Motorsport Matters: MotoGP Barcelona

Photograph courtesy of EYECU - Photography by Ozan Kutay with thanks

On a difficult weekend for all concerned every class in the MotoGP paddock managed a fitting tribute to the late Luis Salom with some excellent racing. There was a one minute silence for Luis before the Moto3 riders made their way to the grid (which can be seen here on the official MotoGP website) , the riders on the podiums all wore t-shirts honouring him (some with the message 'always in our hearts') and there were flags on the warm down laps as well as many riders carrying number 39 somewhere on their bikes.

MotoGP

The highlight of the weekend for me is undoubtedly Valentino Rossi's win in the MotoGP race at Catalunya. It was his second win of the season and much needed having started the day 37 points behind his Movistar Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo in the standings. The win came with style and entertainment with a fantastic battle with Marc Marquez in the closing laps. Rossi made a traditionally slow start from fifth on the grid and from eighth place he had to pick his way through riders to get to the front. By the time he passed Andrea Iannone for fourth place the leading trio of Lorenzo, Marquez and Dani Pedrosa had opened up a healthy gap. His team-mate next season, Maverick Vinales, came past Iannone at the same time and followed The Doctor in closing the gap to the leaders as the both set fastest laps. In the end the time put in by Vinales on lap five would not only be the fastest of the race of 1:45.971 but also automatically becomes the new circuit record as it is the first time they've used the revised circuit layout. As I mentioned in my Luis Salom tribute blog (here if you missed it and want to read it ) the decision was taken to revert to the layout used by the Formula One race which turns earlier than the old turn twelve where Salom crashed and drops to a chicane before the final corner.

Rossi made swift work of Pedrosa and then Marquez before setting off after Lorenzo. He took the lead on lap seven as the Spaniard started to struggle for pace. After Rossi passed him Marquez and Pedrosa soon followed as the reigning champion's Yamaha was clearly slower than the other bikes around him. He later confirmed he was struggling for grip with the front tyre and the issue worsened as the race progressed. After Vinales passed him for fourth place he fell back into the clutches of Iannone. Following the incident in Argentina where he took out his own team-mate Andrea Dovizioso on the last corner with a failed late attempt to pass you would think that the fiery Italian may have learned his lesson (especially after the bollocking he probably got and that it probably speeded up his exit from the team at the end of the season to Suzuki). Unfortunately not. Coming into the tight left hander at turn ten at the end of the back straight Iannone went for another ridiculous pass from too far back, this time on Lorenzo. He came from so far back that everyone watching had time to react before he even collided with the rear of the Yamaha. Iannone clattered into the back of Lorenzo's bike and catapulted the Spaniard into the air as both bikes tumbled into a ruined state. Lorenzo was immediately furious and rightly so. He was aware that his bike was losing pace lap by lap but when you're leading the world championship and your two closest rivals are at the front of the race you know you need to salvage every point you can. It was his first retirement since he fell in the wet in Argentina and he has now relinquished his lead in the MotoGP standings.

The focus in the later laps came down to Rossi and Marquez who were circulating with a steady but short gap between them. It was clear that Marquez was biding his time for an attack, stalking his prey almost in the same way that Rossi did in his prime ten years ago. With a few laps to go he pulled the pin and went for it and the feuding pair (who famously fell out after their controversial collision at Sepang, Malaysia last year) engaged in a battle which saw them exchange the lead several times. The on-track was as exciting as the one between Rossi and Lorenzo in 2009 at the same circuit but this time Rossi managed to regain the lead and break away before the final lap. Marquez ran wide at turn seven and that gave the Italian the break he needed take the chequered flag unchallenged on the last lap. Marquez will still be satisfied with second place and twenty points considering Lorenzo's retirement and he now takes the lead in the rider's standings.

