Since the beginning of the season, Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow, the two riders of team Tech3 supported technically by Motul, have been exerting strong pressure on the leading men in the MotoGP championship. At the Catalunya Grand Prix, on 3 June, that pressure paid off by leading to a podium! Andrea Dovizioso indeed managed to pass Stoner in the first laps and held a magnificent third place throughout the race to the end. During the first half of the race he remained in close contact with Lorenzo and Pedrosa, but a small mistake made him lose time. Just behind, Casey Stoner exerted increasing pressure on the Italian rider who remained focused and managed to keep his position, passing the arrival line 0.2 seconds ahead of the title holder. Cal Crutchlow did a very fine race also, remaining in close contact with Stoner to the arrival but without managing to pass him, which made him say at the arrival: 'Casey is not world champion for nothing!'
It's the first podium for Tech3 since Colin Edwards' 3rd place last year at the England Grand Prix and, at the end of the race, Dovizioso expressed his satisfaction: 'I'm really pleased with this first podium, which is an enormous reward for the whole team's efforts since the beginning of the season. We've progressed to this result (...), but I'm sure nobody was expecting us at this level already by this fourth round of the championship.'
For Hervé Poncharal, team Tech3 manager, 'For Tech3, it's obviously fantastic to podium. We were very close to this result previously in the season but it's very difficult to be in the top 3 with on the starting grid riders like Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo. (...) This race proves the strength of our team and our riders for 2012.'
The next Grand Prix will be on 17 June at Silverstone, England, Crutchlow's home turf. 'I hope to battle for a podium in front of my public!' he exclaimed at the end of the weekend.
Standings
01// Jorge Lorenzo - Yamaha - 115 pts
02// Casey Stoner - Honda - 95 pts
03// Dani Pedrosa - Honda - 85 pts
04// Andrea Dovizioso - Yamaha Tech3 - 60 pts - Motul
05// Cal Crutchlow - Yamaha Tech3 - 56 pts - Motul
Photo Credits: Stan Perec
