FIM MotoGP World Championship
Catalunya Circuit, Spain
June 15, 2014
Race Results (all on Bridgestone tires):
1. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 25 laps, 42:56.914
2. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), -0.512 second
3. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), -1.834 seconds
4. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), -4.540
5. Stefan BRADL, Germany (HONDA), -11.148
6. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (FORWARD YAMAHA), -14.213
7. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), -16.127
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), -16.175
9. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), -18.040
10. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), -24.781
11. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), -37.153
12. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (HONDA), -43.299
13. Scott REDDING, UK (HONDA), -43.407
14. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), -55.157
15. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), -59.191
16. Broc PARKES, Australia (PBM-APRILIA), -60.906
17. Michael LAVERTY, UK (PBM-APRILIA), -61.284
18. Colin EDWARDS, USA (FORWARD YAMAHA), -66.121
19. Hector BARBERA, Spain (FTR-KAWASAKI), -85.195
20. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (ART-APRILIA), -100.665
21. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (FTR-KAWASAKI), -8 laps, DNF, retired
22. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (DUCATI), -15 laps, DNF, retired
23. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), -22 laps, DNF, retired
24. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (HONDA), -24 laps, DNF, crash
World Championship Point Standings (after 7 of 18 races):
1. Marquez, 175 points
2. Rossi, 117
3. Pedrosa, 112
4. Lorenzo, 78
5. Dovizioso, 71
6. Pol Espargaro, 58
7. Aleix Espargaro, 54
8. Bradl, 50
9. Iannone, 41
10. Smith, 40
11. Bautista, 34
12. Hernandez, 27
13. Hayden, 26
14. Redding, 25
15. Aoyama, 24
16. Crutchlow, 15
17. Abraham, 13
18. Edwards, 8
19. Pirro, 7
20. TIE, Petrucci/Barbera, 2
22. Parkes, 1
More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:
Marquez takes Honda’s 100th MotoGP win after thriller in Catalunya
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has continued his perfect season with his seventh consecutive win, marking Honda’s 100th victory since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP era, and has become just the second rider after Valentino Rossi to win seven successive MotoGP races since the category was introduced at the start of 2002. Teammate Dani Pedrosa battled to the end with Marc, but lost out after a last lap attempt and finished in third.
It was an incredible race which started at a very high tempo in front of 92,845 spectators. Dani and Marc, first and third on the grid respectively, fell to third and fourth on the first lap before Marc passed Dani into third on lap two, setting a new record race lap of 1’42.182 (beating Dani’s time of 1’42.358 from 2008). Valentino took the lead from Jorge Lorenzo on lap four and on lap six Marc and Jorge had a nice battle passing each other a few times, before Marc made it stick. Coming into turn one on lap seven Dani passed Jorge for third place and began to chase down his teammate Marc and on lap nine the two Repsol Honda riders passed each other twice, but Marc was able to hold onto second place.
Marc caught up with race leader Valentino and ran wide attempting a pass, briefly dropping down to third but the regaining second place immediately. Five laps later, on lap nineteen, Marc passed Valentino but saw a yellow flag, so he wanted to give back the position immediately. Dani also passed but realised something was strange so he followed Marc’s actions and conceded the position back, he kept close to the two riders battling and on lap twenty two he passed Valentino and chased down Marc.
On the final lap, both Repsol Honda riders displayed a masterpiece of riding as they passed each other four times before Dani made a small mistake and slightly touched Marc. He was forced to sit the bike up and ran slightly wide, allowing Valentino to pass him and claim second place as Marc won the race setting a new fastest race time with 42’56.914.
With his victory here in Catalunya, Marc has also become the youngest ever rider (21 years and 118 days) to win seven successive races in the premier class, taking the record from Valentino Rossi (23 years and 155 days) also riding a Honda. This victory marks the first time two brothers have won on the same day in the World Championship after Alex Marquez rode his Honda to victory in the Moto3 race earlier this morning.
Marc continues to extend his lead in the Rider’s Championship with 175 points with Dani in third on 112. Honda lead the Constructor’s Championship by 48 points, with a total of 175, and the Repsol Honda Team lead the Team’s Championship by 92 points, on 287 points. The next race will take place in Assen on the 28th June.
