Stunning victory clear in the lead as EG 0,0 Marc VDS celebrate 250 races
Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) took a stunning second Moto2™ win at his home Catalan GP; the ‘Pistolas’ shooting away from pole position and never seen again. The race was the 250th start for the EG 0,0 Marc VDS outfit, with the 2014 Moto3™ World Champion supplying plenty to cheer about for the second time this season. Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) followed up his home heroics and win in Mugello with another podium in second, with Championship challenger Tom Lüthi (CarXpert Interwetten) completing the rostrum in P3.
Marquez got a stunning start from pole, easily away into the lead as teammate Franco Morbidelli shot off the second row to take second into Turn 1, diving up the inside of Pasini and Lüthi. The Swiss rider then headed wide through the run off, rejoining behind Pasini before Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) needed no invitation to slice through.
Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Racing Team) was the rider to drop back slightly at the start from the front row, but the big headline first time over the line was Marquez’ advantage at the front – already over a second.
The 2014 Moto3™ World Champion continued to pull away, with the gap hovering around four seconds by mid-race distance and the game changing from ‘charge’ to ‘control’.
It was initially a three rider fight to decide who would be first on the chase, with Pasini, Morbidelli and Lüthi in the battle for second – and Mugello winner Pasini the rider able to pull away. Swiss veteran Lüthi overcame the Championship leader to take third, before Morbidelli was then caught and passed by first Oliveira and then Baldassarri to drop back into sixth despite his lightning start.
Pasini kept it calm in second to keep Lüthi at bay for his second consecutive podium as the race settled into a rhythm, with the Swiss veteran completing the rostrum in P3.
Miguel Oliveira was on the chase late on, but the Portuguese rider eventually crossed the line in fourth in another impressive points haul for the new KTM Moto2™ outfit. Baldassarri, after the disappointment of a DNF in Mugello, completed the top five to bounce back in style.
Rookie home hero Jorge Navarro (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) threatened Morbidelli for sixth for a number of laps before the Championship leader was able to pull away, leaving Navarro to take seventh at the flag following an impressive rookie ride at the track on which he took his first ever win in Moto3™.
Fabio Quartararo (Pons HP 40) was the next rookie home in P8 after a spectacular battle to decide who would complete the top ten, with Xavi Vierge (Tech 3 Racing) striking late to move up into P9 despite missing the race in Mugello due to injury. Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) locked out the top ten, with Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) pushed back into P11 on the final laps and Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP) crashing out late on.
Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) was P12 over the line ahead of a solid home ride for Isaac Viñales (BE-A-VIP SAG Team), with Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46) taking yet more points in P14 as he pushes for Rookie of the Year despite a tougher weekend at the Catalan GP. Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) completed the top fifteen, scoring his first World Championship point in the intermediate class.
Next it’s Assen and the Dutch GP, as Marquez looks to take a consecutive win in Moto2™ for the first time – and Morbidelli aims to reassert his authority on the title chase.
Moto2 Race Results
1 – Alex Márquez (SPA – Kalex) 42’40.502
2 – Mattia Pasini (ITA – Kalex) + 3.525
3 – Thomas Lüthi (SWI – Kalex) + 4.452
More, from a press release issued by Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS:
Márquez master class delivers historic win in Barcelona
A master class by Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Álex Márquez secured a home race win for the Spanish star in today’s Catalunya Grand Prix in Barcelona.
Márquez’s history making victory, to a heroes welcome by home fans, came on the day the Belgian based team celebrated their 250th start in the Moto2 category.
From pole position Márquez led from lights to flag, leading all 23 laps to cruise to a 3.5s victory in heat wave conditions with track temperatures soaring to almost 50 degrees Celcius.
Márquez took control from the start and established a race winning advantage of 3.3 seconds with a stunningly fast opening five laps. Márquez set a new lap record for the 4.655km circuit on lap two on the way to winning his second race of the season.
The seventh round of the Moto2 World Championship was less satisfying for World Championship leader Franco Morbidelli, who struggled in the hot and low grip conditions to finish sixth.
