Lorenzo over Marquez in Barcelona

Jorge Lorenzo
Jorge Lorenzo

Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo scored his second consecutive MotoGP win for Ducati, converting pole position at Barcelona into a dominant triumph after an early battle with Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) while Valentino Rossi followed in third for Yamaha.

Lorenzo led every lap of the attrition filled race.

The three-time world champion is now level on points with teammate Andrea Dovizioso, who crashed out, and is 49 behind points leader Marquez.

Just like it was in Mugello, Sunday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was all about Lorenzo. However, the number 99 didn’t get the perfect launch from pole position, with Marquez out-dragging the Ducati into the first corner. Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) also made a great start, slotting into second place on the opening laps, with Lorenzo sitting tightly in third.

The Spaniard wasn’t there for long though, keeping his composure to get past Iannone and Marquez to lead into Turn 1 on the second lap and from there, it was hammer time. By now, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was tucked up behind the number 93 in third, before the Italian crashed out at Turn 5 on lap 9 – his third DNF of the season and another massive dent in his title aspirations.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Back on track, Lorenzo and Marquez had pulled the pin, with Rossi picking up third position, 3.2 seconds back. The gap between the two Spaniards at the front flirted at just under a second, with Lorenzo looking imperious, setting 1:40.0s lap after lap. In the end, the Championship leader had no answer, and eventually finished 4.479 seconds back from the number 99 – who now draws level on points with teammate Dovizioso in the overall standings.

Rossi was a lonely third at the checkered flag, with Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) enjoying a fantastic ride to finish as top Independent Team rider in fourth. The Brit was locked in a battle with Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa in the latter stages of the race before getting the better of the Spaniard down into Turn 4 – Pedrosa rounded out the top five.

Marquez gets the holeshot at the start
Marquez gets the holeshot at the start

Maverick Vinales’ (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) opening lap woes continued, finishing the first lap down in P10 after starting fourth. The home rider managed to salvage 6th at the flag, holding off Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), with the two locked together throughout the race. Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) crossed the line eighth, with fellow Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Team) seven seconds further back in ninth.

Iannone slipped right back after a fantastic start, the Italian rounded out the top ten. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) picking up his fourth straight P11 finish, with Scott Redding (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Karel Abraham (Angel Nieto Team) the only other riders to finish the race in P12 and P13 respectively.

Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), after being as high as eighth on the opening laps, was taken out by Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) at Turn 5 on lap 14 – riders ok. Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Sylvain Guintoli (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Tom Luthi (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Aleix Espargaro and Xavier Simeon (Reale Avintia Racing) crashed out early in the race – riders ok.

Hafizh Syahrin (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) had a nasty crash on the exit of Turn 4 after it looked like he could earn a top ten finish, thankfully the Malaysian was ok. Alex Rins’ (Team Suzuki Ecstar) difficult weekend continued in the race, the Spaniard retired on lap 12. Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) was another retirement on lap 18, with Tito Rabat (Reale Avinita Racing) having to leap off his Ducati after it caught fire heading into Turn 1 – rider ok.

It was another mesmerizing display from the five-time World Champion at the Catalan GP, who will be aiming for his third consecutive victory as the premier class head to the classic Assen circuit. Marquez extends his Championship lead to 27 points, with Rossi remaining his closest challenger.

Results

Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Time/Gap
1 25 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team Ducati 40'13.566
2 20 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda +4.479
3 16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +6.098
4 13 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda CASTROL Honda +9.805
5 11 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda +10.640
6 10 25 Maverick VIÂ¥ALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +10.798
7 9 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +13.432
8 8 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Alma Pramac Racing Ducati +15.055
9 7 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Angel Nieto Team Ducati +22.057
10 6 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +24.141
11 5 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +36.560
12 4 45 Scott REDDING GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia +38.229
13 3 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Angel Nieto Team Ducati +1'21.526
14 2 21 Franco MORBIDELLI ITA EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 3 Laps
DNF 0 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN MAL Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 4 Laps
DNF 0 53 Tito RABAT SPA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 6 Laps
DNF 0 43 Jack MILLER AUS Alma Pramac Racing Ducati 7 Laps
DNF 0 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 11 Laps
DNF 0 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda 11 Laps
DNF 0 42 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 13 Laps
DNF 0 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 16 Laps
DNF 0 10 Xavier SIMEON BEL Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 17 Laps
DNF 0 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 20 Laps
DNF 0 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 21 Laps
DNF 0 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 22 Laps
DNF 0 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 0 Lap

Rider Standings

Pos.

Rider

Num

Nation

Points

Team

Constructor

1

Marquez Marc

93

SPA

115

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

2

Rossi Valentino

46

ITA

88

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

3

Vinales Maverick

25

SPA

77

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

4

Zarco Johann

5

FRA

73

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

5

Petrucci Danilo

9

ITA

71

Alma Pramac Racing

Ducati

6

Crutchlow Cal

35

GBR

69

LCR Honda

Honda

7

Lorenzo Jorge

99

SPA

66

Ducati Team

Ducati

8

Dovizioso Andrea

4

ITA

66

Ducati Team

Ducati

9

Iannone Andrea

29

ITA

66

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

10

Miller Jack

43

AUS

49

Alma Pramac Racing

Ducati

11

Pedrosa Dani

26

SPA

40

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

12

Rins Alex

42

SPA

33

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

13

Espargaro Pol

44

SPA

28

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

14

Rabat Tito

53

SPA

27

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

15

Bautista Alvaro

19

SPA

26

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

16

Morbidelli Franco

21

ITA

19

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

17

Syahrin Hafizh

55

MAL

17

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

18

Espargaro Aleix

41

SPA

13

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

19

Nakagami Takaaki

30

JPN

10

LCR Honda

Honda

20

Redding Scott

45

GBR

9

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

21

Smith Bradley

38

GBR

7

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

22

Kallio Mika

36

FIN

6

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

23

Abraham Karel

17

CZE

4

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

Team Standings

Pos.

Team

Points

1

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

165

2

Repsol Honda Team

155

3

Ducati Team

132

4

Alma Pramac Racing

120

5

Team Suzuki Ecstar

99

6

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

90

7

LCR Honda

79

8

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

35

9

Angel Nieto Team

30

10

Reale Avintia Racing

27

11

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

22

12

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

19

Constructor Standings

Pos.

Team

Points

1

Honda

150

2

Ducati

132

3

Yamaha

124

4

Suzuki

80

5

KTM

29

6

Aprilia

22

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