TEAM QUOTES
Marc Marquez
1st – Championship Standing: 1st – 175 points
“I am delighted with this win because this is a track which I have always found difficult. You could see how tough it is for me this weekend: I missed out on pole for the first time this season and had my first crash of the year. The race was very hard with a battle against Dani, Jorge and Valentino. I think that the last few corners were especially spectacular, with the moves by Valentino and Dani. I am very happy about taking another 25 points and also to win on the same day as my brother at home in front of all our fans! It’s something very special”
Dani Pedrosa
3rd – Championship Standing: 3rd – 112 points
“It was a very good, hard-fought race because we had four riders up at the front for most of the race. There was a lot of overtaking and it was very intense, because we were going so fast. Overall I am very satisfied, even though the end result was not the best; we fought hard and I felt much better physically. I’ll take the positives from this race: I got my wish of being up at the front, both in practice and on the early laps of the race, and I ended the race fighting with Marc for the victory!”
More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone:
Marquez conquers the Catalan Grand Prix to maintain perfect win record
Round 7: Catalan MotoGP™ – Race
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Sunday June 15 2014
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium & Hard; Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Hard (Main), Soft (Alternative)
Weather: Dry. Ambient 22-24°C; Track 33-40°C (Bridgestone measurement)
As dark clouds loomed over Montmeló, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez weathered a storm of challenges from his MotoGP™ rivals to win his seventh race from seven starts in 2014.
The rain that threatened to fall over the Spanish circuit failed to eventuate, allowing the riders to compete at a ferocious pace on slick tyres resulting in today’s Catalan Grand Prix being completed in record time, beating the old mark by over five seconds. The electric pace also created one of the most exciting race finales in recent history as Marquez, his teammate Dani Pedrosa, and Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi all battled for victory.
It was Marquez who ultimately prevailed from the three-way fight for the lead. He survived a late attack from Pedrosa on turn ten of the final lap which saw the riders touch, and went on to win the race from Rossi by 0.512 seconds. Pedrosa’s last gasp move on Marquez saw him run wide, but he recovered to claim third place, finishing just over a second behind Rossi. On his way to victory, Marquez set a time of 1’42.182 on the second lap of the race to break the six-year-old race lap record at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Widespread cloud cover and fresh winds brought a cool change, with the peak track temperature recorded today being 40°C; 14°C less than recorded during yesterday’s Free Practice 4 session. Despite the significant change in temperatures, the cooler weather didn’t have a major effect on race tyre choice, as riders still used the slick options they preferred in yesterday’s hotter conditions. All riders except for Stefan Bradl selected the medium compound front slick, with the German rider opting for the hard compound front. For the rear tyre, thirteen of the twenty-four starters selected the medium compound rear slick, with the remaining eleven riders selecting the soft compound rear slick. No riders chose to use the hard compound rear slick for the Catalan Grand Prix. Tyre performance at what is the one of the most gruelling events on the calendar for tyres was exceptional, with the top four finishers completing the race under the existing overall race time record.
Marquez moves to 175 championship points and extends his lead over second-placed Rossi to fifty-eight points. Pedrosa remains in third place on the championship table, and just five points behind Rossi in the standings.
Shinichi Yamashita – General Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department
“What an excellent race! Congratulations to Marc and Repsol Honda on their seventh victory this year, not to mention Honda’s one-hundredth win in the modern MotoGP era. Well done also to Valentino and Dani for making the podium and pushing Marc all the way to the chequered flag. We had much cooler conditions today but this didn’t change the riders’ minds on which tyre combination to use for the race. This circuit has quite a low grip level so I am very pleased with how our tyres performed in the race, with a new Circuit Record Lap being set by Marquez and the top four riders able to complete the race quicker than the existing overall race time record. I am proud that Bridgestone was involved in such a fantastic race here in Catalunya, but now our attention turns to this week’s MotoGP tests at Montmeló and Aragon, as we continue to test new tyre developments in our quest to give riders even higher levels of safety and performance.”
Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda – Race Winner
“Today was more difficult than the last race at Mugello as the Yamaha riders had strong pace at the beginning of the race. I made a mistake chasing Valentino when braking into turn one, which cost me around a second, but after that I was able to catch him again and we had a nice battle. In front of the crowd here at my home circuit it was really special to fight the last few laps with Valentino and Dani, but the most important thing was we were able to get the victory and the twenty-five points for the championship.”
More, from a press release issued by Honda:
Honda celebrate 100 wins in MotoGP class
With today’s win by Marc Marquez, Honda Racing Corporation have reached the milestone of 100 victories since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP category at the start of 2002.
