FIM MotoGP World Championship Misano, San Marino September 15, 2013 Race Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 28 laps, 44:05.522 2. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), -3.379 seconds 3. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), -7.368 4. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), -15.062 5. Stefan BRADL, Germany (HONDA), -22.355 6. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (YAMAHA), -22.599 7. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), -31.059 8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), -42.702 9. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), -44.858 10. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), -47.818 11. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), -48.011 12. Colin EDWARDS, USA (FTR-Kawasaki), -63.154 13. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (ART-Aprilia), -67.600, jump start/ride-through penalty 14. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (FTR-Kawasaki), -75.528 15. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (IODA/SUTER-BMW), -77.907 16. Claudio CORTI, Italy (FTR-Kawasaki), -89.655 17. Randy DE PUNIET, France (ART-Aprilia), -93.990 18. Michael LAVERTY, UK (PBM-Aprilia), -96.860 19. Bryan STARING, Australia (FTR-Honda), -4 laps, DNF, retired 20. Hector BARBERA, Spain (FTR-Kawasaki), -7 laps, DNF, retired 21. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (ART-Aprilia), -19 laps, DNF, retired 22. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (ART-Aprilia), -21 laps, DNF, retired 23. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), -25 laps, DNF, crash 24. Lukas PESEK, Czech Republic (IODA/SUTER-BMW), -25 laps, DNF, retired World Championship Point Standings (after 13 of 18 races): 1. Marquez, 253 points 2. TIE, Lorenzo/Pedrosa, 219 4. Rossi, 169 5. Crutchlow, 146 6. Bradl, 124 7. Bautista, 112 8. Dovizioso, 104 9. Hayden, 95 10. TIE, Smith/Espargaro, 71 12. Pirro, 50 13. Iannone, 41 14. Edwards, 31 15. Barbera, 27 16. Petrucci, 23 17. De Puniet, 20 18. Ben Spies, 9 19. TIE, Corti/Hernandez, 7 21. Aoyama, 6 22. TIE, Alex De Angelis/Abraham, 5 24. Laverty, 3 25. Staring, 2 26. Javier Del Amor, 1 More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Marquez and Pedrosa seal eighth double podium in epic battle at Misano Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa have put on a wonderful show for the 50,949 strong crowd in San Marino today and clinched the team’s eighth double podium of the season, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. Pole man Marc dropped back at the start, losing two positions as Lorenzo took the lead and Dani moved into second, from fourth on the grid. Marc then made a small mistake on lap five which allowed Rossi to pass him and he slipped to 4th whilst Dani tried to stay with Lorenzo. On lap thirteen Marc passed Rossi and on lap eighteen he caught Dani and also passed him. Dani showed determination as he re-overtook Marc on lap 22 before Marc came back on the same lap and stole 2nd place. Marc has stretched his lead over teammate Dani, but Lorenzo has closed the gap slightly. Marc now has 253 points with five races remaining, with Lorenzo in second, on the same points as Dani in third, with 219. Marc Marquez 2nd Championship Standing: 1st – 253 points “We’ve taken another 20 World Championship points today and, considering how the race went, I think that is a good reward! At the start of the race I knew that I had to be careful, but I made two mistakes and lost a lot of time with the second of those. Maybe I was lacking a little experience; it’s my rookie season and it is normal to make a few errors. I also didn’t feel completely comfortable with a full fuel tank; from the midway point onwards I felt a lot better. To finish second is a great result, even though Lorenzo has gained five points on us, we are an extra four ahead of Dani. We are happy and have a lot of motivation to keep fighting hard at Aragon!” Dani Pedrosa 3rd Championship Standing: 3rd – 219 points “I gave my all in the race today. I rode as well as I can ride, putting everything into every lap and trying to take every corner perfectly. Overall, this hasn’t been our weekend, generally speaking, because I had a lot of grip problems with the rear tyre on every day of the GP. In the race today it was even more noticeable, so I couldn’t have done things any better” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Crutchlow battles to super sixth in San Marino Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Cal Crutchlow stormed back into the top six today at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli to remain firmly on course to be the leading non-factory rider in 2013. And it was almost a double top 10 finish for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad, with rookie Bradley Smith missing out on claiming 10th spot by the narrowest margins at the end of a 28-lap race that was played out in front of a crowd of 50,949 fans. Crutchlow bounced back from a tough home race at Silverstone earlier this month in typically determined fashion, the British rider brilliantly leading Stefan Bradl in fifth position for the majority of a race that