atop of the 125 Championship standings going into Round 5 at Catalunya this weekend, holding a 36-point advantage over the rest of the category, and the Spaniard is yet to finish outside the top two so far this season.