It was damage limitation for Morbidelli who battled in the early laps for the podium with Mattia Pasini and Tom Lüthi before deciding to settle for points towards his title campaign.
Morbidelli leads the standings on 123 points ahead of Lüthi on 116 and Márquez on 103 points.
Álex Márquez: 1st
“A victory feels great anywhere but here at this race it feels amazing, just like my first win at Jerez just a few races ago. The last lap was incredible, I could hear the cheering of all the fans so thanks very much for that support. This is a really important victory for me in the championship and for the team on this special day for them. Now I need to keep this momentum for the next race in Assen, but first we will enjoy the win with a party tonight.”
Franco Morbidelli: 6th
“Today I was not very comfortable with the bike in these conditions so I had to step back and make sure I scored points for the championship. But the important thing is to understand why we are not fast at the moment and work to improve. I am a little worried my rivals have closed the gap in the points, but I am also motivated to keep fighting for the championship.”
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“This was a fantastic performance by Álex and the crucial part of the race was the opening five laps when he was half a second lap faster than anyone else. He made this race his own and it was special for him to win in front of his home fans. A year ago some people doubted Álex but today he showed how good a rider he is. Franco is not able to run the same pace as in the early races this season and we need to find a solution for him so that he can keep his lead in the championship going into the summer break after Assen and the Sachsenring.”
More, from a press release issued by Tech 3:
Vierge powers to 9th in front of home crowd – Gardner perseveres in arduous Catalunya fight
Tech3 Racing Team rider Xavi Vierge produced a determined and highly impressive performance at the gruelling Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya to finish 9th. The young Spaniard undertook a solid start and maintained a strong pace whilst he fought against the vastly experienced riders in the highly competitive group as track temperatures reached over 50 degrees. Eventually, Vierge emerged from the scrap to seal his 5th top ten finish of the year.
On the other side of the garage, Remy Gardner pushed nonstop at the punishing circuit to reach 20th by the fall of the flag. The promising Australian endured a tough qualifying campaign and launched forward from 26th on the grid. Nevertheless, he bolted forwards when the GP began and snaked his way up the field, despite the difficult conditions, before reaching the chequered flag.
Xavi Vierge
Position: 9th – Championship: 10th – Points: 39
“I am happy because it was another weekend where we reached our goal, which is to finish inside the top ten. I completed the race in 9th, however, this is also a bit of a shame because we seem to be finishing in this position quite a lot recently! Anyway, I am really pleased because, in every session, the Tech3 Racing Team and I gave 200% effort. We know that we have work to do but I believe in my team and myself to push hard to find more improvements so that we can keep going forward. Thanks to everyone and I’m excited for Assen.”
Remy Gardner
Position: 20th – Championship: 26th – Points: 2
“It was a long and hot race, plus we started on the back foot on Friday so today’s result is a reflection of how we did in the practice sessions. We didn’t really find a proper direction until qualifying and there, we made progress but some other riders held me up on my fast lap and if this didn’t happen, then we could have done a better job today. Anyway, we have learnt a lot, especially with how to ride in slippery track conditions and I think my pace was quite decent. It was more positive than Mugello but a worse final result so we have to take it on the chin but I think that in Assen we can make a pretty good step.”
Hervé Poncharal – Team Manager
“I want to give very warm congratulations to Xavi Vierge who did an amazing job at this GP. Four days ago we were not sure if he would be fit to ride after the injury from Mugello. He was in a lot of pain and could not breathe 100% so when you consider the hot temperature, the track conditions and the fight that he had to make today, to finish in 9th is remarkable. We are more than happy about how he is doing and he is a real warrior. I have to say thank you to him again because he is giving 120% effort, which is what we need, and we are very proud. Now, he has a few days off where he can recover even more before Assen and hopefully there he will feel better and can show the potential of himself and the Tech3 package once again. On the other side of the garage, for some reason, Remy’s ankle does not seem to have healed properly. He is in pain, there is a lot of swelling and he can’t ride the way he wants. The bone is fixed but there are some other issues so he will have an MRI scan on Tuesday and we will know more then. We won’t give up and he still has our full trust and confidence so hopefully, he will finally see the light at the end of the tunnel soon. Tech3 is the only team that is using our in-house made machine, the Mistral 610, and we need two riders to give valuable feedback in order to improve. Right now we are working on one leg but let’s hope that Remy comes back to full strength in the very near future.”