took place in cloudy and windy conditions. A faultless performance from Crutchlow seemed certain to be rewarded with a top five result, as he brilliantly defended from a hard charging Bradl right down to the final lap. The German was not to be outdone though and a calculated move at Turn 8 dropped Crutchlow back to sixth. The British rider was unable to retaliate despite a determined late attack but Crutchlow’s battling performance keeps the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team in control of third spot in the all-important Team World Championship standings. Today’s result, which was a ninth top sixth finish of an impressive 2013, means Crutchlow remains comfortably the highest ranked non-factory rider in the World Championship standings on 146-points. Smith was less than 0.2s away from continuing his outstanding run of top 10 finishes in his rookie premier class campaign. Locked in a fight for long periods with Andrea Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden and Michele Pirro, Smith almost overhauled the latter with a tremendous last lap attack. Smith set his best lap of the race on the final lap but just couldn’t find a way to make a clean pass on Pirro and he had to settle for 11th. The consolation though was the 22-year-old moved back into 10th place in the World Championship standings having joined Aleix Espargaro on 71-points. Cal Crutchlow 6th – 146 points : “It is a shame that I lost fifth place on the last lap but it has been a very difficult weekend and I am happy to come away with this result. The top six is not what I am aiming for right now but I had no confidence with the bike all weekend, and it was important to get a strong finish. It was a very hard race because Stefan just sat on my back wheel from the first lap to the end and unfortunately he managed to find a way to pass me in the lasts corners. I tried my best to take fifth back but it wasn’t meant to be, but I think the whole of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team showed a lot of fighting qualities this weekend. My crew have never given up and they have worked really hard trying to build up my confidence and I am grateful for their support.” Bradley Smith 11th – 71 points: “The race pretty much panned out as I’d anticipated and I thought I’d stay close and race the Ducatis. I got an amazing start and that gave me a great opportunity to be in a battle but I just didn’t have the pace throughout. I wasn’t as fast as I’d hoped and again it was difficult at the start of the race on a full fuel load. But we have learned a lot all weekend and particularly in the race and now I am looking forward to tomorrow’s test where we can try a few things to improve our package. Our setting right now is pretty good but I can improve my riding position. I don’t think we are far away but small details can make a big difference when it comes to the race.” Herve Poncharal – Team Manager : “We knew this weekend would be tough after such a difficult experience for both Cal and Bradley in Silverstone. Sixth place is not what we are looking for or what is the real potential of Cal. But he showed the whole race that he is a true fighter and it was unfortunate that Stefan was able to pass him right at the end. In the end it was a strong race and I want to thank Cal because he never gave up and as always he gave all he had, even though he has not been confident on the bike all weekend. Bradley had a tough weekend too. We knew Ducati would be strong here like always because they test on this track frequently and Bradley did a very good job. He set his fastest lap on the last lap and that shows there is still room for improvement but the whole team has demonstrated a lot of fighting spirit this weekend and I am proud of everybody involved. Finally I must pass on my congratulations to Jorge and Yamaha. Jorge was exceptional and he showed that this World Championship is not over yet. And I am also delighted to see the new YZR-M1 seamless shift gearbox make a winning debut, which bodes well for the future.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Lorenzo leads from start to finish for third successive Misano victory Round 13: San Marino MotoGP™ – Race Misano, Sunday 15 September 2013 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium & Hard. Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric) Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Hard (Main), Soft (Alternative) Weather: Dry. Ambient 26-27°C; Track 31-31°C (Bridgestone measurement) Jorge Lorenzo was untouchable in today’s San Marino Grand Prix, the Yamaha Factory Racing rider streaking away from the start of the race to take the chequered flag by 3.379 seconds to score his third successive MotoGP™ victory at Misano. Starting from second on the grid, Lorenzo got the holeshot to lead into the first corner and by the end of the first lap amassed a gap of 1.2 seconds to break the resolve of the following pack. Lorenzo continued his strong pace throughout the twenty-eight lap contest to take victory ahead of Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez who came out on top in an entertaining battle with teammate Dani Pedrosa for second place. Colin Edwards’ strong season