Lorenzo peerless in Catalunya

The headlines from Catalunya:
Lorenzo flawless from start to finish… Pedrosa and Marquez fight in-house battle… Espargaro rediscovers winning form… Salom’s third win inches him ahead of Vinales

MotoGP: Lorenzo points, shoots and dominates, Pedrosa outlasts Marquez
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), 43m 06.479s • 2 Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 1.763s down • 3 Marc Marquez, 1.826s down

PP Pedrosa, 1:40.893 = 168.6 km/h • FL Marquez (Honda), 1:42.552 = 165.9 km/h on lap 3

Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) has always been a master leading from the front, but his beautifully measured start-to-finish victory over Repsol Honda pair Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez at Catalunya has to go down as one of his finest.

The Spaniard was outstanding, bolting into the lead from the outset, refusing to yield during the early onslaught, and then kicking away when it mattered to record his 26th premier class victory and third of the season. He is now just seven points behind Pedrosa as the scramble for the title intensifies.

“A perfect day, to be honest I didn't expect to win, I knew I had some chance but not like in Mugello where I was more convinced we could get the victory,” said Lorenzo. “It was really difficult physically as it was the hottest race of the year. I kept pushing 100 per cent all race because any mistake would have been a disaster. I was surprised at the start as I expected to just pass Cal (Crutchlow) but I passed Dani also. I took profit from it and tried to open the gap but it was not enough to go away, Dani was there and we played some games, I was 0.5 ahead then 0.2; I was going then he was recovering me. Finally because I was tough mentally and never gave up I could open in the last five laps a little gap that was enough to win.”

For pole man Pedrosa, the race was a bit of a strange one -- which he freely admits. He was unable to conduct the sort of business he wanted with the tough as nails Lorenzo, but seemingly had his 20-year-old teammate under control until he really started nipping at his heels over the last few laps. Pedrosa held firm though, and again banked a large chunk of world championship points.

“We could not get maximum performance today, and physically it was very hard because of the heat of the bike and the tyres,” lamented Pedrosa. “When I tried to open the throttle the bike wobbled in the front and I had to be very careful. We three frontrunners were battling the track conditions today. It was a bit disappointing not to be able to push more, since the differences between us all was minimal. We rode practically the entire race without any overtaking. It was very easy to make a mistake and, in fact, in the closing laps, Marc made one and I had a slide, but in the end we were able to take a very important second place. We expected to do better after yesterday, but we now have an extra 20 points and we continue to lead the standings.”

Briton Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and American Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) blotted their copybooks for the first time this season when they both crashed on lap six – front-end washouts --while Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) didn’t even get to complete one flyer – and was perilously close to again taking out Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing) as collateral damage. It was an agonising mistake by Bautista, who was looking for some real front-running action after qualifying in fourth position.

After Crutchlow’s demise from fourth place, it was a lazy afternoon for Rossi as he drifted away from the three leaders but still had plenty to spare over German Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), who was fifth ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and the two CRT machines of Aleix Espargaro (Power Electronics Aspar) and Colin Edwards (NGM Mobile Forward Racing) -- a welcome return to form for the resilient American.

With a third of the starters failing to finish, Australia’s Bryan Staring (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) took advantage of the situation to log his first points in MotoGP after finishing 14th.

Top 3: Pedrosa 123 pts • Lorenzo 116 • Marquez 93

Moto2: Espargaro back on track
1 Pol Espargaro (Kalex), 41m 17.307 • Esteve Rabat (Kalex), 0.081s down • Thomas Luthi (Suter) 6.264s down

PP Espargaro, 1:46.410 = 159.9 km/h • FL Luthi, 1:46.960 = 159 km/h on lap 5

Pol Espargaro (Kalex) breathed life into a stuttering campaign with his second win of the year after outlasting teammate Esteve Rabat in a thriller, while Thomas Luthi (Suter) returned to the podium for the first time since 2012. Australia’s Anthony West (Speed Up) retired on lap 19 of 23, in a race that saw 11 of the 34 starters fail to make the distance.

Espargaro displayed all the combative properties which saw him start the year as championship favourite, starting from pole position and only allowing Rabat to lead for three laps during the race before he reasserted his authority in front of a partisan home crowd.

Espargaro has now moved ahead of Rabat in the championship standings to sit in second -- his highest mark since wining round one in Qatar. The winner of the last two grands prix, Scott Redding (Kalex), was fourth, and saw his championship lead trimmed from 43 to 35 points in the process.

