GP of Catalunya – Race Classification:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 40’31.175
2. Fabio QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT +2.660
3. Danilo PETRUCCI Mission Winnow Ducati +4.537
4. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +6.602
5. Jack MILLER Pramac Racing +6.870
6. Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +7.040
7. Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +16.144
8. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +17.969
9. Tito RABAT Reale Avintia Racing +22.661
10. Johann ZARCO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +26.228
11. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +32.036
12. Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Tech 3 KTM +44.666
13. Sylvain GUINTOLI Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +51.363
Not Classified
35 Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL
21 Franco MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT
63 Francesco BAGNAIA Pramac Racing
55 Hafizh SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3
46 Valentino ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Mission Winnow Ducati
12 Maverick VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
99 Jorge LORENZO Repsol Honda Team
41 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
17 Karel ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing
38 Bradley SMITH Aprilia Racing Team
These just in:
MotoGP:
Marquez wins, Quartararo soars and chaos reigns at Catalunya
The reigning Champion extends his lead, the rookie’s luck turns and a multiple-rider crash makes waves
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) took an impressive win in the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya on an expensive day for his key Championship rivals, with a dramatic multiple-rider crash near the start of the race creating some serious chaos. Marquez escaped that and in the aftermath it was Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) who emerged as his closest challenger, with the polesitter and French rookie cutting down the gap in the latter laps as he seared away from those on the chase. His second place makes him the second-youngest podium finisher in the MotoGP™ era, behind only Marquez, and he managed to pull two seconds clear of Mugello winner Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) to do it.
It was Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) who took the holeshot with another stunning start, this time from the second row, with Marquez pushed back into second and Quartararo then trying to send it around the outside of the reigning Champion. But he couldn’t quite make that stick and Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) capitalised to sweep through soon after. The number 12 then attacked Marquez to take over in second, with Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) making some serious ground up into fourth to fight for the podium.
Marquez hit back against Viñales on Lap 2 and it was shaping up to be a serious fight at the front, but that’s when the drama hit. Lorenzo went to attack Viñales just as Marquez attacked Dovizioso, and the number 99 then lost the front as the space ahead diminished. That set off a huge incident as the number 99 took down Dovizioso, then Viñales, and then Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) got caught too – with all four out the race. Marquez was clear of it, with Petrucci the man left in second, escaping the drama after having been passed by Rossi at the best time for one of them and the worst for the other.
Marquez was then able to pull the pin and extend the gap but the fight behind was on fire: Petrucci vs Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) vs Quartararo. First it was a duel behind the Italian before Rins then started looking for a way past Petrucci, attacking into Turn 1 and the Ducati defending to perfection in Turn 2. A couple of laps later it was a Rins and repeat, but the Suzuki man couldn’t make it stick.
He kept trying, but the next attempt was more costly. Running on and left heading over the Long Lap Penalty after dropping anchor to avoid Petrucci in Turn 1, the number 42 lost out and rejoined in sixth, behind his rookie teammate Joan Mir. That left him fighting to try and get back through, and left Quartararo with only one man in between himself and Marquez’ trail.
It didn’t take long; the Frenchman sliding up the inside of the Ducati to take over in second soon after. And then, he was in the same position as his fateful race in Jerez and wishing for more luck. Barcelona brought just that, with the number 20 then able to unleash his pace and push on after Marquez, immediately starting to cut the gap.
In the end, there weren’t enough laps left for a charge at the win, but the Frenchman made a little history regardless and a first rostrum finish is good payback for his incredible pace so far. Petrucci was around two seconds behind him but scored big for Ducati once again, with Rins taking fourth after managing to pass first Mir and then Jack Miller (Pramac Racing).
Miller was only two tenths behind him over the line, however, and the Australian’s P5 puts him back in the lead of the Independent Team standings. Behind them? Another small gap back to Joan Mir, who took sixth and his best rookie result yet, two better than his season opening P8 in Qatar.
Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) continues his consistency in seventh and took more solid points, ahead of Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu). Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) took P9 and his best of 2019 so far, as Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) did the same and completed the top ten.
Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and Suzuki test rider Sylvain Guintoli (Team Suzuki Ecstar) were the remaining finishers in a serious race of attrition, with fallers outside the huge incident near the start including Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT), Francesco Bagnaia) and Bradley Smith (Aprilia Racing Team), who made contact with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) on Lap 1 and both crashed out.