continues, the American rider crossing the finish line in twelfth place on his NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR-Kawasaki to be the top CRT finisher at Misano. Ambient temperatures were warmer today but cloud cover and a strong breeze kept track temperatures lower than the previous two days of action, with a peak figure of 31°C recorded during the race. The lower track temperatures and poor grip level of the circuit resulted in all riders selecting the softer rear slick options while for the front tyre, seventeen of the twenty-four riders selected the softer of the two front slick options, the medium compound. Tyre performance during the race was consistent, with the overall race time being the quickest ever recorded at this circuit, beating the old record by six seconds. Marquez now sits on 253 championship points to lead the standings by thirty-four points over both Lorenzo and Pedrosa, who now sit equal on 219 championship points with five rounds remaining. Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department “It was cooler today for the race but this didn’t have a significant effect on tyre choice as most riders had already decided to use the softer slick options front and rear to compensate for the poor grip level of the Misano circuit. The only variation in race tyre choice was for the front tyre, with most riders selecting the softer front option for maximum grip, while the Yamaha and Repsol Honda riders opting for the harder front slick. After another satisfying race weekend our attention now turns to the Misano post-race test where our engineers will be on-hand to support the teams and where we will also be providing our new experimental rear slick for the riders to evaluate.” Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing – Race Winner “It was important to win here to recover five more points to Marc, so it was a good result for the championship. I am very happy for this victory because we were struggling a bit this weekend but we made a change in warm up which helped my performance a lot. It was physically a hard race because Marc and Dani never gave up and had a quick pace, so thanks to the team for working to improve my bike and helping me to get the win.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Factory MotoGP Team: Lorenzo Delivers with Masterful Misano Victory Misano Adriatico (Italy), 15th September 2013 Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo delivered a masterful performance today to win the San Marino Grand Prix in stunning form. The victory, his sixth successive Italian Grand Prix win, was delivered after a 28 lap race of inch perfect riding from the reigning world champion. Starting from second on the grid, Lorenzo out dragged championship rival and pole sitter Marc Marquez to the first corner, taking the hole shot into turn one. He proved immediately impossible to follow, opening up a gap of just over a second on the first lap and keeping the pressure up as the race wound on. He was quick to build a comfortable gap to the chasing pack that was unbroken to the line, allowing him to claim his fifth Grand Prix win of the season. Valentino Rossi initially dropped a couple of places to fifth off the start line but was quick to re-pass Aleix Espargaro on the first lap to slot into fourth chasing Marquez and Dani Pedrosa ahead. The Local hero was hot on the tail of Marquez and took advantage of an error by the young Spaniard to dive past up the inside and move into third place chasing Pedrosa. Unfortunately some issues with braking cost some valuable time and Marquez was able to re-pass, leaving Rossi in a lonely fourth position for the remainder of the race to the finish line. Lorenzo’s stunning victory moves him up into second place in the championship, tied on points with Pedrosa at 219, 34 behind Marquez with five races remaining. Rossi’s fourth place finish keeps him in fourth place in the championship on 169 points, 23 ahead of Cal Crutchlow in fifth. Jorge Lorenzo 1st / 44’05.522 / 28 laps “Luckily we improved the bike a lot in warm up, especially in braking so we improved the lap time and the pace quite a bit. I was convinced to follow my strategy of the last couple of races which was to try to break away and finally I could do it. The first two laps I had a big advantage so I had to keep pushing to maintain a distance because they never gave up and wanted to catch me. I’m happy, we recovered five points and we are closer to Marc. I need to be constant and try to win races and stay focused.” Valentino Rossi 4th / +15.062 / 28 laps “All the weekend our performance was quite good, I stayed with the top three and I raised my level, especially in qualifying, I could push stronger with the new tyres and make the first row. The expectation for the race was very high, after the start the top guys were very fast but my fastest lap was close to theirs. Unfortunately after some laps I was in trouble in braking and entering corners. I was struggling in hard braking and made some mistakes going wide and step-by-step they pulled away. I made a small mistake on turn seven and lost two seconds and by then already I had too much disadvantage. It’s a pity because we wanted to try for the