Top 3: Scott Redding 114 • Espargaro 79 • Rabat 75

Moto3: Third win for Salom, Aussies in top 10
1 Luis Salom (KTM), 41m 15.331s • 2 Alex Rins (KTM), 0.211s down • 3 Maverick Viñales (KTM), 0.634s down

PP Salom, 1:50.782 = 153.6 km/h • FL Vinales (record), 1:51.475 = 152.6 km/h on lap 20

Luis Salom’s pole position translated into his third win of the season, and the icing on the cake was claiming the championship lead from Maverick Vinales -- fresh from being pinged in qualifying for riding up the pitlane exit the wrong way after a mechanical problem. Alex Rins and Vinales were second and third, in a repeat of the Mugello KTM trifecta.

Australian Jack Miller (Honda) was pushing hard at the front of the pack before eventually finishing seventh, with countryman Arthur Sissis (KTM) in 10th position -- both Aussies finishing one spot ahead of their qualifying efforts.

Out front, Salom made his move with three laps to go and kept the shutters up -- unable to make a gap on his pursuers, but with enough spring in his step to thwart any potential slipstreaming opportunities.

Top 3: Salom 127 • Vinales 122 • Rins 101

Aussie watch
Western Australian native Bryan Staring has been moving in the right direction on his GO&FUN Honda Gresini FTR machine over the last few rounds, and the reward came at Catalunya with the first points banked in his maiden MotoGP season -- but he still wasn’t overjoyed.

“I have scored my first world championship points today but I am still not particularly happy because I would have liked to do it more on the front foot,” was Staring’s blunt assessment. “It wasn't an easy race because of the conditions and I was able to improve my pace from qualifying so that's good but I'm still not happy to be honest. Anyway, we have to take the positives and try to learn from this experience in the future.”

Staring, the 2010 Australian superbike champion, was again greeted with a new track to learn in round six, and some grip issues around the high-speed turns weren’t helping his cause. Nevertheless, by the time practice was over, he was just 3.791 seconds slower than pacesetter Pedrosa -- and just 2.7 in arrears of the fastest CRT machine of Aleix Espargaro. Staring qualified in 22nd position before eight riders took themselves out of the equation in the 25-lap race, opening the points’ window for the Australian.

Staring’s team manager Fausto Gresini was pleased with Staring’s effort, but stressed that “we need to keep this going”.

Ant West started with a bang in first practice (12th position and only 1.278 seconds off the fastest time) and was convinced he had a base to start from -- before the problems started to mount on Friday afternoon. The 31-year-old Queenslander cited a vibrating (and slow) engine for most of his woes, but on Saturday the focus had shifted before he eventually qualified in 25th position on a tightly packed grid.

“My engine is still vibrating, but it actually wasn’t that slow,” said West. “The problem today was rear grip and some reactions of the bike that were very difficult for me to predict. Alex de Angelis (on the same Speed Up bike as West),, who was clearly faster than me today, had exactly the same issues, but he has the confidence to push anyway and to react to whatever the motorcycle does, whereas I’m struggling to find the right way to ride the bike. We have been changing a lot on the bike lately and I’m a little bit lost. I’m not riding the bike to its limit, to what it actually can do. We have to get back on track, try to pick it up and get a good result tomorrow. It’s going to be hard to get close to the front from 25th on the starting grid, but I’ll do whatever I can!”

In the race, West was as high as 18th on lap five before he began a slow descent through the pack. He pulled into the pits on lap 19.

In the Moto3 class, Townsville’s Jack Miller (Caretta Technology/RTG FTR Honda) was again a shining star. After qualifying eighth in another magnificent build-up, he was circulating as high as second position in the race before finishing a stirring seventh, 13.164 seconds behind the winner, Luis Salom. Miller’s got most of the fundamentals locked in -- great corner speed, phenomenal handling and strong tyre life -- with only a lack of outright speed at odds with an otherwise slippery package.

“It was a good day,” said the ebullient Queenslander. “We struggled a little bit through the race but seventh was a good result. But it still was not perfect. I still need some small things. After 11 laps the bike got too hot and I lost a lot of speed. But I think in the next few races we can find them. But nonetheless I am very happy.”

Meanwhile, Adelaide’s Arthur Sissis was 10th on the Red Bull KTM Ajo machine, which was his best result since the season opener in Qatar. And the genesis for his turnaround was a sharp effort in qualifying, which saw him slot his bike onto the fourth row when the practice sessions weren’t nearly as profitable.

”The first few laps of the race, with fresh tyres, were tricky,” said Sissis. “I did not have the good feeling I had yesterday in the qualifying session and I could not push to stay with the leading group. I was left in the second group, where there was a great battle. That is why it was difficult to keep up with the pace. In the end I tried to do my best I could and we finished tenth. It is a very good position compared with the last few races, so we will continue on this path and fight to be closer to the first group.”

After  a no-score at the last round, Sissis is now 14th in the Moto3 standings on 25 points, with Miller in 10th on 29.