It was a near-perfect day for Marquez’ Championship hopes in Montmelo, and the reigning Champion heads into the next race with a serious buffer of 37 points at the top of the table. Dovizioso remains second, Rins couldn’t capitalise too much in third…but next up it’s the Dutch TT, and that’s the perfect place for Yamaha, especially, to strike back. Rossi was back in the mix in Barcelona, Viñales had made an awesome start…what will the classic TT Circuit Assen bring? Don’t miss it as MotoGP™ gets back in action in two weeks.
Repsol Honda
Marquez takes dominating home victory in Barcelona
Marc Marquez celebrated a dominating home victory at the Catalan GP while an apologetic Jorge Lorenzo had his strongest start to a race this season before falling.
The hottest conditions of the weekend met the MotoGP World Championship as the 24-rider strong field lined up on the grid. 51°C track temperature caused Marc Marquez little issue as he relished an early fight as the lights went out.
Marquez would soon find himself leading his home Grand Prix with a comfortable advantage due to incidents behind. Consistently lapping in the mid to low 1’40s during the early stages of the race, Marquez maintained his advantage to cross the line 2.660s clear of second place. This is the reigning MotoGP World Champion’s second premier class win in Barcelona and his fourth of the 2019 season.
The victory is Marquez’s 48th in the premier class and helps to extend his championship lead to 37 points over Dovizioso who was involved in the accident with Lorenzo. Honda hold a 15 points advantage over Ducati in the Constructor Championship.
Jorge Lorenzo had his best start to a Grand Prix as a Repsol Honda Team rider, jumping from tenth up to fourth place by just the second corner. Looking comfortable at the front, Lorenzo quickly closed in on the leading trio. Unfortunately Lorenzo suffered a fall at Turn 10 soon after, ending his race while fighting for the podium and sadly unable to avoid contact with other riders. The opening laps demonstrated Jorge Lorenzo’s ever-improving feeling on the RC213V.
The Repsol Honda Team now prepares for a day of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya where both Marquez and Lorenzo will run through a number of solutions for the future. Racing action resumes in Assen, June 28 – 30 in a few weeks time.
Marc Marquez
1st
“I chose the soft rear to try and push in the beginning and to try to not overheat the tyre but to try to be constant and fast. All of the Repsol Honda Team did a really good job this weekend; we worked hard and prepared well for the race. The team told me something had happened to Dovi, so I just kept pushing and focusing on my own race. We had the perfect strategy regardless and I want to thank all the fans who came out. Gracias! It’s always special when you can celebrate winning together with your brother, Alex rode well this weekend!”
Jorge Lorenzo
DNF
“You don’t have any options if you brake a little bit too late here, like happened with me. It was my fault, my mistake and I apologise. It was really unfortunate to take out Dovi, Maverick and Valentino – it wasn’t their fault obviously, it was mine. The only thing that matters today is the crash, I took out three riders unfortunately but if we think aside from this it was a weekend where we were able to make a step forward and I was consistent throughout.”
LCR
CRUTCHLOW SLIDES OUT OF PODIUM CONTENTION IN BARCELONA
The MotoGP Grand Prix of Catalunya in Barcelona saw just 13 finishers from 24 starters, with track temperatures soaring in the afternoon sun, and grip levels at a premium. Despite the treacherous conditions, LCR Honda CASTROL man Cal Crutchlow stoically fought his way back from a difficult start to the race, to find himself in fifth with six laps to go, within one second of second place and in with a serious shot at the podium.
Attacking his former team-mate Jack Miller in front of him, the British star unfortunately lost control of his factory Honda RC213V, sliding out of the attritional battle unharmed. At the time of his crash Crutchlow was one of the fastest men on track, and had managed his tyre life to perfection.
Crutchlow and his LCR Honda CASTROL Team stay at Barcelona for a one-day test on Monday, ahead of the Dutch TT at Assen in two weeks’ time.
Cal Crutchlow – DNF
“The crash was completely my own fault. I was trying to pass Jack (Miller) and I locked the rear with the rear brake, one of the problems we have had this weekend on corner entry. There was always a possibility of it doing it if I went in hard on Jack, but I had to try to pass him because there was a chance of a podium, so I went down fighting for it at least.”
“I’m disappointed about that, but we are at least pleased with the pace in the race, because at the point I crashed I was one of the fastest out on track, which hasn’t been the case of late. I found a better feeling and found that I am able to push the bike in certain ways, so we are pleased with what happened up to that point. What I take from the race is we had a great pace today and I hope we can take that to Assen in a couple of weeks’ time.”