podium here in Italy in front of all the fans in Misano. We hope the weather remains good for tomorrow as we have to try some new parts.” Yamaha Factory Racing Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “Day number three here and an incredible race in Misano, our first seamless gearbox victory of the season. Yesterday we didn’t really believe we could do this but after warm up we found a better package. Jorge felt it too and it gave him a lot of motivation. He pulled out the first four or five laps at an incredible pace and I think that made the difference towards the end of the race.” Yamaha Factory Racing Massimo Meregalli Team Director “It was a great work from Jorge and the whole team this weekend. We started on Friday with problems and have improved step by step in each session. This morning we found in the warm up the best solution to get the feeling back and then Jorge made the difference. He delivered an amazing output with 1.5 seconds after two laps, he maintained a constant pace and dominated the other riders. We were unable to get the podium with Vale. After yesterday afternoon we thought to have both riders on the podium but it was not to be. Tomorrow will be important to test the material we could not test at Brno.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: A large and passionate crowd filled the grandstands and lawns around the 4.226 km (2.626 mi) Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for the final day of the thirteenth round of the MotoGP World Championship. Following a good start that allowed Andrea Iannone to immediately advance three positions, putting him in ninth place at the end of the first lap, his run in the top ten was interrupted just a few minutes into the Italian race. As he was pursuing Alvaro Bautista in an effort to gain additional positions, a fall in turn six undid the good work done over the weekend and forced the Italian to retire from the race. Iannone and his team will now focus on tomorrow’s IRTA test here at the Misano circuit. The next round is scheduled for September 27-29 at Aragon. Andrea Iannone – Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team “I was really motivated for the race and couldn’t wait for it to start because I knew I had a pretty good pace to have a good race and stay with the Ducati Team riders—I was sure of it. I did pretty well on the start and immediately made up some positions, passing Nicky and Dovi, and then I tried to catch Alvaro. It seemed like I’d be able to do it, but I took a turn differently than normal and the bike closed the front end and I crashed. Anyway, we’ve improved compared to Silverstone, and my shoulder has too. We worked well the entire weekend, and up until this morning, everything went as it should have, only to finish like this. Everything was perfect. I’m disappointed, but we’ll start again and try at Aragon.” More, from another press release issued by Pramac Racing: In front of a large and passionate crowd that filled the grandstands and lawns around the 4.226 km (2.626 mi) Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Michele Pirro and the Ignite Pramac Racing Team earned a tenth-place finish in today’s Grand Prix. After getting stuck in traffic off the start, Michele Pirro advanced to tenth position by the end of lap five of twenty-eight, intent on catching his fellow Ducati riders. A few small mistakes slowed his progress, though he still managed to defend his position and set his best lap time of 1:35.281. Satisfied with the information gathered during the races as a substitute rider with the team, Michele will now return to his test-rider work, which will see him involved in a long series of tests, beginning with tomorrow’s IRTA test at the Misano circuit. Michele Pirro – Ignite Pramac Racing Team “After the first few laps, I thought I could stay with Dovi and Nicky because I wasn’t so far back, but then I began having problems with the brake. I went long in the Quercia turn and that may have caused me to lose my focus a bit, as I lost a few metres; if I’d wanted to stay with them, I couldn’t have made any mistakes. In the end though, we gathered important data that we hope to be able to take advantage of. The good work we did over the weekend, as well as our tenth place, aren’t bad, but there’s still a lot of work to do. Thanks to the whole team for this great experience. It was nice to do so many races together, but now I must return to my test-rider work. Good luck.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: BRADL GRABS AN IMPRESSIVE 5th ON A THRILLING LAST LAP IN MISANO Misano, 15 September: LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl took a solid 5th place in today’s San Marino and Riviera di Rimini Grand Prix challenging the British rider Cal Crutchlow on a exciting last lap ahead 60.000 spectators. The German started from the head of row three after two difficult days but, once again, he demonstrated his determination conducting a strong 28-lap race. Stefan and his squad will be back on track tomorrow for one day of testing before moving to Aragon in 2 weeks. Stefano Bradl “Definitely it was the best day of the weekend for us. We improved the bike from Friday to Saturday but today the Team made a great job. I suffered a big crash on Friday and they had to work even harder to give me a competitive bike for the race. In the beginning of the race I was not so confident because, in the warm up lap, I was not sure about the rear tyre performance. But after few laps I could set my pace easily and I followed Cal for the whole race. He was a good reference for me and I was able to see where I was stronger than him so in the last lap I made my maneuver in turn seven. I had fun and I am happy now because I made a strong race after such a tough week end”. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Dovizioso, Hayden eighth and ninth at Misano The GP di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini was a demanding one for Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden who, after starting from the third and fourth rows, respectively, crossed the finish line in eighth and ninth places. Considering their grid positions and the track layout at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, it was clear that the start would be very difficult for the Ducati Team riders, and that proved to be the case. The teammates made several early passes before beginning a battle with one another for eighth place. After twenty-eight laps, Dovizioso finished eighth, while Hayden had to settle for ninth. Before heading home, the Ducati Team will return to action tomorrow for an official IRTA test at the same circuit. Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team, 8th “Obviously, we can’t be satisfied with the result. I made a mistake on the start. Espargaro was in front of me and, unfortunately, I was distracted when he jumped the start. I lost many positions and some seconds in the early going because there were many of us trying to pass each other in the slow corners, so the first few laps were pretty challenging. Then I started to find my rhythm; I passed Nicky and thought I could do a faster pace, but I didn’t have a great feeling with the front end of my Desmosedici. It’s a shame because I had hoped to be able to fight for positions a bit closer to the front.” Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team, 9th “It’s been a tough weekend and things certainly didn’t get any easier today. When Espargaro jumped the start, I saw him out of the corner of my eye and delayed a little bit. I lost a few places on the run to turn one but was able to make up a couple of positions pretty quickly. Then it was a really difficult race for me, as it was very hard to change directions and stop. I was racing with Dovi, and at the end of the back straightaway, I lost the rear and ran off the track. The last few laps were pretty lonely after that. I made two mistakes—one at the start, one in the race—and they both hurt me. The pace hasn’t been very good all week, and it’s a shame because the team is working so hard.” Bernhard Gobmeier – Ducati Corse General Manager “In the end, it was a disappointing weekend after it started quite well in the free practices, where we found a fairly good setup and race rhythm. Of course the starting positions on the grid after qualifying weren’t too good, and we lost several positions at the start, which we could never really recover. We settled into a pace that was at times similar to that of the second group, but at the end, it was too much of a gap. Tomorrow we’ll have a few more things to test, which should give us some more data for the development of next year’s bike.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Jorge Lorenzo has won his second consecutive Grand Prix, winning the GP Aperol di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini at Misano on Sunday afternoon. The World Champion, who took the lead at the start, controlled the pace as championship leader Marc Marquez beat Dani Pedrosa to second position. Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli has delivered another glorious result for Lorenzo, who has now flourished at the Adriatic venue for three years in a row. The win, which is the 49th of his career and 28th in the premier class, also confirms that the Mallorcan has won both Italian races on the calendar for a trio of successive seasons. From second on the grid, Lorenzo shot into the lead as pole-sitter Marquez dropped to third on the opening lap. The latter would put on a spurt in the second half of the race, but by this point had fallen to fourth place due to an unforced error; Marquez recovered from his Turn 8 mistake to catch and pass both Lorenzo’s teammate Valentino Rossi and his Repsol Honda Team colleague Pedrosa. However, as the two Honda riders engaged in a battle, Lorenzo’s already comfortable lead only grew. Marquez’s championship lead is now 34 points with five races remaining, while Lorenzo has drawn level with Pedrosa for second overall. Rossi and Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Cal Crutchlow are the only other two riders who can mathematically still clinch the title; the Italian ended Sunday’s race fourth, while the Englishman fell to sixth on the final lap behind LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl. Alvaro Bautista was seventh for GO&FUN Honda Gresini, having claimed his maiden MotoGP™ podium