Marc Márquez conquered a Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya de MotoGP™ that was rather surreal. The reigning World champion stepped onto the top of the rostrum in front of a total of 91,734 fans at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – 157,827 in total over the three days. The seventh round of the World Championship was marked by the accident of Jorge Lorenzo, who crashed and dragged some of the most important names of the event: Andrea Dovizioso, Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi.
Marc Márquez was the clear leader of the race. The rider born in Cervera, after finishing on second position for the last three years at the Circuit, eventually was able to step onto the highest step of the podium. The Honda rider took the initiative in the second lap, after overtaking an impressive Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati), who had started from fifth. This overtaking manoeuvre in turn ten made him escape from the multiple crash.
In that same moment, Jorge Lorenzo, who was lapping in third position, crashed with his Honda dragging Andrea Dovizioso, Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). The head of the race was completely altered, and the most regular and fast riders of the championship were out of the race. This incident was especially negative for Dovizioso, who saw Marc Márquez escaping in the World Championship standings, to be precise, 37 points ahead of him.
The rest of the race turned into a non-stop sprint by Marc Márquez and a constant fight between Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT), Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) and Álex Rins (Team Sukuki Ecstar) for the podium. Poleman Quartararo was overtaken by several rivals at the start and, despite not having been able to take the record of being the youngest rider to win the race from Marc Márquez, the Frenchman finished second, followed by Danilo Petrucci. The Ducati rider has been especially careful today and had the calculator in his mind, since he is fighting to get a place among the top 3 of the Championship. Rins crossed the finish line in a commendable fourth position, considering that he missed a crash with 7 laps to go, but the manoeuvre set him back a few positions.
Worth mentioning is also the fifth position of Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) after recovering 9 positions. On the other hand, Aleix Espargaró had to be assisted by the medical services, without serious consequences, due to a crash he had during the first moments of the race. The local rider was not able to finish his home race.
After stopping the engines, the top three finishers appeared in front of the media. Within this context, Márquez wanted to talk about the most important topic of the day, the multiple crash caused by Lorenzo: “I’ve been very lucky, I saw the chance to overtake Dovizioso and that saved me in the right moment. I think that Jorge was on the right line, but unfortunately, he lost control over his bike and found other riders on the outside”. Márquez also explained that he was “expecting this type of race. My idea was to push hard from the beginning in order to open a gap”.
Third consecutive victory for Álex Márquez in Moto2™
Álex Márquez took his third consecutive victory in the Moto2™ class today, despite starting from the sixth position on the grid. The Estrella Galicia rider will leave his home event leading the overall standings, as the championship leader, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) was not able to finish. For the first time this year there was a change in the leadership, and Márquez has thus officially submitted his candidacy to the title.
At the start, Thomas Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) overtook Augusto Fernández (Flexbox HP 40) and took the initiative. The Kalex machines opened a gap while Álex Márquez was trying to catch up with the group of followers. As he was much faster than his rivals, the youngest of the Márquez brothers started to improve positions, until placing himself in Luthi’s slipstream. Meanwhile, Augusto Fernández continued loosing positions, this time after being overtaken by Jorge Navarro (Speed Up Racing).
Lap 14 was the lap chosen by Márquez to take the leading position in front of his local fans. Some times it seemed as if Navarro was getting closer to Márquez and Luthi, but in the end, the Spaniard got stuck in the third position. Luthi, who had started very strong, was adversely affected by worn tyres, loosing performance.
The opposite happened to Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 MARC VDS), whose performance kept on improving. Despite starting from the back of the grid (20th position) the rider born in Barcelona made a spectacular race to finish eighth.
Marcos Ramírez shines in a crazy Moto3™ race
Something unthinkable happened in the smallest class of the World Championship. Of the 31 riders who took the start, only 19 took the chequered flag. Today, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was witness to the seventh different winner of the season, this time with Marcos Ramírez (Leopard Racing) playing the leading role, followed by Arón Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team), who has reinforced his overall leadership and Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46).
The race was an endless line of riders. Everything happened in the leading positions. After only three laps, Lorenzo Dalla Porta had trouble with his bike while in the lead and eventually was forced to retire. But he was not the only one. Shortly after, Tony Arbolino had exactly the same problem while leading the race. And if that was not enough, Kaito Toba had taken over the lead in the last lap, until he crashed, leaving the top position to the eventual winner, Marcos Ramírez.
Some of the Spanish riders were not lucky either. In the fourth lap, Can Oncu crashed against Albert Arenas, Vicente Pérez, Sergio García and Raúl Fernández. Jaume Masiá, fourth in the Championship, ended up in the gravel as well, touching Darryn Binder, as did poleman, Gabriel Rodrigo, who put an end to his race and to that of Binder, after crashing against him.
One of the ‘big’ ones in the fight for the title, Niccolò Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse), was only able to finish eleventh, dropping back important points behind the leader, Arón Canet.
MotoGP™, Moto2™ and Moto3™ test at the Circuit
The Motorcycling Grand Prix will remain for another two days at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The first day, tomorrow, will be dedicated to MotoGP™, and the second (Tuesday) will gather the Moto2™ and Moto3™ riders. The access is free and exclusive for holders of a ticket for the Grand Prix and Circuit Members and Officials. The access will be made through gate 1 from 9am. There will be action on the track from 10h to 18h.