KTM
Steady 7th for Espargaro in action-packed Catalan Grand Prix
MotoGP 2019 Round 7 of 19, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (ESP) – RACE
Red Bull KTM emerged from a difficult Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya with both Pol Espargaro and Johann Zarco inside the top ten and after a race that claimed almost half the MotoGP field.
The seventh round of MotoGP drew the series into the hot and breezy climes of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and for the second event in Spain this season. The fast and slippery course a short distance north of the famous city has been a difficult one for Red Bull KTM in 2017 and 2018 but Pol Espargaro found enough speed and traction to go straight through to Q2 on Saturday and began the 24 lap race on Sunday from 12th on the grid.
After the sensational crash between four riders on the second lap – four of ten eventual fallers – Espargaro maintained his concentration and pace to hold a position high on the leaderboard and eventually defeated Takaaki Nakagami for 7th. His classification meant a third consecutive top ten result and with a race time sixteen seconds from the winner. Espargaro is 9th in the championship standings and only 6 points from the top six.
Johann Zarco also persevered among the accidents and mistakes around him. The Frenchman was one of two racers to select a Hard rear Michelin and circulated to 10th place for his best finish in ‘orange’ so far.
Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira scored 13th position despite running wide on the first lap having to avoid a rider collision, while Hafizh Syahrin was forced to retire with a mechanical problem.
MotoGP will embark on the second IRTA test of the season tomorrow. Red Bull KTM will be joined by Dani Pedrosa and share the track for the first time with the former world champion as they further refine the RC16.
Pol Espargaro: “I’m really happy. I said on Saturday that the race would either be very slow or with lots of crashes and it was both! Today was really important to anticipate the braking, and not hit the limit with the brake or the throttle. It was very difficult. It was matter of being so precise, like a watch, and trying to do everything in the same place and with a lot of electronics. In the end the most important thing was the gap of sixteen seconds to the top guy – which is unbelievable because last year we were thirty-six away. We are ninth in the championship and six points from sixth. I’m impressed about the performance we made today.”
Johann Zarco: “The second third of the race was good for me. The pace was quite strong and I was following Tito Rabat and sometimes overtaking and able to fight. I was happy to see the top ten group in front of me and not so far away. I was able to think about catching them, even if my speed was not quite enough. I was able to manage the race. Tomorrow we have many things to test and I hope we will go in a good way with the help of Dani [Pedrosa] to put fingers on good things to help us.”
Miguel Oliveira: “It was a difficult race as we expected. I started really good and recovered a lot of positions until I got to Turn 10 where I was in the incident when Bradley Smith took out Aleix Esparargo. I had to go very wide to avoid both of them and obviously, I lost a lot of time. I was last and it took me a few laps to get that time back. I had no one to fight for positions, so I just did my race and finished in the points, which was the target.”
Hafizh Syahrin: “I’m really disappointed because my engine stopped after just a few laps. I had a good pace and it’s hard for me to express my feelings as I was sure I could score some points here or even finish inside the top 10 after all these crashes in the race. The only thing I can do is to look forward to the next round.”
Mike Leitner, Red Bull KTM Team Manager: “Finally we are very happy with the result we achieved because Barcelona has been one of our most difficult race tracks in the last two years – along with Mugello – and we made reasonable results at both places. We knew it would be very difficult here because the grip level was tough for all the riders. Pol managed the race in a very good way and we are happy that Johann made his first top ten and we hope this might give him a bit of confidence for the future. We made a step, and the whole team have made a great effort since the test in Jerez. Now we are looking ahead to Assen. We have a big list for the test tomorrow and things to confirm – without pressure at the races – as well as some new items on all aspects with engine, chassis and aerodynamics. Maybe we can make another step but we’ll know this after the test.”
Tech 3
Oliveira collects four points in action packed Catalan GP – Syahrin without any chance
Red Bull KTM Tech3‘s Miguel Oliveira got his second best MotoGP result to date in Barcelona, while Hafizh Syahrin‘s race was cut short without any fault by his own.
Following a good start into his seventh MotoGP round, Oliveira found himself in trouble as he had to avoid a crash in front of him by the end of the first lap. However, with consistent riding, the Portuguese rookie managed to make up some positions, while he also received the benefit of other riders’ mistakes and eventually ended up in 12th place.
At the same time, Syahrin managed to emerge from P24 to P19 in the course of the first lap and started to build up a strong pace. Unfortunately, his engine shut down on the fourth lap of the race and the Malaysian was unable to continue.
