MotoGP Catalunya 2012: the second home GP is here

If the Jerez GP is considered by many to be the first GP of the European season, The Catalan GP is also considered by many to be the home GP, since many of the Spanish riders in the MotoGP World Championship are Catalan and a large part were born near the Circuit de Catalunya itself. Over the years the Montmeló GP has established itself as one of the historic GPs, and it would be a shame if it disappeared from the calendar due to the economic difficulties in our country.

Focusing on the sports section, the three categories arrive with some drivers touched after the tidal wave of rain at Le Mans two weeks ago. And as a curious note Spanish pilots lead the big categories with more or less slack in front of his followers, while in the small one the leader is the German Sandro Cortese. It seems that those years in which Spanish riders were only valid for small motorcycles are finally a thing of the past.

We are going to review the three categories starting precisely with Moto3.

Moto3, the Spanish crouching behind the German

Sandro Cortese leads the Moto3 World Championship with 12 points of advantage over Máverick Viñales. But surely that leadership will not last long because Máverick and Luis Salom You will make things difficult for the German at the Circuit de Catalunya. Because between the three of them they have already shown that they are the strongest riders in this new category. We also have to point out in Máverick's credit box that last year the only appearance he made in the World Cup was precisely in Montmeló.

Behind these three riders is a pack of riders, including Romano Fenati, who is fourth in the standings, Álex Rins and Alberto Moncayo, which came out stronger from the La Mans GP by reaching the podium in the midst of the madness of the French rain. And taking this into account, we must also mention Louis Rossi, the winner of Le Mans, although at the moment he occupies seventh place in the provisional classification of the World Championship.

In addition, two Wild Card riders will participate in the Aperol de Catalunya Grand Prix, the local Alex Marquez with the team Estrella Galicia 0, 0 and who arrives leading the CEV and John McPhee who will race for the Racing Step Foundation KRP.

My bet for the race is:

• 1.- Máverick Viñales
• 2.- Sandro Cortese

3.- Álex Márquez

Moto2, Spaniards to power

The intermediate category is proving to be the most entertaining category of the entire MotoGP World Championship pack and it is also dominated almost entirely by the Spanish drivers. Márc Márquez and Pol Espargaró they lead the championship separated by only one point. Meanwhile, the Swiss Thomas Luthi is the only one capable of following them, but he does not seem to have finished finding the goal that allows him to fight from you to you with the Spanish pilots.

The second group leads it Andrea Iannone, our particular Guadiana in the category, Scott Redding, Mika Kallio and Claudio Corti, but as I said, none of them seem to be at the same level as the Spanish riders. In Moto2, the Catalan rider Jordi Torres will be in charge of replacing the injured Xavier Simeón in the Tech 3 team.

So unless the rain makes an appearance again, and turns the race into a wheel of fortune, the bet for that category is going to be done:

• 1.- Márc Márquez
• 2.- Pol Espargaró

3.- Thomas Luthi

Moto GP, Lorenzo dominates, Stoner thinks about it and Pedrosa What is Pedrosa doing?

In MotoGP I think it is clear that the world championship is a matter of two pilots, Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner. And that Casey Stoner, following his manners with others, has hit the final door that leaves him out of the category next year. Or not? Because rumors are already beginning to be heard that Honda has prepared offers that would make you change your mind.

While Dani Pedrosa does not seem to be able to drive the Honda beyond the second place he got in the inaugural race in Qatar and even Le Mans seemed subscribed to third place in the box. Behind the Yamaha satellite of the Tech 3 team are divided the positions and the Ducati play the lotto bonus with different settings for dry-wet, semi-dry, completely dry but with patches and others that only allow them to play the positions with the theoretical second swords of the leading teams.

So if nothing happens, Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner will compete for the highest box of the Circuit de Catalunya Unless Dani Pedrosa gives us one of his inspirational racing moments and casts some shade on them, or Valentino Rossi conjures up the rain dance again to show that he still knows how to drive one of these two-wheeled beasts in the wet, because what is dry…. Well, either that or the Mugello tests have given such good results that they have transformed the Ducati into a winning bike overnight. That it will be that no.

In the section of satellite motorcycles, they stand out Stefan Bradl and Álvaro BautistaAlthough while the German is increasingly happy with his results, the Spanish seems to have stalled in the evolution with his Honda satellite. It seems that this bike does not suit almost any Spanish rider.

The league of CRT will see Colin Edwards again get on the Forward Racing bike. Let's see how these weeks of rest have sat with the Texan, who has not stood still for a day since he had surgery on his clavicle that was broken in Estoril. Although the classification is led by another Spaniard, Aleix Espargaró on the Aprilia ART from Power Electronics Aspar ahead of the other four Aprilia ARTs in the category.

Finally, we should highlight two riders, but due to the bad season they are having. On the one hand Ben Spies can't seem to find the point to the Yamaha M1 of a liter and is suffering through the circuits. For another, Karel Abraham seems to have finished all his bonus points with the Ducati since so far this season he has not scored a single time or finished in the last three races.

To end my bet of the MotoGP category is also easy:

• 1.- Jorge Lorenzo
• 2.- Casey Stoner

3.- Dani Pedrosa

The most absent-minded can check the broadcast schedules that Morrillu published yesterday. What you cannot do is miss the chronicles that we will publish on Sunday.