Pedrosa had a relatively quiet ride for third place although at one point he did have to fend off a challenge from Vinales. In the end the Suzuki rider couldn't maintain his pace and finished nearly twenty seconds away from the podium in fourth place. Pol Espargaro was the leading non-factory rider in fifth place for Tech 3 Yamaha and Cal Crutchlow brought the LCR Honda home in sixth for his first top ten finish of the season and his best since Malaysia last year when he was fifth. Dovizioso finished seventh after a pretty anonymous race and was just 1.511 seconds in front of Alvaro Bautista on the Aprilia as the Italian team looked the most competitive they have since their return last season. With Aprilia's performance growing race by race it looks like Sam Lowes will join the team at the perfect point in 2017. Danilo Petrucci was a solid ninth on the Pramac Ducati and the Jack Miller finished higher than he ever has before in MotoGP in tenth place. I'm not a fan of the Australian and do not agree with anyone skipping Moto2 on the route to the premier class but I'll give him credit for a great ride here to a first top ten finish.

Following the race it was announced that Iannone will be penalised by starting at the back of the grid at the next race at Assen in three weeks time on the 26th June 2016. Apparently Lorenzo has already said he feels the punishment is too lenient and once more, as in Sepang last season, he feels the need to speak out against decisions made by race direction. After the incident Iannone tried to apologise to Lorenzo but was brushed off by the Spaniard who refused to accept any explanation. It seems Jorge is doing everything he can to alienate everyone at the moment and just wants to either complain or argue at every opportunity. If he's trying to be the bad boy of MotoGP he's certainly succeeding but he's becoming more of a big baby than a bad boy in my book. If he's this miserable now on the best overall bike on the grid then how bad will he be next season on a Ducati? It's also a shame that on a weekend of such tragedy that he could not have a little more respect and composure than to throw another hissy fit but then again this is Jorge Lorenzo.

On a brighter note there did appear to be an end to the animosity between Rossi and Marquez in parc ferme as the pair shook hands publicly for the first time since Sepang last year. I pretty much got it right in my Luis Salom tribute blog when I said that some riders would see this as an opportunity to put any bad feeling to rest while one individual would likely not care in the slightest.

Rider's Standings:

1st – Marc Marquez – SPA – Repsol Honda – 125

2nd – Jorge Lorenzo – SPA – Movistar Yamaha – 115

3rd – Valentino Rossi – ITA – Movistar Yamaha – 103

4th – Dani Pedrosa – SPA – Repsol Honda – 82

5th – Maverick Vinales – SPA – Suzuki – 72

6th – Pol Espargaro – SPA – Monster Tech 3 Yamaha – 59

7th – Aleix Espargaro – SPA – Suzuki – 49

8th – Hector Barbera – SPA – Aspar Ducati - 48

9th – Andrea Dovizioso – ITA – Ducati Corse - 43

10th – Andrea Iannone – ITA – Ducati Corse – 41

Notable Statistics

• The following riders have finished every race this season in the points: Marc Marquez, Pol Espargaro, Hector Barbera, Eugene Laverty

• The following riders achieved their best result of the season in Barcelona: Valentino Rossi (1st equal with Jerez), Pol Espargaro (5th equal with Le Mans), Cal Crutchlow (6th), Alvaro Bautista (8th) , Jack Miller (10th)

• The following riders had their best qualifying of the season: Marc Marquez (1st equal with Argentina & Austin), Dani Pedrosa (3rd), Hector Barbera (4th), Danilo Petrucci (9th equal with Mugello)

• The following riders had their worst qualifying of the season: Bradley Smith (14th equal with Jerez), Jack Miller (19th equal with Jerez), Alvaro Bautista (21st)