Miguel Oliveira
Position: 12th
Championship: 17th
Points: 12
“It was a difficult race, as we expected. I started really good, recovered a lot of positions until I got to turn 10, where I was in the incident, where Smith took out Aleix Esparargo. I had to go very wide to avoid both of them and obviously, I lost a lot of time. I was last and it took me a few laps to get that time back and finally, I had no reference from anybody and was alone. I decided to just finish the race. I had no one to fight for positions, so I just did my race and finished in the points, which was the target.”
Hafizh Syahrin
Position: DNF
Championship: 25th
Points: 2
“I’m really disappointed, because my engine stopped after just a few laps. I had a good pace and it’s truly hard for me to express my feelings as I was sure I could score some points here or even finish inside the top 10 after all these crashes in the race. It’s hard to accept, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I tried to restart, but it was not working. The only thing I can do is to look forward to the next round. There’s not much more I can say, it’s just a difficult situation.”
Hervé Poncharal
Team Manager
“That was a crazy race here in Catalunya! We knew it would be tough to finish because of the low grip level, but in fact it was a bit of an incredible first few laps with a lot of crashes. Unfortunately, Miguel, although he had a really good start, got pushed away on the first lap and lost a few positions, when Aleix Espargaro and Bradley Smith collided. He had nowhere else to go than into the gravel. Therefore, he lost everything and reentered the track in last position. From that moment, the mission was to finish the race, to stay on the wheels and see the flag and this is what he did. The pace was ok and I believe we could have been fighting with the guys in front, which are Andrea Iannone and Johann Zarco, but anyway. Even though this is not a outcome with everybody finishing the race, ending up 12th and scoring four points is a good result for the championship and a good reward for the hard work, so thanks to Miguel and his crew. On the other side of the garage, I am very, very sorry for Hafizh, who had a strong weekend altogether. This is one of his favorite tracks and I think he was ahead of Miguel and closing on Tito Rabat and everything was good until the engine stopped. We have to investigate what happened, but clearly, there was a technical problem, that didn’t allow Hafizh to carry on racing. It would have been good to see our two guys in the points, but the technical side decided something different. We just want to tell Hafizh ‘We are sorry! The day you have the best feeling on the bike and you can’t finish the race, is a great shame!’ But let’s take the positives; he’s better and better on the bike and this builds confidence. We have plenty more races to come, so hopefully he will get the same feeling in Assen and we can have our two guys fighting for the points again. So, sorry for the fans, the race would have been unbelievable, but it was destroyed after a few laps. Anyway, now we have a days’ test and a few days off and then head to the north of Europe with the first round in Assen. All on!”
Aprilia
AN ACCIDENT TAKES ALEIX AND BRADLEY OUT OF THE RACE IN BARCELONA
ANDREA IANNONE FALTERS IN THE FINALE BUT FINISHES ELEVENTH
In a race conditioned by numerous crashes, a contact in a braking section took both Aleix Espargaró and Bradley Smith out of the action in the early stages. The Spanish rider, who returned to pit lane in pain, is now undergoing further checks to assess the condition of his left knee.
In the early part of the race, Andrea Iannone set a good pace, making up ground on the central group. The Italian rider then struggled a bit with a drop in performance, probably attributable to tyre wear, hindering his comeback. Aided by the DNFs, in any case, Andrea finished eleventh.
MASSIMO RIVOLA – APRILIA RACING CEO
“This is undoubtedly a difficult time for us and Aleix’s injury is the most pressing issue right now. He is a supporting pillar of our team and we hope to see him back in the saddle as soon as possible. Even more disappointing is the fact that it was Bradley who caused the crash, who is working on developing the bike. These episodes should not occur. Andrea rode a good race, positive in the early stages and then dropping off toward the end, probably due to tyre wear. We are making significant efforts to grow our project, but at the moment, the results are not very comforting. We have an important test tomorrow for development in view of the future and this injury was the last thing we needed, but we are absolutely united in our determination to reverse the trend. It does not matter who hard and how long we need to work. We’ll get there.”
ANDREA IANNONE
“All told, we took home a good result, considering the fact that we started from the back of the grid because of some complicated qualifiers. Up to the mid-race point, I managed to maintain a good pace and, in fact, I was making up ground on the group in front of me. Then I had a significant drop in performance, struggling a lot with tyre wear. The bike started moving a lot and I was no longer able to do good lap times. In the tests tomorrow, we’ll be working a lot on this aspect to try to be more consistent from the first to last lap of the race. I’m sorry about Aleix. I hope he is not hurt badly and I wish him a speedy recovery.”