The wins have been accrued across eleven riders in total: Dani Pedrosa (25), Valentino Rossi (20), Casey Stoner (15), Marc Marquez (13), Sete Gibernau (8), Marco Melandri (5), Nicky Hayden (3), Max Biaggi (3), Alex Barros (3), Makoto Tamada (2) and Tohru Ukawa (1).
Along with the 100 victories in the MotoGP class, Honda have celebrated seven Constructor’s Championships (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013) and five Rider’s Championships (2002, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2013).
The breakdown of races won per Honda rider can be found below:
25 – Dani Pedrosa (2006 – China, Britain. 2007 – Germany, Valencia. 2008 – Spain, Catalunya. 2009 – USA, Valencia. 2010 – Italy, Germany, Indianapolis, San Marino. 2011 – Portugal, Germany, Japan. 2012 – Germany, Indianapolis, Czech, Aragon, Japan, Malaysia, Valencia. 2013 – Spain, France, Malaysia)
20 – Valentino Rossi (2002 – Japan, Spain, France, Italy, Catalunya, Netherlands, Britain, Germany, Portugal, Brazil, Australia. 2003 – Japan, Spain, Italy, Czech, Portugal, Brazil, Malaysia, Australia, Valencia)
15 – Casey Stoner (2011 – Qatar, France, Catalunya, Britain, USA, Czech, Indianapolis, Aragon, Australia, Valencia. 2012 – Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, USA, Australia)
13 – Marc Marquez (2013 – Americas, Germany, USA, Indianapolis, Czech, Aragon. 2014 – Qatar, Americas, Argentina, Spain, France, Italy, Catalunya)
8 – Sete Gibernau (2003 – South Africa, France, Netherlands and Germany. 2004 – Spain, France, Czech and Qatar)
5 – Marco Melandri (2005 – Turkey & Valencia, 2006 – Turkey, France and Australia)
3 – Nicky Hayden (2005 -USA. 2006 Assen, USA), Max Biaggi (2003 – Britain, Pacific GP. 2004 – Germany), Alex Barros (2002 – Pacific GP, Valencia. 2005 – Portugal)
2 – Makoto Tamada (2004 – Brazil and Japan)
1 – Tohru Ukawa (2002 – South Africa), Toni Elias (2006 – Portugal), Andrea Dovizioso (2009 – Britain)
More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing:
First open bike and great sixth place for Espargaro in the home GP
The Catalunya GP saw the NGM Forward Racing rider Aleix Espargaro crossing the finish line sixth and as first open bike. In front of his home crowd, Espargaro, who for the occasion was riding his Forward Yamaha with a special livery, made an impressive performance, finishing just 14 seconds behind the winner Marc Marquez.
Starting from the second row, Aleix lost some positions in the long straight but in a couple of laps he was able to recover from 12th to 6th place, position that he maintained till the end. With today’s result, Aleix gained important points in the championship (7th with 54 points).
It was a very complicated race for his team mate Colin Edwards who struggled a lot during the 25 laps of the race. His bike was spinning a lot and he couldn’t push as he wanted, finishing 18th .
Tomorrow the NGM Forward Racing riders will be back on track for a day of testing together with all the MotoGP riders.
Colin Edwards:
“We made a change for the warm up but we didn’t get the expected results. I have a problem with turning and my bike was spinning a lot. I had no grip and it was very frustrating. It was a tough race. Tomorrow we will test some new stuff and we will continue working”.
Aleix Espargaro:
“I’m really happy with today’s result. This is my best race of the year so far. It was an incredible hard fought race and we finished just 14 seconds behind the front guys. We knew that due to the long straight we were going to loose a lot in the start in comparison with the factory bikes and in fact many riders overtook me on the straight. I gave everything to recover and in a few laps I was 6th. I was lapping with Bradl’s rhythm and with a better start I could have been with him. Anyway I’m really happy. Thanks to my team, my electrician guys and Magneti Marelli for the great work. Tomorrow we will focus on the electronics and hopefully it doesn’t rain because we will test the new chassis”.
More, from a press release issued by Cardion AB Motoracing:
After the crash back home without any points
Unlucky crash in the second lap of Sunday’s race at Montmeló circuit ended Abraham´s hopes to score more points in the MotoGP World Championship. After the unsuccessful start came the crash which was mainly caused by rider´s big effort to reach riders in front of him. Abraham was trying to enter back the race but that wasn´t possible due to bad technical condition of the bike.
