first podium of the season. Dovizioso described the good result as a "beautiful" moment. He was closely pursued by Stoner at the end of a race, whose fourth-place finish was his first off the podium in 2012. Stoner conceded that the decision to use the harder tyres instead of the soft was a wrong one because it cost him too much time at the start of the race. Cal Crutchlow's fifth place left him behind his teammate in the championship, but was a good result nonetheless. Crutchlow said the result could have been better if a "lack of experience" hadn't lead to him being conservative at the beginning of the race. Álvaro Bautista finished the race in sixth position, ahead of Valentino Rossi on the improving Ducati bike. Stefan Bradl finished eighth, where he had started, and Nicky Hayden finished ninth. The Yamaha team stated that they were pleased with Ben Spies' performance, despite his fall near the start of the race – he finished in tenth place. The Ducati riders of Barberá and Abraham finished in eleventh and twelfth, ahead of the top finishing CRT rider of Aleix Espargaró (who simultaneously became the highest ranking CRT rider in standings). Michele Pirro and Randy de Puniet, Espargaró's teammate, completed the points in fourteenth and fifteenth. The other five classified riders were Ellison, Pasini, Hernández, Petrucci and Silva; Edwards was not classified as he finished in the pitlane, one lap down. Moto2 Moto3 KTM rider Sandro Cortese entered the event leading the Riders' standings on total of 67 points. 12 points behind him was his championship rival, the FTR Honda of Maverick Viñales. The Kalex KTM of Luis Salom was third in the standings, six points behind Viñales. In the Manufacturers' standings, FTR and KTM were joint in the lead, each with a total of 68 points. Kalex had accumulated the third highest total of 56 points. In qualifying for the race, Maverick Viñales took his second pole position of the season, and his second in succession, by setting a time nearly three-tenths faster than the rest of the field. Zulfahmi Khairuddin became the first Malaysian to ever achieve a front row start in a motorcycle Grand Prix, when he set the second fastest time for KTM. The winner of the previous race, and Viñales' FTR Honda teammate, Louis Rossi, took the final front row spot of third place. Sandro Cortese