Moto2

After a slow start to the season Johann Zarco has now won two races on the bounce. The reigning champion is now hitting form and the win puts him just ten points behind Alex Rins in the race for the championship. Rins finished second in Barcelona after leading for most of the race until Zarco made his move and opened up a winning lead. Takaaki Nakagami took third place and his third podium since the San Marino GP last year. The Japanese rider has finished every race this season and this podium lifted him to seventh in the standings which if he stayed there to the end of the season would be his highest finish in Moto2 since he started in 2012. Hafizh Syahrin finished fourth as he did in Qatar to equal his highest finish since he became a full time rider in 2014. The Malaysian rider did finish third in his home race in 2012 but as a wild-card rider. The 22 year-old is really impressing me this season and is a deserved fifth place in the standings, looking like one of the brightest talents to emerge from Asia in some time since we had a number of Japanese riders in MotoGP. Thomas Luthi finished fifth to stay fourth in the standings and although he is consistently fast I do believe the championship will be between Rins, Zarco and Sam Lowes as I predicted before the start of the season. Lowes struggled to sixth place and even called it an embarrassing race , one that he'll look to put behind him having lost the lead in the title race. One rider who didn't finish who is worth mentioning is Alex Marquez. The 2014 Moto3 champion has struggled to hit the top ten since he came to Moto2 last year but was running a strong fourth place when he slid out of the race with twelve laps to go. Danny Kent had another poor weekend, qualifying 21st and then retiring with brake problems.

Rider's Standings

1st – Alex Rins – SPA – Paginas Amarillas HP 40 Kalex – 116

2nd – Sam Lowes – GBR – Gresini Kalex – 108

3rd – Johann Zarco – FRA – Ajo Kalex – 106

4th – Thomas Luthi – SUI – Interwetten Kalex – 93

5th – Hafizh Syahrin – MAL – Petronas Kalex – 60

6th – Jonas Folger -GER – Dynavolt Kalex - 57

7th – Takaaki Nakagami – JAP – Idemitsu Kalex - 53

8th – Dominique Aegerter – SUI – Interwetten Kalex - 52

9th – Simone Corsi – ITA – Speed Up – 50

10th – Franco Morbidelli – ITA – Estrella Galicia Kalex – 50

Notable Statistics

• The following riders have finished every race in the points this season: Alex Rins, Sam Lowes, Thomas Luthi, Takaaki Nakagami

• The following riders have finished every race this season (not all inside the points): Johann Zarco, Hafizh Syahrin, Franco Morbidelli, Isaac Vinales

• The following riders achieved their best result of the season in Barcelona: Johann Zarco (1st equal with Argentina and Italy), Takaaki Nakagami (3rd ), Hafizh Syahrin (4th equal with Qatar), Miguel Oliveira (8th ), Marcel Schrotter (10th equal with Austin), Remy Gardner (15th maiden outing as a wild-card), Edgar Pons (17th ), Ramdan Rosli (19th maiden race)

• The following riders had their best qualifying of the season: Johann Zarco (1st ), Xavier Simeon (16th ), Mattia Pasini (19th equal with Qatar, Austin and Le Mans), Alex Marquez (7th ), Remy Gardner (24th maiden outing), Ramdan Rosli (28th maiden outing)

• The following riders had their worst qualifying of the season: Franco Morbidelli (18th ), Danny Kent (21st equal with Le Mans), Isaac Vinales (27th equal with Qatar and Argentina)

Moto3

The first race of the day delivered another treat as we had eight riders all battling for first place for most one the race although two would crash before the end. The surprise rider of the day was Argentine 19 year-old Gabriel Rodrigo who was in the front pack and even led the race for a short space of time. He didn't finish in the points in any race last year in his rookie season and so far this year has achieved a record of two 13th place finishes. It was therefore a great surprise to see him running with the title challengers on his RBA Racing KTM and he looked comfortable, in control and not out of place in the slightest. The thing is he didn't even qualify well as he was down in 19th place. There was a warning of his impending brilliance as he was 6th in the morning warm up after being only 16th, 12th and 12th in the three free practice sessions respectively. Let's hope this is a confidence booster that will see him at the front more often. The confidence boost from a race win certainly worked for Khairul Idham Pawi after he won the Argentine round in rain. Although he has only achieved two 14th place finishes since then it's not for the lack of trying and he has certainly appeared in the leading pack just as he did again in Barcelona. Unfortunately Pawi crashed out with three laps to go and Rodrigo followed him into retirement with his own accident a lap later.