Karel Abraham
“Well I don´t have too much to say now. Maybe just that this is all my fault, I made a mistake so I´m the only one who is responsible for this situation. Right from the start I had slightly overheated clutch because of long waiting for the starting lights. Race start was terrible and I lost two more positions. Then I started to get to rider in front me and push really hard that time. I was too fast in one corner and the rear part of my bike slipped away. Probably too much effort. This time I regret it a lot. When I fall nothing serious happened.”
Marco Grana, Chief mechanic Cardion AB Motoracing
“We cannot be happy about the result today. Karel tried to reach the riders in front of him and he was too fast in one corner. What a shame! Unfortunately, even such things happen in bike racing. I hope that tomorrow we will be able to forget it and see the brighter future. Bike worked very well the whole weekend and I´m sure it will last. We can be optimistic for the next race in Assen.“
More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda:
BRADL CONCLUDES HIS POSITVE CATALAN WEEKEND WITH A STRONG 5th PLACE
Montmeló, 15 June: threatening clouds distressed the MotoGP riders and Teams ahead the start of the 25-lap race at Montmeló circuit but the seventh GP of the season was conducted in dry conditions with local hero Marc Marquez achieving his seventh consecutive victory. LCR Honda racer Stefan Bradl, who arrived here still battered and bruised from two huge race-day crashes at Mugello, has been fast and consistent through the whole weekend and today he finally enjoyed a top five finish. The German, who is currently holding the 8th place in the world standing, will be back on track tomorrow for a testing before moving to Assen in two weeks time.
Stefan: “We are quite happy because I am the best satellite rider just behind the factory Teams. First of all I want to thank my Team because, after the difficult weekend in Mugello, we did a great week end making a good job with the bike setting and the tyre choice. Today I was the only rider on the field on hard front tyre and I felt comfortable with that. But it’s tough for me to keep the pace of the top riders because it seems that they always have something more. The fifth place is the maximum we could do and it’s a positive result but, as a MotoGP rider, you always race for a podium finish and today I wanted to go for that but as I said it’s very difficult to beat the factory riders”.
More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:
Rossi Storms to Second in Dramatic Catalunya Clash
Montmelò Circuit (Spain), 15th June 2014
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi put in a stunning ride this afternoon to secure second on the podium in the GP Monster Energy de Catalunya.
Teammate Jorge Lorenzo threatened briefly in the early race laps before settling into fourth position, which he held to the line.
The Doctor started his Catalunya attack well, shooting from fifth to third into turn one from the start and then almost immediately into second behind his teammate Lorenzo. With 22 laps to go he made a decisive move for the lead and began a run at the front that was only broken towards the end of the race.
With seven laps remaining he was passed by both Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa in turns one and two, the two riders then almost immediately sitting up and raising hands for a yellow flag. Rossi took advantage of this and passed the two for the lead, holding it for a lap before Marquez passed again on turn two. With four laps remaining Pedrosa also made the move, dropping Rossi to third until the final lap. As the last corners came, Pedrosa made contact with Marquez, running wide and allowing Rossi back through to claim second on the podium, just 0.5 seconds behind Marquez.
Teammate Lorenzo made a strong start from second on the grid, delivering a trademark ‘Por Fuera’ pass round the outside of Pedrosa on turn one for the race lead. With his teammate closing fast behind, it wasn’t long before Rossi was passed, then Marquez followed on turn ten of the same lap. With 19 laps to go Pedrosa also squeezed through, leaving Lorenzo to hold fourth on the tail of the fighting three to the line.
Rossi’s podium scores 20 points. He remains in second place, now on 117 points, 58 behind Marquez.
Lorenzo’s fourth place delivers 13 points, keeping him in fourth position on 78, 34 behind Pedrosa in third.
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP will now take a short break before heading to the iconic Assen TT in the Netherlands on the 28th June.
Valentino Rossi
2nd / +0.512 / 25 laps
“I’m so happy because it was a great race, I enjoyed it so much. I started fast and I was able to stay in front for a long part of the race. I’m not satisfied 100% because I thought I could win but in the last laps they were faster than me. I tried the maximum but also Dani overtook me and I lost time. I did a good race; it is another podium so we have to continue like this.”
Jorge Lorenzo
4th / +4.540 / 25 laps
“I’m a little bit disappointed, we knew that the others were very strong and also Vale had a very good pace. The pace was not so bad because the track was not very hot but unfortunately I couldn’t open the gap I wanted in the first lap. When Vale passed me it was the same and I couldn’t ride like when I am alone. The bike was working well in braking but in the last two corners where we were very strong last year, we weren’t this year. In acceleration I started losing grip and when I followed Dani it was impossible to stay with him, I just had to recover in some corners. It was a pity, if we had less problems in acceleration it was a great opportunity to win. We were strong on braking but unfortunately lost it in the last corners so I couldn’t do more.”
