Back-to-back Ducati wins for dominant Lorenzo
Jorge Lorenzo made it back-to-back wins on the Ducati as he dominated Sunday’s Catalunya MotoGP for his second victory of the season.
Lorenzo’s team-mate, Andrea Dovizioso, suffered a huge championship setback as the Italian slid out of third place at Turn 5.
Jorge Lorenzo made it back-to-back wins on the Ducati as he dominated Sunday’s Catalunya MotoGP for his second victory of the season.
Lorenzo’s team-mate, Andrea Dovizioso, suffered a huge championship setback as the Italian slid out of third place at Turn 5.
Following on from his breakthrough victory on the Desmosedici at Mugello, Lorenzo bagged his maiden pole for the Italian manufacturer at Catalunya and rode a faultless race to claim a maximum 25 points from Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez, who dramatically lost time on the final lap but still held off Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi to seal the runner-up spot.
It was Marquez who made a flying start from the front row to snatch the lead, with Ecstar Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone powering through into second place on the GSX-RR ahead of Lorenzo.
Iannone was in a hurry and wasted no time in making a swoop for the lead on lap one, although he drifted wide, allowing Marquez back into the lead with Lorenzo also capitalising on the Suzuki rider’s error.
Marquez led over the line at the end of lap one but Lorenzo dived past on the brakes into Turn 1 to move to the front.
The three-time premier class champion was never headed for the remainder of the race, with Marquez able to hang on to the rear of the Ducati without being quite able to get close enough to mount an attack.
Dovizioso was in contention behind Marquez when last year’s championship runner-up went down, sliding into the gravel as his bid came to a premature halt.
That left Rossi clear in third, while Iannone had now dropped down the field on the Suzuki after his early charge.
With Lorenzo in control at the front from Marquez and Rossi a long way back in a safe third, a battle developed for fourth involving Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Pramac Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci.
Petrucci eventually dropped back, with Britain’s Crutchlow getting the better of Pedrosa to slot into fourth while Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha) and Johann Zarco (Monster Tech 3 Yamaha) gained some ground in the closing stages of the race, both riders also finding a way past Petrucci.
Lorenzo really began to up the ante with around 14 laps remaining and broke clear, opening a lead of around eight tenths over Marquez.
He controlled the race on the Ducati, edging further ahead, and could afford a wave to the crowd on his final lap as Marquez suddenly began to slip into the clutches of Rossi.
As it was the top three remained unchanged, with Lorenzo taking the win by 4.4 seconds, while Marquez held off Rossi by around 1.5 seconds for the runner-up spot.
Crutchlow was 3.8 seconds back on Rossi in fourth, while Pedrosa narrowly kept Vinales at bay as they completed the top six.
Zarco and Petrucci were seventh and eighth respectively, with Alvaro Bautista (Nieto Ducati) and Iannone finalising the top ten.
Pol Espargaro was next on the Red Bull KTM ahead of Scott Redding (Gresini Aprilia) in 12th, Karel Abraham (Nieto Ducati) and Franco Morbidelli (Marc VDS Honda).
Bradley Smith was among the non-finishers on the KTM after he was wiped out by Takaaki Nakagami.
Mika Kallio was sent to the medical centre for a check-up following his spill, while Tito Rabat was forced out when his Avintia Ducati suffered a terminal failure.
