The Marquez show rolls on
The Spaniard completely dominated round four of the MotoGP title at Jerez, with Rossi second ahead of Pedrosa. Aussie Jack Miller was fourth in Moto3The Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) road show rolled on majestically at Jerez on May 4, as he banked his fourth win in a row with ridiculous ease. Despite easing to a crawl in the last few laps, Marquez still had 1.431 seconds to spare over Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha), who in turn just held off another signature fast finish from Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda).
It was Marquez’s first win at Jerez in any of the world championship categories, and extended his lead to 28 points in the MotoGP title chase over Pedrosa.
“I’m really happy; it’s a different kind of victory,” said Marquez. “I struggled a little bit this weekend and the level is so high with Pedrosa, Jorge and Valentino who are all very strong. In the beginning I was able to open a gap and push. I know that Dani and Valentino are so strong at the end of the race and with new tyres I felt better than on old tyres so I pushed very hard at the start.”
Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) didn’t celebrate his 27th birthday in the style he had hoped with a fourth place finish, while 20 seconds behind the two-time MotoGP world champion it was a cracking battle to the flag for fifth, with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) winning that four-way scrum from Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini), Aleix Espargaro (HGM Forward Racing) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3.) For Bautista, the relief was palpable: his first finish for the year after three consecutive crashes.
Dovizioso’s returning teammate Cal Crutchlow was a retirement with a front brake problem, while Australia’s Broc Parkes (Paul Bird Motorsport) ran wide on the opening lap before finishing in 18th, happy with his pace as he “starts to understand the bike”.
Moto2
Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team) showed the field a clean pair of heels with a superb victory from pole position, and also managed to tear a large chunk out of Esteve Rabat’s world championship lead.
The gap between the pair is now 16 points, after Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) came home fourth, behind Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert) and new lap record holder Jonas Folger (AGR Team) .
Behind the front four, reigning Moto3 world champion Maverick Viñales (Pons HP 40) got the better of teammate and fellow lightweight class graduate Luis Salom for fifth place.
There were a number of spills, but Australia’s Anthony West (QMMF Racing Team) remained upright up to come home in 11th position.
Moto3
Townsville’s Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) preserved his tyres for a last ditch effort to win his third race of the year, but the Moto3 class is an unpredictable animal: just as he was making a charge he was pushed wide by Isaac Vinales (Calvo Team) and his aspirations evaporated n one fell swoop.
Still, the pole-sitting Aussie brought home some quality world championship points in fourth position, as Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46 KTM) won his second successive race with a wafer thin margin over Efren Vazquez (SaxoPrint/RTG Honda) and Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0).
The top five managed to pull clear of their pursuers in the closing laps, while other riders who had nibbles in the front pack during the 23-lap race included Francesco Bagnaia (SKY Racing Team VR46 KTM) and Jakub Kornfeil (Calvo Team), who finished sixth.
Australian Arthur Sissis (Mahindra Racing) was an early mechanical DNF.
Miller now leads Fenati by five points, with the next round to be held at Le Mans in France from May 16-18.
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