Pedrosa touches Marquez, loses out

MotoGP
1. Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda, 45m 24.134s
2. Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha, 0.512s
3. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda, 1.834s

Pole position: Pedrosa, 1:40.985 = 168.5 km/h
Fastest lap (record):Marquez, 1:42.182 = 166.5 km/h

Championship top three
Marquez 175 points • Rossi 117 • Pedrosa 112

Story of the race
All the big guns have tried and now fell short: getting the better of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) in a last lap MotoGP shootout is proving to be a brutally tough mountain to climb. At least in 2014, with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) the first rider to try and break Marquez’s will in the season opener, and over the last two rounds it’s been his fellow Spaniards Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) getting on the front foot – but to no avail.

Pedrosa, the first polesitter in 2014 outside of Marquez, probably pushed the hardest – literally – in the Catalunya race, managing to touch the rear wheel of his teammate’s machine during a combative final lap, which ultimately forced him to run wide and gift second spot to a delighted Rossi.

But in the wash-up, Marquez’s delectable blend of offense and defence – mostly the former – again proved to be the masterstroke as he maintained his 100 per cent winning record in 2014, and he has now banked a perfect 175 points to hold a commanding 58-point lead over Rossi after just seven rounds.

“Today was more difficult than Mugello, as the Yamaha riders were very strong early in the race,” said Marquez. “I was struggling a little bit but then I caught Valentino. I made a mistake in turn one and after that I lost maybe a second and I was catching Vale again. The last laps were so nice; the fans helped a lot. It was really special to fight the last laps with Dani and Valentino.

"It was also special to win on the same day as my brother (Alex Marquez in Moto3); he did an incredible race. Also in Moto2 Tito Rabat won, I felt more pressure because if I didn’t win they would tease me a lot!”

Lorenzo was with the leading group until the final handful of laps, but was losing grip under acceleration and dropped back to a lonely fourth, ahead of Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) and the Espargaro siblings -- Aleix (Forward Racing Yamaha) and Pol (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) – in sixth and seventh.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) brought up the top eight, and Australia’s Broc Parkes (Paul Bird Motorsport) was a very solid 16th, just finishing shy of 15th placed Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive M7 Aspar). Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) and Cal Crutchlow Ducati) both retired with mechanical problems.

Moto2
1. Esteve Rabat, Marc VDS Racing Team, 39m 45.660s
2. Maverick Vinales, Pons HP40, 4.244s
3. Johan Zarco, AirAsia Caterham, 11.157s

Pole position: Rabat, 1:46.569 = 159.6 km/h
Fastest lap: Rabat, 1:47.094 = 158.8 km/h

Championship top 3
Rabat 149 points • Mika Kallio 115 • Vinales 89

Tito Rabat (Marc VDS Racing) wasn’t in the mood for a scrap at Catalunya, and it showed as he grabbed the race by the scruff of the neck from the outset, eventually crossing the line 4.2 seconds ahead of Maverick Vinales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40), with Johan Zarco (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing) a further seven seconds back after an incident-packed race.

Zarco came up trumps in a late battle for third with Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team) and Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2).

Australia’s Anthony West (QMMF Racing Team) snuck into the top 10 after a stirring ride from a lowly starting position, with positions six to nine filled by Mattia Pasini (NGM Forward Racing), Ricard Cardus (Tech 3), Axel Pons (AGR Team) and Marcel Schrotter (Tech 3).

There were crashes galore, with the likes of Jordi Torres (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2), Jonas Folger (AGR Team), Luis Salom (Paginas Amarillas HP 40), Sam Lowes (Speed Up), Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Simone Corsi (NGM Forward Racing) all going down. Salom was taken to hospital with a broken finger.

Moto3  
1. Alex Marquez, Estrella Galicia 0,0, 41m 11.656s
2. Eric Bastianini, GO&FUN Moto3, 3.236s
3. Efren Vazquez, SaxoPrint-RTG,  3.512s    

Pole position: Marquez, 1:50.232 = 154.3 km/h
Fastest lap (record): John McPhee, 1:51.299 = 152.8 km/h

Championship top 3
Jack Miller 117 points • Roman Fenati 110 • Vazquez 92

This one went against the normal Moto3 grain, as Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) pushed hard from pole position and cruised to an easy victory, but the fight for the remaining podium positions was intense, with Eric Bastianini (GO&FUN Moto3) and Efren Vazquez (SaxoPrint-RTG) eventually finishing second and third.
    
Australia’s Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) extended his championship lead by two points, but it was a heart in mouth affair as he made up four spots on a withering last lap. That burst saw him finish in fourth, ahead of Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46 KTM) and Brad Binder (Imbrigio Racing).

“Until the last lap I was confident that I could pass, but I didn’t think I could get up to fourth place, so I'm happy about that,” said Miller. “We did a good job today, we continue to lead the World Cup and we have to think about Assen now, where I think we can do a better job.”

Championship contender Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda ) was an early retirement with a gear linkage issue, and South Australian Arthur Sissis (Mahindra Racing) was 18th out of 31 finishers.

FULL RESULTS AND STANDINGS FOR ALL CLASSES