The winner was Jorge Navarro on the Estrella Galicia Honda who after several near successes took his maiden win at the 36th attempt. By the end he finished over half a second in from of championship leader Brad Binder on the Red Bull KTM. The South African was lucky to stay on the bike after an incident with Rodrigo at the new chicane which nearly flipped him off of the bike. He did well to stay on let alone catch back up to the group and finish second.

In third place was Enea Bastianini and surprisingly it's his first podium of the season. He was one of the title favourites but it hasn't come together for him at all and his highest finish to date was fifth in the opening round in Qatar. Just over a tenth of a second behind Bastianini was another Italian Romano Fenati followed soon after by his team-mate Nicolo Bulega in fifth place on the Sky Racing VR46 KTM. The pair remain third and fourth in the championship with their results but they are already 67 and 81 points behind leader Binder already. It is looking almost like a one horse race but there are still eleven races to go so maybe Navarro can close the gap or someone else can have a good run of form. It will be hard to knock Binder though as he has finished on the podium at every race this year including three wins on the bounce before this one.

Sixth was Navarro's team-mate Aron Canet just 0.05 seconds behind Bulega but then there was a twelve second wait before the next rider crossed the line. That was my tip for the title who is doing even worse than Bastianini – Fabio Quartararo. It's another top ten finish at least but he remains tenth in the standings and nowhere near a title bid this season. The Leopard team looked really strong with the Honda machinery last season but neither Quartararo or his team-mate Andrea Locatelli look comfortable on the KTM. After his fantastic surprise second place in Mugello Fabio Di Giannantonio could not follow up with another podium but he did at least score his second points of the season with a nine place finish.

There was delight for another Binder as Brad's younger brother Darryn scored his first world championship points in his 25th race with 12th place and four points. By comparison to the previous couple of seasons John McPhee is having a nightmare year but it's down to the Peugeot machinery and he will actually be pleased with securing another point with fifteenth place.

Rider's Standings

1 – Brad Binder – RSA – Red Bull KTM – 147

2 – Jorge Navarro – ITA – Estrella Galicia Honda – 103

3 – Romano Fenati – ITA – Sky Racing VR46 KTM – 80

4 – Nicolo Bulega – ITA – Sky Racing VR46 KTM – 66

5 – Francesco Bagnaia – ITA – Aspar Mahindra – 54

6 – Nico Antonelli – ITA – Ongetta-Rivacold Honda – 52

7 – Enea Bastianini – ITA – Gresini Honda – 49

8 = Jakub Kornfeil – CZE – Drive M7 Honda – 42

8 = Joan Mir – SPA – Leopard KTM – 42

10 – Fabio Quartararo – FRA – Leopard KTM – 39

Notable Statistics

• Brad Binder has finished every race on the podium this season

• Brad Binder is also the only person to finish in the points in every race this season

• The following riders have finished every race this season (not all inside the points): Nicolo Bulega, Jakub Kornfeil, Juanfran Guevara, Livio Loi, Andrea Migno, Bo Bendsneyder, Tatsuki Suzuki

• The following riders achieved their best result of the season in Barcelona: Jorge Navarro (winner), Bo Bendsneyder (11th), Darryn Binder (12th). Tatsuki Suzuki (14th), Fabio Spiranelli (21st), Lorenzo Petrarca (22nd)

• The following riders had their best qualifying of the season: Brad Binder (1st equal with Argentina), Jules Danilo (8th equal with Austin), Hiroki Ono (11th equal with Argentina and Mugello)

• The following riders had their worst qualifying of the season: Romano Fenati (10th), Jakub Kornfeil (16th equal with Qatar and Mugello), Albert Arenas (17th only his second race), Philipp Oettl (28th), Davide Pizzoli (29th only his second race), Karel Hanika (31st), Stefano Valtulini (32nd), Alexis Masbou (33rd), Lorenzo Petrarca (34th), Fabio Spiranelli (35th )