Massimo Meregalli
“The race was a great spectacle and one of the nicest this year to watch, just like the last round in Mugello. It’s good to see so many protagonists fighting at the front. Valentino really showed his experience. He made a good start and then was able to lead the race for quite a few laps. At the end of the race when his tyre life had dropped he really used his experience to the most advantage to snatch second. Jorge made an impressive long run yesterday and so the expectation was pretty high for the race. Unfortunately after a good start he was unable to replicate the pace so did what he could to try and stay with the pack. It seems fourth was the best he could do in these circumstances. Tomorrow we will stay here for the IRTA test and then we will move to Aragon for a private test to prepare for the Assen race. We will analyse the data form Jorge to try understand what went wrong and how we can improve it.”
More, from a press release issued by Drive M7 Aspar Team:
Nicky Hayden gets back to top form
After missing two races due to external circumstances, DRIVE M7 Aspar rider has great race to finish twelfth. Hiroshi Aoyama places fifteenth
There was another spectacular MotoGP race today at the Catalan Grand Prix, picking up from where the riders left off at Mugello two weeks ago. The final laps of the Italian round had been thrilling, but the entirety of the visit to Barcelona was a treat for race fans. Despite not running away with the victory, Marc Márquez was able to best his rivals for the seventh time in as many races in 2014, claiming the win by a slim margin ahead of Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa. Jorge Lorenzo had started well and ridden perfectly in the early going, but lost ground late on as Rossi led the way. Then the two Repsol Honda riders battled for the win, before Pedrosa ran wide with three corners to go –allowing Rossi to go through and Márquez to take the chequered flag first.
After two consecutive races without taking points, due to circumstances beyond his control, DRIVE M7 Aspar rider Nicky Hayden added to his tally again today in Catalonia. The American, who arrived at this round with much hesitation after a recent operation, improved throughout the weekend and overcame adversity. He started sixteenth and was able to gain positions early on. He felt comfortable riding, and that helped him to claim a praiseworthy twelfth place at the Catalan GP.
Teammate Hiroshi Aoyama, also started far back down the grid (20th) but was not intimidated by the amount of riders ahead of him and set a steady pace to climb up to fifteenth position. The Japanese DRIVE M7 Aspar rider is determined this season, and has now scored points at every race to date.
The next round of the World Championship takes place at Assen, in the Netherlands, in two weeks’ time.
12th Nicky Hayden: “I didn’t start too well today and it took me a few laps to get on the pace. It is not easy to start from sixteenth position. However, as the laps went by I saw that the bike was working very well, so I pushed ahead. I had a lot of confidence in the front end, and that allowed me to push hard. On the other hand, I knew that with the heat, the rear performance would decrease at the end. Fortunately I managed to keep my pace up and gain some places. After how the weekend went, it isn’t a spectacular result but gives us points after two unlucky races. At Assen we hope to continue the positive work we did today and get plenty more points.”
15th Hiroshi Aoyama: “Yesterday we did not qualify well and today we had to start from twentieth position. I made a very positive start has allowed me to gain places. On the opening lap I passed two riders, and that motivated me to keep pushing. Also today I managed to maintain a fairly high pace throughout the entire race. The reason for the improvement with our feeling is a change made this morning that gave us confidence. In the second half of the race we had some problems that made us lose speed and power, and towards the end this worsened and we lost some positions. Fortunately I was able to finish the race and keep adding points to my tally. We will investigate what might have been the cause of the issue, so that it does not happen again at Assen.”
More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing:
Andrea Iannone conquers ninth position; Yonny Hernandez eleventh
This morning, the MotoGP riders, got on the track with the asphalt slightly wet because of the thunderstorm that hit Montmelo’ during the night. Pramac Racing Team riders, faced both a good race, taking home good results for the championship.
Andrea Iannone (# 29) at the start of the race, immediately gained some positions. The setup used for the race, allowed him to improve his pace, keeping for all twenty-five laps a good rhythm that brought him colse up to the duo in front of him but without being able to overtake them. It ‘been a tough weekend for Andrew and his team, but a good conduct of the race and the data acquired makes them look ahead with optimism.
