MotoGP preview: Jerez

As MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez makes the journey from Argentina to the south of Spain for round four of the 2014 Road Racing World Championship this Sunday (May4), he has one mission on his mind – to extend his MotoGP winning streak at the start of a highly successful title defence.

The 21 year-old Repsol Honda rider dominated the visit to Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina from start to finish, taking his third successive victory and maintaining a 100 per cent record in 2014 ahead of the trip to Jerez – the first of six GPs to be held on the ‘old continent’.

Jerez is a favourite track of Dani Pedrosa who won the race there last year from second on the gird and has been a regular podium finisher at the venue. He aims to hunt down the rampant Marquez and close the 19-point gap at the top of the standings – having been on the rostrum at every round so far this term.

For Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo, Argentina brought a return to form, with a solid run to third place. Lorenzo has a corner named after him at Jerez and is assured of plenty of support from the home crowd. His teammate Valentino Rossi is third in the standings after finishing fourth in Argentina. Rossi was also fourth at Jerez last year but he has a superb pedigree at the track in Andalusia and will push to return to the podium there for the first time since 2010.

Rossi’s fellow Italian Andrea Dovizioso arrives at Jerez looking to build on his first Ducati podium from Austin, having slipped to ninth in the race in Argentina. Dovizioso will be rejoined in the Ducati Team box by Cal Crutchlow in Spain, the Englishman having missed round three due to a finger injury sustained in Texas.

The top Ducati finisher in South America was Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone in sixth – his best premier class result to date. The young Italian stands fifth in the overall rankings following a strong start to the year.

Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) has bounced back from a Qatar DNF with two top five results, while Monster Yamaha Tech 3 pair Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro will be looking to edge their way up the top 10 on the return to European racing.

The pressure is on for Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) following three successive DNFs, whereas his rookie teammate Scott Redding has been in the points twice already on the ‘Open’ Honda RCV1000R.

Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) is still the highest ranked ‘Open’ rider overall, in spite of a crash in Argentina, whilst Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive M7 Aspar) was the top Open finisher in Sunday’s race, just ahead of Nicky Hayden.
Further down the pack the likes of Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), Colin Edwards (NGM Forward Racing) and Danilo Petrucci (IodaRacing Project) go in search of positive results in Jerez, as do Paul Bird Motorsport pair Michael Laverty and Aussie Broc Parkes, along with Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera and Mike Di Meglio.

Moto2
Esteve Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) has started the year with a bang, taking victories in Qatar and Argentina, achieving a haul of 70 points from the maximum possible 75, to leave his opponents trailing in his wake. Rabat’s goal in Jerez will be another win from pole position, though his rivals will be doing everything they can to stop him.

Closest to 2013 Jerez race winner Rabat in the early 2014 championship standings is his teammate Mika Kallio, who became the first Finnish rider to reach the milestone of 200 Grand Prix starts in Argentina. Kallio is 28 points adrift of Rabat and aims for his first victory since Brno last year to try and reduce the deficit.

Third in the standings is rookie Maverick Viñales (Pons HP 40) who crashed out in Argentina and was therefore unable to build on his marvellous Austin victory.

The Moto world champion had been outshining his teammate, compatriot and fellow debutant Luis Salom (Pons HP 40) before the trip to Termas de Rio Hondo, but Salom’s excellent ride to third at the new South American venue will fill him with confidence.

Australia’s experienced hand Anthony West (QMMF Racing) will be eyeing a return to the top 10 at Jerez.

Moto3
Australian youngster Jack Miller leads the way by 17 points in the overall standings from Efren Vazquez (SAXOPRINT RTG) who has shown his pace in the early rounds on the evolving Honda Moto3 package. Vazquez is sure to be fired up for the Jerez round, in front of the passionate Spanish crowd.

Alex Marquez and Alex Rins (both Estrella Galicia 0,0) will also get good support this weekend at the first European GP of the year, though Rins will be desperate to outperform his teammate.

Marquez has been able to get more out of the team’s new Honda bikes so far and like Miller he will be determined to beat Fenati, the Italian having also made contact with the younger Marquez brother on that crucial final corner in Argentina.

While Miller has been a revelation, South Australian Arthur Sissis (Mahindra Racing) has been well off the pace all year as he struggles to get the best out of his new machine.