More, from a press release issued by Sky Racing Team VR46:
FRANCESCO BAGNAIA IN THE TOP15 AT MONTMELO’
The young rookie closed the Catalan GP at 14th place and conquered two points in the Championship. Stefano Manzi was forced to retire for a lack of confidence on the front.
Montmelò (Spain), June 11th, 2017 – After a difficult weekend for the Sky Racing Team VR46 and an tough qualifying, Francesco Bagnaia closed in the Top15 the Catalan GP at Montmelò.
Pecco, started from the 20th box of the grid, after the first laps was close to the front group in tenth position. Unfortunately, the management of the rear tyre forces him to reduce the pace close to the checkered flag and was 14th on the finishing line. Forced to retire after 15 laps, due to a lack of confidence on the front, Stefano Manzi.
Pablo Nieto
A very difficult race. Unfortunately we have struggled to find the right confidence and Pecco was not able to express his potential in the best possible way. Stefano was forced to retire for a lack of feeling on the front tire. We need to back at work in Assen.
Francesco Bagnaia
An hard weekend, especially from Saturday. With this kind of temperature, I started not to have grip and I could not ride as I wanted. During the race I tried to give my maximum. I had a really good start, but this has compromised the performance of my rear tire. In the last laps, due to the consumption of the tyre I was forced to reduce the pace. A mistake that certainly not to be repeated in the future.
Stefano Manzi
The main goal of the weekend was to finish the race after a series of retirement. Unfortunately, a lack of feeling with the front tyre forced me at the garage after few laps. It’s a shame, yesterday we made a good step forward in qualifying.
More, from a press release issued by Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Team:
SOLID SEVENTH FOR NAVARRO AT CATALUNYA MOTO2 RACE
Jorge Navarro has put together a great performance in front of his home crowd by finishing the 23-lap Moto2 World Championship race at Circuit de Catalunya in seventh place. The Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 rider, therefore, improves on his previous best result in the class – a ninth-place finish scored one week ago at Mugello.
Navarro had a very solid race, especially in the first half, as he kept a consistently-fast pace and closed in on the group ahead fighting for third. Once in the back of series leader Franco Morbidelli, though, Jorge had a few moments after which he chose to maintain his position up to the chequered flag to add nine more points to his tally of 22.
“I’m very happy with Jorge’s performance as it clearly showed a big improvement” says team manager Fausto Gresini. “He’s clearly getting more and more comfortable with the bike and the category, which is definitely not an easy thing to do in such short time. It has been a solid performance to add to the one of last weekend at Mugello, although obviously this being his home race it surely felt more special. We still need to improve a little bit more, but not too much. I would say great job first of all to him and then to all the team.”
7th – JORGE NAVARRO #9
“Montmeló proves to be once again a very important venue for me. We did great here one year ago and we were able to do as good this year, too, especially at the beginning of the race. This is my best result so far in this class: I really enjoyed the first half of the race, because my pace was consistently quick. I was closing in on sixth place at some point but had three moments in succession, so I chose to bring the bike home in seventh and get some more important points.”
More, from a press release issued by Forward Racing:
Fabulous fifth for Baldassarri in Catalan heat battle
The seventh round of the 2017 Moto2 World Championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya turned out to be a hot affair for Forward Racing Team’s Lorenzo Baldassarri, who was able to beat the scorching conditions to bring home an excellent fifth place result today.