This weekend concludes with Yonny in eleventh position, with the seventh consecutive race finished in the points and the twelfth place in the overall standings. The track also displace Yonny Hernandez (# 68), which in this weekend has been consistently in the top ten. The EnergyT.I. rider in the early stages of the race struggles to find a good race pace, but once he finds it he manages to maintain it until the checkered flag.
Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing)
“I’m happy with how this race finished. The weekend was not easy because we constantly had problems to find the right setup to improve the grip. Despite the all the efforts we have improved a little, but the important thing is that we had a good race and that i was consistent from start to finish, even though we used a soft tire. I went very close to Pol and Dovi because I had a good race strategy. We satisfied, we’re growing! “
Yonny Hernandez (EnergyT.I. Pramac Racing)
“It was a very difficult race because of the lower track temperature compared to the previous days. The track was very slippery and much slower. I made a good start but I braked too early at the first corner, I pushed hard on the first lap, but unfortunately I made a mistake losing some positions. Once I found the rhythm I did my race, I found myself often alone but i was able to keep a good pace. This was the best weekend since the beginning of the season, I gained even the twelfth position in the championship standings and I want to thank once again the team for their support. “
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
MotoGP™: Unstoppable Marquez wins great Barcelona battle with Rossi and Pedrosa
The Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya produced another brilliant race on Sunday, with Marc Marquez securing the victory on the final lap ahead of Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa.
Marquez crossed the line half a second in front of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Rossi, surviving a late scare as Pedrosa touched his rear wheel in the final stages, the latter almost crashing and having to settle for third.
The win is the 100th for Honda in the modern MotoGP™ four-stroke era and the triumph for Marquez was also historic as it came on the same day as an earlier Moto3™ victory for his brother Alex Marquez – the first time 65 years of World Championship competition that siblings have won Grand Prix races on the same day.
Rossi led for much of the race with the Repsol Honda duo chasing him down in the final stages, with Pedrosa returning to form following his recent arm pump surgery and subsequent problems – only to make that late mistake. The threat of rain lingered for the duration of the race, though a light shower was short-lived.
Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) followed the front three throughout the race but was never quite close enough to join the podium fight. He eventually crossed the finishing line 2.7s behind Pedrosa.
Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) rode a lonely race to fifth, staying in position despite running wide early on, whilst Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) finished just under two seconds in front of his brother Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) in sixth.
The top ten was completed by Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3).
Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) crashed out early on, with Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) falling midrace, the yellow flags caused by the Frenchman’s flag initially distracting the front runners in their intense battle at the front.
Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) and Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) both retired due to technical issues.
Moto2™: Rabat cruises to win in front of home fans
Tito Rabat extended his Moto2™ World Championship advantage with a dominant win from pole at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, with Maverick Viñales and Johann Zarco also on the podium.
The Spanish Marc VDS Racing Team rider crossed the line 4.2 ahead of Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40), with Zarco (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing) a further seven seconds back, after an incident packed race.
Zarco won a late battle for third, overcoming Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team) and Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) in the final stages.
The top ten was completed by Mattia Pasini (NGM Forward Racing) , Ricard Cardus (Tech 3), Axel Pons (AGR Team), Marcel Schrotter (Tech 3) and Anthony West (QMMF Racing Team).
Jordi Torres (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2) and Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert) were both in the podium hunt until a late lowside crash by Torres ended his race, with Aegerter forced wide – the Swiss rider eventually finishing 14th.
Jonas Folger (AGR Team) saw his race ended prematurely as he crashed after taking evasive action to avoid hitting Luis Salom (Paginas Amarillas HP 40). The Spaniard hit the ground in front of the German rider, with Salom later taken to hospital for treatment on a fractured finger.
Randy Krummenacher (IodaRacing Project), Simone Corsi (NGM Forward Racing), Franco Morbidelli (Italtrans Racing Team), Sam Lowes (Speed Up), Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP), Xavier Simeon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Tetsuta Nagashima (Teluru Team JiR Webike) were amongst those who also suffered crashes, but none were injured.
Moto3™: Alex Marquez storms to Barcelona-Catalunya victory
Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) took victory from pole at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya on Sunday morning, storming to the win ahead of Enea Bastianini and Efren Vazquez.
In his 35th Grand Prix, having qualified on pole for the first time, Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider Marquez took his second Moto3™ win, after triumphing at Motegi last year.
The Spanish rider crossed the line a clear 3.2s gap ahead of his nearest rival, to delight the home crowd, giving Honda a Moto3 victory to end KTM’s winning streak.
