Preview: Catalunya MotoGP

Round six of the 2013 Road Racing World Championship will be held at Catalunya this weekend (June 14-16), with Honda’s Dani Pedrosa holding a 12pt advantage in the standings over compatriot Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha).

Until the last round at Mugello, Lorenzo (pictured) hadn’t won since the season-opener in Qatar back at the start of April. His second victory of the campaign and third consecutive Tuscan success saw him trim Pedrosa’s lead, while Marc Marquez (Honda) is looking to make a strong comeback after no less than four crashes last time out -- with the last putting him out of second position in the race and denying the 20-year-old the chance of becoming the first rookie in the history of the sport to seal five podiums at his first five races.

With Lorenzo hailing from Palma de Mallorca but now living in Barcelona, Pedrosa having grown up in Sabadell, and Marquez in the quiet Catalan town of Cervera, Barcelona marks a home weekend for the trio of men atop the riders’ standings. Even more of a reason, then, to push for race victory as Pedrosa did in 2008 and Lorenzo did in 2010 and 2012. The race will be Marquez’s first Montmelo encounter in the top class, but he did triumph at the popular venue in 125s three years ago.

Behind the leading three, the points’ gap is diminishing. Two podiums from the last two races -- making him the first Briton to collect successive rostrum placings in the top tier since Ron Haslam in 1987 -- leave Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow just 6pts in arrears of Marquez, whereas Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso was on the front row at both Le Mans and Mugello and has demoted Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) to sixth overall. A repeat of the Italian’s stunning 2009 win in Barcelona would not go amiss after the disastrous first-lap crash in his home race.

First-lap incidents are not unheard of in Catalunya either, with perhaps the most memorable being the dramatic incident that involved several riders at the start of the 2006 race. Avoiding such trouble this weekend will be paramount for the likes of Rossi, who in-turn is striving to up his qualifying pace in a bid to escape the so-called midfield ‘danger zone’. To date, the nine-time title winner has struggled to get to grips with the rapid-fire Q2 session and has qualified no better than fifth.

Unable to qualify at all this weekend will be Ben Spies, as the Ducati rider again stays on the sidelines in order to recover from his ongoing pectoral muscle and shoulder issues; as was the case in France, the American is substituted for by Michele Pirro. Crutchlow’s teammate Bradley Smith returns to action following physiotherapy, having sustained a very deep cut to a finger as well as a wrist injury at the last meeting, but having still ridden to an extremely courageous ninth position.

Throughout the field, no less than six MotoGP riders will be contesting this race in their home country, while Australia’s Bryan Staring (Gresini Honda) will be looking to make more inroads after a solid -- but non point-scoring -- outing at Mugello.

Moto3 rider Jack Miller (Honda) remains the best Aussie hope for a top five finish at Catalunya. Arthur Sissis (KTM) is Australia’s second Moto3 rider, and Anthony West (QMMF) will compete in Moto2.

Check your local guides for telecast times on Channel 10.