Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner (Photo: HRC)

The True Level Of Stoner's Dominance

In general, and in spite of the oft-quoted remark by Honda HRC boss Shuhei Nakamoto that the Yamaha was now at least as good as the Honda, Stoner was the only rider to complete more than half of his flying laps under the 1 minute 40 second barrier.

To determine 'flying laps' we count only those laps completed at normal race pace, eliminating all 'out laps,' 'in laps' and 'discarded laps' (when a rider shuts off to avoid traffic or to get another rider out of his slipstream).

The true dominance of Stoner's race pace is seen in the fact that of the 41 flying laps that he completed, 23 were in the sub 1'40s, a percentage of 56%. No one else was even close. Pedrosa with seven of 41, managed 17.1% of his laps in the sweet times and Lorenzo at 10 of 59 was virtually tied with his fellow countryman's pace.

Only nine of the 22 riders (21 GP regulars plus Battaini, the Ducati tester) managed to get below 1'40 and Stoner was the only rider to get into the 1'38s, lapping in 1’38.975 and 1’38.780 on his two final laps.

Place Rider Flying laps Sub 1'40s Percentage Of Sub 1'40s

1. Stoner 41 23 56%
3. Pedrosa 41 7 17.1%
2. Lorenzo 59 10 16.9%
4. Spies 41 4 7.5%
5. Crutchlow 47 3 6.4%
6. Rossi 55 2 3.8%
7. Dovizioso 47 1 2.1%
8. Hayden 57 1 1.7%

Crutchlow Leads Satellite Riders

Cal Crutchlow, World Supersport Champion with Yamaha in 2009, rode his Tech3 Yamaha to fifth overall on the final day in Jerez and was easily the best of the satellite riders, taking nearly a half second from Gresini Honda’s Álvaro Bautista.

Rider Bike/Team Best Time Overall Placing

Crutchlow Tech3 Yamaha 1'39.585 5
Bautista Gresini Honda 1'40.017 9
Bradl LCR Honda 1'40.098 10
Barberá Pramac Ducati 1'40.287 11
Abraham Cardion Ducati 1'40.579 12