Junior Team Go&FUN Moto3 youngster Bastianini produced a great ride from second on the grid to finish on the podium in second place in just his seventh Grand Prix. Vazquez (SAXOPRINT RTG) was third as he followed Bastianini home, trailing by just over a quarter of a second.
Championship leader Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) rode intelligently to fourth place, gaining crucial extra points in the standings as he moved up from eighth in the final stages.
Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46) was fifth, with the improving Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) sixth on Mahindra machinery.
Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team) was seventh, whilst Niklas Ajo (Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo) was eighth after surviving a big scare as he ran off track and somehow managed to stay upright when a crash seemed almost inevitable on the last lap.
The top ten was completed by John McPhee (SAXOPRINT RTG) and Francesco Bagnaia (SKY Racing Team VR46).
Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) retired early due to a mechanical problem, whilst there were crashes for Niccolo Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN), Hafiq Azmi (SIC-Ajo KTM) and Maria Herrera (Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0,0) – though none of them were seriously hurt.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
Dovizioso finishes eighth in Catalunya GP, Crutchlow forced to retire
Andrea Dovizioso finished the Catalunya Grand Prix, round 7 of the MotoGP World Championship held today at the Montmeló circuit near Barcelona, in eighth place. Starting from row 3 of the grid, the Italian rider kept up a good pace for the 25 laps, and he took the chequered flag just behind Pol Espargarò, with whom he had battled for much of the race.
Unfortunately his team-mate Cal Crutchlow continues to be hit by bad luck. This time the British rider returned to the pits after ten laps because of a technical problem that led him to retire.
Michele Pirro, the Ducati Test Team test-rider, finished the Catalan race in fourteenth place on his GP14 “lab” bike.
The two Ducati Team riders will now remain behind at the Catalan track tomorrow to take part in the IRTA tests, together with Pirro, who will also be at Montmeló on Tuesday and Wednesday to continue development work on the GP14 and test new software.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 8th
“I am pleased with the pace that we managed to keep up for the entire race as well as the final gap, and this is the most important aspect from today. For sure eighth place is not a great result in itself, but we were able to cut the gap by half from last year, in a race that was even faster. I fought it out with Pol Espargarò for almost the entire race, and we were separated by just a few thousandths of a second at the end. I think we obtained the best possible result this weekend.”
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) – DNF
“Unfortunately also here at Barcelona I never managed to finish the race. We had a problem from the first laps with the bike, which was behaving strange and it didn’t allow me to ride the way I wanted to. Then a load of warning lights came on, the bike stopped and I had to retire. We’re not having much luck at the moment, but we have to arrive positive to the next race and try our best again: I’m not one to give up and Assen was kind to me last year so hopefully we can have a good race there and reverse the trend.”
Michele Pirro (Ducati Test Team #51) – 14th
“To be honest I hoped to do a bit better today, but right from the early laps I realized that the bike had a problem with the electronics. As I was racing with new software, maybe it was just a teething problem. At this point I concentrated on finishing to gather some useful indications for future development.”
Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
“Obviously we are very disappointed that once again Cal’s bike had a problem during the race: it’s something that should not happen. We are analyzing all the data carefully to understand the true nature of the problem. Andrea gave his all right until the very end, recording a time of 1’43.3 on the final lap and keeping a constant pace throughout the entire race. We’ve still got a lot of work to do but at this moment, if we look at our gap from the front guys, we can be moderately satisfied.”
More, from a press release issued by Scott Redding’s publicist:
Redding happy with Barcelona race despite penalty
Barcelona, Spain – 15 June 2014: Scott Redding crossed the finish line in today’s Grand Prix de Catalunya as the top production Honda rider in 12th place, but was later demoted one place, behind Nicky Hayden, as a result of a time penalty imposed after the race.
A coming together with Cal Crutchlow early in the race lost Scott valuable time and allowed Hayden to close onto the back of the 21-year-old Briton. The two battled throughout the race, but it was Scott who held the advantage at the line.
However, the positions were reversed post race, when Scott was deemed to have gained an advantage after an off-track excursion at turn one and penalised by race direction.
The decision means Scott remains 14th in the MotoGP Championship standings, but now trails Hayden by three points.