BRADLEY SMITH
“I’m sorry about what happened today, even more so because Aleix was involved. Unfortunately, in that braking section the situation was a bit chaotic, as often happens during the first laps. I hope he will have a quick recovery. Right now, we need to work with our full potential to develop the RS-GP”.
Suzuki
RINS AND MIR TAKE 4TH AND 6TH IN CATALAN GP
Joan Mir: 6th (+ 7.040)
Sylvain Guintoli: 13th (+ 51.363)
• Alex Rins in podium contention before making amazing save.
• Joan Mir scores his best ever MotoGP finish.
• Team SUZUKI ECSTAR satisfied and ready for tomorrow’s test.
The classic Catalan circuit of Montmelò was packed full of enthusiastic fans for the seventh round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship, on the 70th Anniversary weekend of the series. There was an incredibly high attrition rate during the race, with 11 riders failing to finish.
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s three riders felt confident heading into the 24-lap race, and both Alex Rins and Joan Mir were able to make strong starts from their 3rd and 4th row grid spots. The first lap saw huge drama with a 4-rider collision between the front runners, and this promoted Alex into 3rd place. As soon as the Spaniard slotted into this position he showed his determination and pace, fighting hard behind Petrucci to make his way into 2nd place. Joan Mir also benefitted from the first lap commotion, and the rookie found himself in a strong 6th place. Staying close to the battle in front of him, he was finally able to showcase his improved feeling with the GSX-RR and his very respectable race pace. This 6th place marks a best ever MotoGP result for the youngster.
Whilst embroiled in the battle for 2nd place, Rins attempted a pass on Petrucci into Turn 1 but was forced to sit up to avoid hitting the Italian, this unsettled his bike and he made a very impressive save to stay on the track. Following this frightening moment Alex slipped back to 6th, but he kept his focus and pushed on to take a very important 4th place and 13 points.
Sylvain Guintoli finished the race in 13th place, and he will continue his crucial work with the team alongside Alex and Joan in tomorrow’s test.
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager
“The best thing about today is that all three riders took points, which is a good result as a Team. Joan was very impressive today, showing us how well he can perform, and getting his best result so far. We’re seeing how fast he’s learning and growing with us. We all hoped Alex could get a podium here, but we’re still satisfied with 4th in the circumstances. Sylvain also provided some useful data for us this weekend and we’re grateful to him.”
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“I have to thank the riders for the great race today. Alex was fighting very hard at the front despite struggling with tyre feel, which was different to his feeling in practice and warm-up. Of course, we were a bit lucky, but finishing 4th on a day when we’re struggling is a real positive. Finishing in the Top 5 and taking some good points is important, even if we had hoped for more. Joan was with the front group again, like he was in Qatar, and it was really great to see. Getting his best finish has helped him to build his confidence. Sylvain did his usual great work with us, and he also had a good finish, so thank you to him too. Overall, it’s been a positive race all around.”
Alex Rins
“I’m a little bit disappointed with my result because I felt I could have a really good result this weekend – but on the other hand, considering I had some problems during the race, it’s not a bad result. It was a complicated and difficult race and it was a shame to see the crash between Lorenzo and the others, especially as it gave Marquez even more of an advantage. The track was very hot, which made it hard on the tyres and I struggled with feeling, especially in the right-hand turns. Ideally I would have got a better start and gone with Marc, but in the end it wasn’t possible. Anyway, I’m quite pleased to have finished 4th despite my struggles.”
Joan Mir
“It was a difficult race because the track temperature was so high. On the first few laps I tried to conserve the tyres and manage my race well. I hope to continue my season like this, finishing races and building my experience and confidence. This is the second strong race for me after Qatar and I’m really glad to have been able to get a good result. Tomorrow I’ll work with the bike in the test and continue to learn.”
Sylvain Guintoli
“It was a hard race because the track wasn’t very grippy, which meant a lot of sliding – which can actually be very fun, but it makes it more difficult to be fast and consistent. I struggled a bit off the start but then I found myself with Oliveira and enjoyed a fight with him for a while. I’m really glad to have scored points here and to help the team out. It’s been great to be back on the GSX-RR.”
