Rossi's Spanish perfection

Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi won his 113th career grand prix at Jerez overnight, relegating Spaniards Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) to second and third respectively at their home grand prix.

For the first time in the 37-year-old’s premier-class career, and in front of over 100,000 fans, Rossi started from pole position, lead every one of the 27-lap race and crossed the line to take the victory, 2.386s ahead of teammate Lorenzo.

“I think that this was the perfect weekend,” Rossi said. “We started to go faster from Friday morning and we worked very well. The bike, in the race, was fantastic and we worked very well with the team so I have to say thank you to the whole Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team, especially my crew.

“I had a good pace and a good start and felt good with the bike from the beginning, so I could push. Sincerely, it was a special taste to have a win like this, so thanks a lot!”

Lorenzo cited rear-wheel tyre spin on the straights as the reason he couldn’t fight for the victory while Marquez, who finished over seven seconds behind Rossi, struggled with his front tyre in the warm conditions.

Coming into the race, Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa had a stellar record at the Spanish circuit of never finishing off the podium in any of the races he’d contested, but that came to end this weekend when he crossed the line on fifth place ahead of the two Team Suzuki Ecstar teammates of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales.

Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) crashed out of his home race just five laps in and, for the third consecutive round Ducati Team rider Andrea Dovizioso failed to score points through no fault of his own, this time suffering a mechanical issue which forced the unlucky Italian into the pits on lap nine. His teammate Andrea Iannone started from 11th on the grid and fought through to a last-lap stoush with Tech 3 Yamaha rider Pol Espargaro to be the highest finishing Ducati in seventh place, with Eugene Laverty (Aspar Team MotoGP) and Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing Ducati) rounding out the top 10.

Aussie Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) was back on a bike in Jerez after being forced to sit out the previous race due to injury and rode a strong race to cross the line in 17th place ahead of rookie teammate Tito Rabat.

“I can’t be too happy with today’s result but I am happy that we made important progress in solving some of our wheelie issues under acceleration,” Miller said. “I’ve struggled a lot in that area and we found a good direction this weekend. I finished the race again which is important to get data and experience for the future and I am happy with my rhythm at the beginning of the race.”

Lorenzo’s second-place finish reduced the overall points gap to championship leader Marc Marquez to just 17 points. After round four of 18 rounds, Marquez leads the way on 82 points ahead of Lorenzo’s 65 while race winner Valentino Rossi is just seven points adrift from his teammate on 58 points. Dani Pedrosa (40) has moved ahead of Pol Espargaro (36) to take fourth in the standings with the rider tipped to take Jorge Lorenzo’s spot at Yamaha next year, Maverick Viñales (33), currently sitting in sixth.

The championship now moves to Le Mans in France for Round 5 of the MotoGP world title kicking off in just under two weeks’ time.

MotoGP results
1. Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha, 45m28.834s
2. Jorge Lorenzo, Movistar Yamaha +2.386s
3. Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda +7.087s

Australian
17th, Jack Miller, EG 0,0 Marc VDS, +49.513s

Pole position: Rossi, 1m38.736s = 161.2km/h
Fastest lap: Rossi, 1m40.090s = 159.1km/h

Championship top 3
Marquez 82 • Lorenzo 65 • Rossi 58

MOTO2
British rider Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) extended his lead in the Moto2 championship taking a convincing win from pole position ahead of Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP) and title rival Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40).   

Lowes, who suffered a fast crash in the morning warm-up session, fought hard in the opening laps of the race to take the lead and went on to claim his first victory of the 2016 season.

“I feel really good,” Lowes said following the race. “The last two races I took second position and to get the win here after the mistake in Qatar … to be leading the championship now I’m really happy and I’m looking forward to Le Mans.”

Franco Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) took fourth from reigning world champion Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport).

With 72 points, Lowes goes to Le Mans with a 10-point buffer over Rins on 62. Zarco is on 56 ahead of Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten, 53) and Folger (47).

Moto2 results
1. Sam Lowes, Federal Oil Gresini, 44m58.624s
2. Jonas Folger, Dynavolt Intact GP, +2.480s
3. Alex Rins, Paginas Amarillas HP 40, +8.113s

Pole position: Lowes, 1m42.408s = 155.4km/h
Fastest lap: Rins, 1m42.979s = 154.6km/h                    

Championship top 3
Lowes 72 • Rins 62 • Zarco 56

MOTO3
South African rider Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took his first-ever Moto3 victory in spectacular style, racing from 35th to first after being forced to start from the back of the grid for running illegal engine mapping in qualifying.

“Last night I really studied the sessions and I knew that on old tyres I was stronger than the rest of the guys,” Binder said following the race. “When I reached the front group I decided to sit there for a couple of laps and see how it was. I knew I could go a good point-five quicker than the guys, so I just put my head down with five laps to go and tried to go into the distance.”

Polesitter Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) and Francesco Bagnaia (Aspar Mahindra Team Moto3) completed the podium while title hopeful Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0) finished fourth.

Now sitting on 77 points, Binder’s blinding win moves him 15 points clear of Navarro (62) in the championship standings with Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46) in third on 47 points.

Moto3 results
1.    Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Ajo, 41m29.882s
2.    Nicola Bulega, SKY Racing Team VR46, +3.336s
3.    Francesco Bagnaia, Aspar Mahindra Team Moto3, +3.441s

Pole position: Nicola Bulega, SKY Racing Team VR46, 1m46.223s = 149.8km/h
Fastest lap: Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Ajo, 1m46.922s = 148.9km/h

Championship top 3
Binder 77 • Navarro 62 • Fenati 47

Next round: Le Mans, France. May 6-8