Catalan GP | Jorge Lorenzo dominates Marquez, Dovizioso crashes out
Jorge Lorenzo has done it: pole position and race win in Catalunya. Marc Marquez comes in second and Valentino Rossi joins the two Spaniards on the podium as Dovizioso crashed out in the first half of the race.
Jorge Lorenzo wins the Catalan GP, claiming the victory for the second time in a row for Ducati. Marc Marquez could not withstand the force of the Ducati rider and had to settle for 2nd ahead of an excellent Valentino Rossi, who had started from P7. The Honda rider reinforces his championship lead, as Dovizioso swallows a bitter zero which sees him falling to 8th in the standings.
Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo were clear of the rest at the start, with the Honda rider gaining an early advantage on the poleman. Andrea Iannone was the author of a strong start in his own right, jumping up to P2 behind Marquez. However, the Italian did not manage to be consistent for more than a lap and dropped to 7th by the beginning of the 3rd lap.
Jorge Lorenzo reclaimed the lead from Marquez and Dovizioso moved up to P3, pressuring the current championship leader. Valentino Rossi found himself in P4, ahead of Pedrosa and Petrucci, but he later turned out to be unable to keep up with the top 3 placeholders.
Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro crashed at Turn 11, as Jorge Lorenzo started opening up a slight gap upfront. However, Marquez swiftly responded to the rythm of the Ducati rider, while keeping an eye on Dovizioso behind his back.
Marquez started narrowing the gap on Lorenzo, as the two went on exchanging fastest laps. In the meantime Dovizioso had backed off by over 1 second and ruinously crashed out at Turn 5 at 16 laps from the end. Lorenzo took full advantage of his Soft tyres, persevered and built a 1.3s gap in 3 laps, as Marquez on Hards started losing an average of 2 tenths per sector.
Rossi, owing to Dovizioso's harakiri, was promoted to P3 ahead of a competitive Pedrosa and Crutchlow, who had started 10th. Maverick Vinales tried to pressure Zarco, but did not succeed at getting hold of him, while Crutchlow (rear Soft) started Jockeying for position with Pedrosa (Medium at the rear). The Briton closed in P4, ahead of the Honda rider, Vinales, Zarco and Petrucci. Alvaro Bautista and Andrea Iannone round up the top 10, benefitting from the numerous crashes and problems that characterised the Catalan GP.
Among the DNFs there are Rins, Morbidelli, Syahrin, Miller, Nakagami, who took out Smith and Dovizioso.