Marquez adds another notch to his belt in Catalunya

The Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya produced another brilliant race on Sunday, with Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) securing victory on the final lap ahead of Valentino Rossi and pole-sitter Dani Pedrosa.

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Marc Marquez after his victory in Catalunya.

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.

Marc Marquez: “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.”

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The Marquez brothers make history: Marc with his victory in MotoGP and Alex in Moto3.

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.

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A hard fought and tough ride by all three riders – Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa.

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.

Jorge Lorenzo: “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.”

Dani Pedrosa: “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!”

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Dani Pedrosa, Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo.

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).
Australian Broc Parkes (Paul Bird Motorsport) finished in 16th place.

Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) crashed out early on, whilst Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) pulled off track midrace, the yellow flags caused by the Frenchman’s excursion initially distracting the front runners in their intense battle at the front.

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Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso.

Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) and Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) both retired due to technical issues.

MotoGP Results 
1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 42m 56.914s
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 42m 57.426s
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 42m 58.748s
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 43m 1.454s
5. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 43m 8.062s
6. Aleix Espargaro ESP NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 43m 11.127s
7. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 43m 13.041s
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 43m 13.089s
9. Andrea Iannone ITA Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 43m 14.954s
10. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 43m 21.695s
11. Yonny Hernandez COL Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 43m 34.067s
12. Scott Redding GBR Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RCV1000R)* 43m 39.835s
13. Nicky Hayden USA Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 43m 40.213s
14. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 43m 52.071s
15. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 43m 56.105s
16. Broc Parkes AUS Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART)* 43m 57.820s
17. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART) 43m 58.198s
18. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 44m 3.035s
19. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Avintia) 44m 22.109s
20. Michel Fabrizio ITA IodaRacing Project (ART) 44m 37.579s
Mike Di Meglio FRA Avintia Racing (Avintia)* DNF
Cal Crutchlow GBR Ducati Team (Desmosedici) DNF
Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) DNF
Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (RCV1000R) DNF

Championship standings
1 Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team 150
2 Valentino Rossi Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 97
3 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 96
4 Jorge Lorenzo Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 65
5 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Team 63
6 Pol Espargaro Monster Yamaha Tech 3 49
7 Aleix Espargaro NGM Forward Racing 44
8 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda MotoGP 39
9 Bradley Smith Monster Yamaha Tech 3 34
10 Andrea Iannone Pramac Racing 34
11 Alvaro Bautista GO&FUN Gresini Honda 34
12 Hiroshi Aoyama Drive M7 Aspar 23
13 Nicky Hayden Drive M7 Aspar 23
14 Yonny Hernandez Emergy T.I. Pramac Racing 22
15 Scott Redding GO&FUN Honda Gresini 21
16 Cal Crutchlow Ducati Team 15
17 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing 13
18 Colin Edwards NGM Forward Racing 8
19 Michele Pirro Ducati Team 5
20 Hector Barbera Avintia Racing 2
21 Danilo Petrucci IodaRacing Project 2
22 Broc Parkes Paul Bird Motorsport 1

Moto2 – Esteve Rabat cruises to win – Anthony West in top 10

Esteve Rabat extended his Moto2 World Championship advantage with a dominant win from pole with Maverick Viñales and Johann Zarco also on the podium.

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Moto2 podium L-R Maverick Vinales, Esteve Rabat and Johann Zarco.

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.

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Anthony West back in the top 10.

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).

Moto2 Results – (Top 10)
1. Esteve Rabat SPA Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 41m 23.197s
2. Maverick Viñales SPA Paginas Amarillas HP 40 (Kalex) 41m 27.441s
3. Johann Zarco FRA AirAsia Caterham (Caterham Suter) 41m 34.354s
4. Mika Kallio FIN Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 41m 34.498s
5. Thomas Luthi SWI Interwetten Paddock Moto2 (Suter) 41m 34.621s
6. Mattia Pasini ITA NGM Forward Racing (Kalex) 41m 39.958s
7. Ricard Cardus SPA Tech 3 (Tech 3) 41m 44.472s
8. Axel Pons SPA AGR Team (Kalex) 41m 55.990s
9. Marcel Schrotter GER Tech 3 (Tech 3) 41m 56.129s
10. Anthony West AUS QMMF Racing Team (Speed Up) 41m 56.157s

Moto3 – Alex Marquez strolls to victory – Jack Miller retains championship lead

Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) took victory from pole storming to the win ahead of Enea Bastianini and Efren Vazquez.

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Alex Marquez takes his second victory in Moto3.

In his 35th Grand Prix, having qualified on pole for the first time, 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.

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Jack Miller (8) rode well for his fourth spot whilst Isaac Vinales (32) finished 7th.

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).

Moto3 Results – (Top 10)
1. Alex Marquez SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 41m 11.656s
2. Enea Bastianini ITA Junior Team GO&FUN Moto3 (KTM) 41m 14.892s
3. Efren Vazquez SPA SaxoPrint-RTG (Honda) 41m 15.168s
4. Jack Miller AUS Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 41m 15.420s
5. Romano Fenati ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 41m 15.518s
6. Brad Binder RSA Ambrogio Racing (Mahindra) 41m 15.704s
7. Isaac Viñales SPA Calvo Team (KTM) 41m 15.787s
8. Niklas Ajo FIN Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo (Husqvarna) 41m 21.437s
9. John McPhee GBR SaxoPrint-RTG (Honda) 41m 30.234s
10. Francesco Bagnaia ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 41m 30.253s

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