GP of Catalunya – Race Classification:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 40’31.175
2. Fabio QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT +2.660
3. Danilo PETRUCCI Mission Winnow Ducati +4.537
4. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +6.602
5. Jack MILLER Pramac Racing +6.870
6. Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +7.040
7. Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +16.144
8. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +17.969
9. Tito RABAT Reale Avintia Racing +22.661
10. Johann ZARCO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +26.228
11. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +32.036
12. Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Tech 3 KTM +44.666
13. Sylvain GUINTOLI Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +51.363
Not Classified
35 Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL
21 Franco MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT
63 Francesco BAGNAIA Pramac Racing
55 Hafizh SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3
46 Valentino ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Mission Winnow Ducati
12 Maverick VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
99 Jorge LORENZO Repsol Honda Team
41 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
17 Karel ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing
38 Bradley SMITH Aprilia Racing Team
Yamaha
The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team were unlucky to see Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales retire out of a promising fifth and third place respectively at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya due to a multiple rider collision. The team-mates were uninjured, but the incident ended their Catalunya challenge with a double NC result.
Rossi started from fourth on the grid and found himself in fifth place through the first corners, before getting into a battle with Jorge Lorenzo and Danilo Petrucci. He was briefly in seventh position, but the Italian is known for not going down without a fight. He was back up to fifth a little more than halfway through the second lap, when disaster struck in Turn 10.
The Doctor reacted quickly in an effort to avoid a multiple-rider incident, but he was still clipped by the sliding bike of a rival, causing him to crash. He rode his bike back to the team garage but was forced to retire from the race.
Following yesterday‘s Race Direction penalty, Viñales had to start from P6. He had already mentioned he would use the setback as extra motivation, and he did exactly that. The home hero had a brilliant launch, arriving at the first corner in sixth place but cunningly moved up to fourth as he flicked his bike left and right in Turn 2 and 3.
He rode an aggressive opening lap to cross the finish line the first time in second place but had to let Marc Marquez pass at the start of lap 2. The Yamaha rider was looking to retaliate, but his race ended prematurely when he was taken out by one of the bikes involved in a collision of two other riders in Turn 10.
Today’s unlucky double NC result means Rossi stays in fifth position in the championship standings with a 68-point gap to first, whereas Viñales moves down from eighth to eleventh in the rankings, with a 100-point margin to the top. Yamaha is now third in the constructor standings, gaining a place, whilst Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP drops one position to fourth in the team classification.
The team will be back at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya tomorrow for a one-day IRTA test, preparing for the Motul TT Assen round that will be held in the Netherlands in two weeks‘ time.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
“It’s a very disappointing and difficult-to-accept end to an otherwise good weekend for our team. It’s especially cruel because there was nothing Vale and Maverick could have done to avoid it, and we were quite confident that we would be able to get a good result here today. We definitely started the race with a completely different aim than the outcome we got. It’s very unfortunate, but Grand Prix racing isn’t always fair. All we can do is look at the positives. Both our riders were in the mix to fight for a podium. It shows we are on the way up again, so we are really looking forward to the next round in Assen. Tomorrow we will try some upgrades during the IRTA test, focused mainly on improving the smoothness in acceleration.”
VALENTINO ROSSI
“This is a great shame, because we did a good weekend. We worked well during the practice sessions and we also made a good tyre choice. I felt really comfortable on the bike and I had a good pace already this morning, but it looked like this afternoon it was even better. I was very optimistic, but unfortunately in that corner I tried to overtake Petrucci and I already arrived a bit fast. At the same moment the crash in front of me happened, so I couldn’t avoid the bike of Jorge and I crashed. It’s a great shame, because I could have done a good race. I felt strong. On the positive side, it was a better weekend, compared to Mugello. I was competitive and enjoyed it a lot more, so we will start again from this point.”
MAVERICK VIÑALES
“Actually, I saw someone coming very fast on the inside, and I tried to pick up the bike to avoid a crash. Dovi was in front of me and I thought that just they were going to crash, but unfortunately they touched my rear tyre and I jumped. I couldn’t avoid it and I’m really disappointed, but on the other hand I’m really happy. We’ve made a good start and did some good first laps. We had prepared the bike really well with the full fuel tank, so the method we’ve tried this weekend is not so bad, it’s working. We’re going to try to reproduce our work in Assen and see if we get the same result, because we saw on the first lap that I was able to get to the front and push, and that was the most important for me. Who knows what would have happened if I could have followed Marc? But the bike was working well and the team was doing an excellent job this weekend, so we need to keep working like this.”
