Posted on 15th June 2014
MotoGPâ„¢: Unstoppable Marquez wins great Barcelona battle with Rossi and Pedrosa
World Champion Marc Marquez got the better of a terrific battle with Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa to win the Catalyuna Grand Prix.
The victory is Marquez's seventh win from seven races this season and the Spaniard is now 58 points ahead of his nearest championship challenger.
In a battle of the generations, Marquez fought tooth and nail with MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi for most of the race. In the latter stages the pair were joined by Pedrosa and the two Hondas tangled on the last lap to hand second to Rossi.
It was the first time the 21 year old Spaniard had not been on pole, this season, after crashing in qualifying. His Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa started at the head of the field but it was the Yamaha of Jorge Lorenzo who led into turn one with Rossi jumping from fifth to third.
Rossi, who is currently second to Marquez in the championship, took the lead from his teammate on lap 5 and was joined at the front of the queue by Marquez shortly after.
For the next few laps the world champion was involved in an intense battle for second with Lorenzo and Pedrosa. After getting the better of his countrymen Marquez then conspired to make a mistake into turn one, trying to pass Rossi and letting Pedrosa through after cutting the corner.
He was however quickly back ahead and hunting down the number 46 Yamaha.
The weather was looking to throw a spanner into the works with storm clouds gathering around the circuit, and that uncertainty led to the front four bunching up. Marquez dived past Rossi but left Pedrosa free to pass them both, Marquez then seemed to gesticulate about the weather and this allowed Rossi back into the lead.
However, with six laps to go both Hondas managed to get ahead of Rossi to set up a late teammate battle for victory.
Into the last three corners and the Spaniards were neck and neck, before Pedrosa's front tyre clipped Marquez's rear tyre sending Pedrosa wide and letting Rossi into second.
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.
The win is the 100th for Honda in the modern MotoGPâ„¢ four-stroke era and the triumph for Marquez was also historic as it came on the same day as an earlier Moto3â„¢ 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.
MotoGPâ„¢ Race Classification
1 Marc Marquez SPA Honda 42:56.914
2 Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha +0.512
3 Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda +1.834
4 Jorge Lorenzo
5 Stefan Bradl
6 Aleix Espargaro
7 Pol Espargaro
8 Andrea Dovizioso
9 Andrea Iannone
10 Bradley Smith
11 Yonny Hernandez
12 Scott Redding
13 Nicky Hayden
14 Michele Pirro
15 Hiroshi Aoyama
1st OPEN
6- Aleix Espargaro SPA Forward Yamaha +14.213
Catalunya by www.grahamandleigh.co.uk
Moto2â„¢: 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.
Moto2â„¢ Race Classification
1- Tito Rabat SPA Kalex 41:23.197
2- Maverick Viñales SPA Kalex +4.244
3- Johann Zarco FRA Caterham-Suter +11.157
Moto3â„¢: 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 Moto3â„¢ 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.
Moto3â„¢ Race Classification
1- Alex Marquez SPA Honda 41:11.656
2- Enea Bastianini ITA KTM +3.236
3- Efren Vazquez SPA Honda +3.512