at Misano in 2012, while Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso beat teammate Nicky Hayden and Ignite Pramac Racing’s Michele Pirro to eighth spot. 11th was Tech3’s Bradley Smith, while Colin Edwards (NGM Mobile Forward Racing) was the leading CRT rider in 12th; the American finishing one position ahead of Aleix Espargaro (Power Electronics Aspar) who, from an impressive sixth on the grid, ran fourth on Lap 1, but was handed a ride-through penalty for jumping the start. Six riders failed to make the finish, including Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone who was one of six Italians racing in front of a passionate crowd. Moto2 Pol Espargaro has won the Moto2™ GP Aperol di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini, denying Takaaki Nakagami a career-first victory on the penultimate lap at Misano. Tito Rabat made the podium as championship leader Scott Redding finished sixth. On Saturday, Tuenti HP 40’s Espargaro – 38 points behind Redding in the championship following a poor race at Silverstone – had confidently sealed pole position, with his chief rival starting fifth for Marc VDS Racing Team. A clean start saw the Spaniard retain the lead but Italtrans Racing Team’s Nakagami, highly keen to win after finishing second in the last three races, went through on Lap 4. As Nakagami’s tyres began to drop off the cliff in the final stages of the race, Espargaro relentlessly reduced a two-second gap and posted the fastest lap of the entire Grand Prix on Lap 22. The ultimately inevitable pass came at the end of the start/finish straight with only two laps remaining, demoting Nakagami to yet another second place as Espargaro’s teammate Rabat – who ran second in the early stages – completed the rostrum. Tom Luthi and Dominique Aegerter completed the top five for Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing and Technomag carXpert, correspondingly. For Redding, it was a case of damage limitation. Eventually losing out to the likes of Aegerter, the Englishman narrowly beat Came IodaRacing Project’s Johann Zarco to sixth place; this means his new championship leading margin is 23 points – now less than a single race win. The top ten in the race was rounded out by Maptaq SAG Zelos Team’s Xavier Simeon, Redding’s teammate Mika Kallio and Aspar Team Moto2’s Nico Terol. On the victory lap, second-placed Nakagami took a moment to reflect with a large Japanese flag, remembering late compatriot Shoya Tomizawa. Moto3 Alex Rins has claimed his fourth race win of the Moto3™ season, beating Maverick Viñales by just one hundredth of a second in the GP Aperol di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini. Alex Marquez completed the podium while championship leader Luis Salom limited the points loss, finishing fourth from tenth place on the grid. A three-horse race at the front quickly turned into a simple head-to-head when Folger – who had lost the lead to Rins and Viñales – suffered a dramatic highside on the fourth lap; he would suffer a fracture to the left ankle and an injured shoulder. The battle for first would rage for the rest of the race, with Viñales moving ahead on Lap 13 before Rins returned with a late-race surge; the eventual move would come at Turn 13 on the final lap, as both men avoided incidents knowing that Salom was further back in the pack. Marquez finished third, six seconds behind the winner, to jump ahead of Folger for fourth place in the World Championship standings. Having crashed earlier in the weekend, Salom knew this race would be no easy feat as he started on the fourth row – his equal worst qualifying performance of 2013 so far. The Mallorcan was already in fourth place in the early stages of the race and would cross the line in the same position, but only after monitoring a train of five riders all threatening to demote him to eighth. Salom, 11 seconds behind the victor, would ultimate hold off the attentions of Jack Miller (Caretta Technology – RTG), his own teammate Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing), as Niccolo Antonelli (GO&FUN Gresini Moto3) dropped to the tail of the battle. There was a career-best result for Philipp Oettl as the German finished ninth for Tec Interwetten Moto3 Racing, ahead of San Carlo Team Italia’s Romano Fenati who suffered handling problems for most of the race. Niklas Ajo was 11th for Avant Tecno, rounding out a bruising weekend that had featured a trip to hospital, but there was disappointment for Aspar’s Eric Granado who retired in the closing stages after becoming the class’ best ever Brazilian qualifier with seventh on the grid. Luca Marini also retired, as the half-brother of nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi highsided his Twelve Racing machine into the first corner of the race; Italian national championship rival Andrea Locatelli (Mahindra Racing) also hit trouble at Turn 1. Both Viñales and winner Rins – whose victory is his first since Indianapolis – now move back to within one race win’s equivalent of points of Salom. The championship leader is standing on 246 points, with Viñales and Rins respectively 19 and 21 points in arrears. The battle will continue at Spain’s MotorLand Aragon on 29th September.