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April 30, 2012

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Stoner holds off Lorenzo to win in Jerez

WORLD champion Casey Stoner held off a determined challenge from Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo to claim victory in the second race of the MotoGP season at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez yesterday.

Stoner started on the second row after Saturday's rain-affected qualifying but the Australian Honda rider took advantage of the drier conditions for the race to snatch the lead from Spanish teammate Dani Pedrosa.

Lorenzo, another Spaniard who won the season-opener in Qatar and started from pole position again yesterday, pursued Stoner doggedly but could not find a way past and his challenge faded on the final lap.

"At the beginning of the race we didn't get such a good start and it was really difficult to stay out of trouble and try to stay with the front," Stoner, 26, told Spanish television.

"It was a very, very difficult race today but to hold on for the entire race in near-enough to dry conditions was really a great day for me."

Stoner, who moved to within four points of Lorenzo in the championship table, finished in a time of 45 minutes 33.897 seconds, with 2010 champion Lorenzo 0.947 behind.

Pedrosa was third, just over two seconds adrift of Lorenzo.

Spaniard Pol Espargaro clinched his debut Moto2 victory in front of his home crowd earlier in a race cut short by rain, while Italian rookie Romano Fenati showed a glimpse of his potential with a maiden Moto3 win after almost half the field crashed out.



 

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