Scott Redding // 13th
“Overall I’m pretty happy with the race today, although the penalty is obviously disappointing. I came together with Crutchlow early on, which lost me some time and allowed Hayden to close, but the gamble we took with the softer option tyre proved to be a good one and I managed to hold him off to the end. I’m happy because we achieved our target of being the first production Honda home at a circuit that isn’t one of my favourites. Unfortunately the result didn’t stand because of the penalty imposed after the race. I had a problem backshifting into turn one and, rather than risk a crash, I opted to run on. I gained a little bit of time, but in sector two I slowed to make up for this. In the end I got penalised for the time I made up in turn one and me slowing down in sector two wasn’t taken into account. It’s difficult to accept, because if I hadn’t slowed down to make things fair, even with the penalty I’d have finished 12th. Yes, I’m disappointed, but there’s nothing I can do about it, so we have to move on.”
More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3:
Tech3 riders endure tough Catalunya GP
Pol Espargaro rode to a hard fought 7th place in his home race at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya. The young Spaniard undertook a positive start from 10th on the grid to jump up three places by the end of the first lap. With the ever-present threat of rain and thunderstorms looming over the 4727 metre circuit but only spitting marginally towards the end, Espargaro set into a steady and formidable rhythm to maintain this position for the majority of the race distance. On lap 16 Espargaro became locked into a tremendous fight with Andrea Dovizioso aboard the Factory Ducati. Espargaro bravely fought right to the finish line, brilliantly holding off his vastly experienced opponent. The 7th place finish marks the rookies 6th successive top ten finish with his total points tally in the championship increasing to 58, leaving him in 6th and remaining as the leading satellite bike overall during his first season in the premier class with the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team.
Bradley Smith today completed his 25-lap charge around Catalunya in 10th position by battling relentlessly to claw back positions after getting squeezed down the order in the opening lap. Smith began the Grand Prix which is sponsored by Team Tech3’s title backers Monster Energy from 8th on the grid but despite a good start, he completed the first lap in 12th. However, the young English rider remained absolutely determined and gave his best by attempting to fight his way back up the field, reaching 10th by lap 15. With the rain still threatening to fall in the latter stages of the Grand Prix, Smith was unfortunately too far adrift to bridge the gap to the rider in front. Yet despite the disappointing end to a GP that saw him top the FP2 practice session on Friday, the 23-year-old British rider collects more vital championship points and heads to the Dutch TT fully confident of a higher scoring result.
Pol Espargaro
Position : 7thChampionship : 6thPoints : 58
“We’ve been struggling a bit during the whole weekend, so to finish today’s race in 7th is still an acceptable result. Of course it’s a bit disappointing especially after the strong performance of Le Mans and Mugello and I clearly aimed to do better at my home race, but things don’t always go according to plan. I’m losing quite a lot of time in the fast corners here, especially in sector 4, as I’m lacking rear grip and I think we will work on this tomorrow at the test by experimenting with different traction control settings. It’s an issue we are always experiencing with high temperatures so we clearly have to try to improve it. However, I’m pleased I could fight with Dovizioso down to the line and keeping him behind me. I want to thank the team for the great job this weekend and we will try to challenge to be the best satellite bike again in Assen.
Bradley Smith
Position : 10thChampionship : 10thPoints : 40
“Unfortunately there’s not a lot I can say as I am obviously disappointed with the outcome of today. We had a strong weekend until qualifying as I finished 4th overall in the combined standings and the bike felt really good. But for some reason my feeling of the bike today changed especially at the beginning of the race and I wasn’t too confident on it. Yet from the mid section to the end of the race, things slightly improved but unfortunately I was already too far back at this point. Honestly I am frustrated as in the race, my pace wasn’t anywhere near the performances I have had during the weekend. It is another missed opportunity but I will bounce back in Assen where hopefully we can have a strong weekend.
Hervé Poncharal – Team manager :
“Whilst there were no words to describe Mugello’s MotoGP race, for this race I don’t think there are any more superlatives left! From the word go it was an incredible battle and the race could have been anyone’s in the top three plus everyone was nervously looking at the sky as the rain was meant to be coming which added some intensity to the fight. In terms of Tech3’s riders, Pol had a great start recovering numerous positions straight away. We all thought he would have been able to stay with Aleix, but unfortunately he was just a bit quicker than Pol. On the other hand, Bradley didn’t have such a great start which is a real shame as at the end of the race he was lapping quicker than the group of Dovi, Pol and Aleix but unluckily he was already too far behind. Clearly both of our riders could have been up there but that’s racing and we still picked up some valuable points for the championship. Now we can just look forward to the next race in Assen where we had a fantastic pole position and 3nd place last year with Cal Crutchlow.”