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Barcelona MotoGP: Lorenzo wins again in crash-filled race

Ducati rider Jorge Lorenzo scored his second consecutive MotoGP win in Barcelona, converting pole position into a dominant triumph after a short battle with Marc Marquez.

Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Team

Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Team

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Team
Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team
Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team
Maverick Viñales, Yamaha Factory Racing

Lorenzo led every lap but the first in a particularly attrition-heavy race, with not enough classified finishers to fill out the points-scoring top 15.

The three-time world champion is now level on points with teammate Andrea Dovizioso, who crashed, and is 49 points behind Marquez – who leads nearest rival Valentino Rossi by 27 points.

Famed for his quick starts, Lorenzo was expected to head the field into Turn 1 from pole, but instead gave up the lead to Marquez off the line, before dropping behind Andrea Iannone as well.

Iannone then challenged Marquez for the lead at the sharp Turn 10 left-hander, braking late down the inside but running well wide, allowing Marquez to keep the lead and Lorenzo to take second.

Lorenzo then lined up Marquez for a move on the start-finish straight, using the slipstream and Ducati's straightline prowess to reclaim the lead.

But an expected Lorenzo breakaway did not follow in the next few laps, with Marquez running right on his future Repsol Honda teammate's tail.

The pair had soon broken away from all but Dovizioso, who managed to just about stay in touch with Marquez until he tucked the front at the Turn 5 left-hander on the ninth lap.

And right after his teammate fell, Lorenzo began to check out, remaining in the low 1m40s margin while Marquez's pace dropped off.

Lorenzo's lead was up to a second and a half as the raced passed its halfway point, and he managed it from there to the chequered flag, winning by 4.4s.

Rossi had a lonely race en route to his fourth third-place finish of 2018, breaking away with ease from the riders behind him but unable to keep up with the leaders.

LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow fought through from 10th to fourth, picking off Honda works rider Dani Pedrosa at the Turn 4 right-hander in the second half of the race.

Rossi's teammate Maverick Vinales had plummeted down the order after a horrific start, but recovered to sixth behind Pedrosa, having prevailed in a race-long battle with fellow Yamaha rider Johann Zarco.

Pramac's Danilo Petrucci was ninth, ahead of fellow Ducati satellite rider Alvaro Bautista and Iannone, who struggled noticeably to stay on track in the race.

Pol Espargaro, Scott Redding and Karel Abraham completed the finishers, while Franco Morbidelli was classified 14th after crashing and remounting to retire in the pits.

KTM and Suzuki's respective wildcards Mika Kallio and Sylvain Guintoli had set the tone for the race by crashing early on, with Tom Luthi, Xavier Simeon, Aleix Espargaro and Hafizh Syahrin suffering standalone falls.

LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami lost it at Turn 5, his bike wiping out the KTM of Bradley Smith, who had run as high as eighth early on.

Pramac's Jack Miller and Suzuki's Alex Rins also retired, while Tito Rabat's Avintia-run Ducati GP17 caught fire on the main straight when he was fighting in the top 10.

Race results

Cla#RiderBikeLapsGap
1 99 spain Jorge Lorenzo Ducati 24  
2 93 spain Marc Marquez Honda 24 4.479
3 46 italy Valentino Rossi Yamaha 24 1.619
4 35 united_kingdom Cal Crutchlow Honda 24 3.707
5 26 spain Dani Pedrosa Honda 24 0.835
6 25 spain Maverick Viñales Yamaha 24 0.158
7 5 france Johann Zarco Yamaha 24 2.634
8 9 italy Danilo Petrucci Ducati 24 1.623
9 19 spain Alvaro Bautista Ducati 24 7.002
10 29 italy Andrea Iannone Suzuki 24 2.084
11 44 spain Pol Espargaro KTM 24 12.419
12 45 united_kingdom Scott Redding Aprilia 24 1.669
13 17 czech_republic Karel Abraham Ducati 24 43.297
14 21 italy Franco Morbidelli Honda 21 3 laps
  55 malaysia Hafizh Syahrin Yamaha 20 4 laps
  53 spain Tito Rabat Ducati 18 6 laps
  43 australia Jack Miller Ducati 17 7 laps
  38 united_kingdom Bradley Smith KTM 13 11 laps
  30 japan Takaaki Nakagami Honda 13 11 laps
  42 spain Alex Rins Suzuki 11 13 laps
  4 italy Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 8 16 laps
  10 belgium Xavier Simeon Ducati 7 17 laps
  41 spain Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 4 20 laps
  12 switzerland Thomas Luthi Honda 3 21 laps
  50 france Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki 2 22 laps
  36 finland Mika Kallio KTM 0 24 laps

 

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