Starting from the front row of the grid for the first time this year, Baldassarri gave his all to find his way through the field in the opening lap, which he finished in sixth position. Shortly after, he was shuffled back one position, but the 20-year old bravely fought during the course of the race to catch championship leader Franco Morbidelli just after half distance to retake fifth place. Though the conditions got tougher with every single lap, Baldassarri kept his spirit high and saw the chequered flag in this position, taking home crucial points for the World Championship standings, where he was able to recover one place.
On the other side of the Forward Racing Team garage, Luca Marini had to watch the race from a different perspective, after having previously decided to not participate in the event in order to recover for the upcoming two rounds after his crash in Le Mans three weeks ago. Together with his teammate, Marini is now looking forward to the next race, which will take place in Assen, Netherlands, in just 12 days’ time.
Lorenzo Baldassarri – 5th (+9.930)
“Today we did a good job, with which I’m really satisfied. Overall, we can be happy with this weekend as we were working well from the word go and always gave our maximum. My initial target was to keep up with the front guys and to try to stick with Alex (Marquez), but his rhythm was very impressive. I had some trouble at the start, because another rider did a small mistake and went towards me, so for a moment I had to close the gas and lost some positions. As soon as I got into my rhythm, I felt quite well on my Kalex. I was only struggling with the rear at the exit of the last corner. I tried to manage it, but during the first laps with the new tyre, it was not easy, therefore I lost the contact to the riders in front as well as their slip stream, which would have been helpful here. Anyway, we can be very pleased, because it was important to finish this race and to learn a lot, especially in these though conditions. A huge thank you to our entire team and our sponsors!”
Giovanni Cuzari – Team Owner
“This was a strong race by Lorenzo. In front of nearly 100.000 enthusiastic fans he definitely gave us a foretaste of what he is capable of. The entire weekend he and his crew did a very good job, therefore this result is more than deserved. I am convinced, that if he hadn’t had that contact during the first lap, he would have been able to fight for the podium. Altogether, Lorenzo has shown a promising performance here in Catalunya, which makes me very happy and confident for our upcoming tasks. However, at the same time we all feel sorry for Luca. I fully respect his decision and I am certain, it was the right thing to do, but still it was a strange feeling to have just one rider on the starting grid. Yet, one more time Luca was a fantastic team player standing right beside Lorenzo on the grid. Now we hope that he can recover as much as possible to be in a good condition for the race in Assen in just a few days’ time.”
More, from a press release issued by AGR Team:
NEED TO LEAVE IT BEHIND FAST
No points again for the AGR riders
The day at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit was radiant, with an amazing blue sky and nearly 100,000 people occupying the stands. There were three very interesting races, but the riders of the Argiñano & Ginés Racing Team did not shine in them, unfortunately.
Moto2
The Argiñano & Ginés Racing Team rider, Yonny Hernández, finished just outside of the points. The race was complicated and it will force to redefine the strategy for the races. For the Netherlands, Yonny will have to focus on his own rider and forget about his rivals in the practice, so that she can take a better position on the grid and recover the good feelings we had in Jerez and France.
Yonny Hernández #68 Kalex Moto2 / 16th: “I’m not happy, we could have done better, but I had a lot of issues with the front and I couldn’t get the right pace. When I tried to be in the upper 51s I was at the limit, so I decided to keep in 52s and see how the race went. We fought for the points in the end and we need to improve the time to get a better spot on the grid. In the group I was, the battle was very hard. We’ll focus on getting a good result in the Netherlands”.
Moto3
María Herrera, the rider of the Argiñano & Ginés Racing Team, had another tough weekend. Her team and her worked hard, but could get no reward.
María Herrera #6 KTM Moto3 / 26th: “Today we took a step forward during the warm-up with the front. We thought it would work better and I was happy at the start. I did a good start and many people went out of the track and didn’t respect the ones that were following the line. The back positions are always complicated. During the first lap I overtook many riders, but the back tyre was sliding a lot and I suffered it. Thanks to the team for the work they did”.
The team is gathering the equipment to go just a few kilometres, to the headquarters in Granollers. But we will keep working and will be back at the Circuit next week for a new round of the FIM CEV Repsol.