News 30 Sep 2013

Marquez beats Lorenzo to Aragon victory as Pedrosa crashes out

Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez has scored victory in his third and final home grand prix of the season at Spain's Motorland Aragon, a race that proved pivotal to the 2013 title fight.

Jorge Lorenzo led the field into the first turn at Motorland Aragon. Image: MotoGP.com.

Jorge Lorenzo led the field into the first turn at Motorland Aragon. Image: MotoGP.com.

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has scored victory in his third and final home grand prix of the season at Spain’s Motorland Aragon, a race that proved pivotal to the 2013 title fight.

Marquez began the race from pole but it was Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo who capitalised off the start, leading into the first turn as the Repsol Honda riders scrapped for second.

Marquez was able to put the move on teammate Dani Pedrosa for second, but their infighting was allowing Lorenzo to make a gap which had already hit over a second as the first lap was completed.

Pedrosa showed solid pace and looked determined to challenge for the lead as he moved back past his younger teammate on lap five, but his hopes for a win and his overall title prospects came crashing down as he suffered a massive high-side crash just two laps later.

The Honda riders appeared to touch as they contested a turn together, with Marquez running wide and rejoining as his teammate was thrown over his handlebars.

Marquez continued in his pursuit of Lorenzo out front as the race settled one more and was able to find a way by on lap 13.

Lorenzo offered little opposition, allowing Marquez to take the win by a comfortable 1.356-second margin, and consequently, increase his lead to a forboding 39 points.

Third place went to Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi who again found himself battling with Gresini Honda’s Alvaro Bautista.

Bautista momentarily bought into podium contention before being passed back by Rossi. The final lap saw LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl bring himself into the mix and engage in an entertaining back-and-forth series of passes with Bautista, with the Italian holding his position to beat the German to fourth.

Monster Tech3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow finished less than a second off the top five battle but was again lacking his customary pace and fighting spirit to consolidate for sixth.

Teammate Bradley Smith was seventh, with three Ducatis – Andrea Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden and Andrea Iannone – rounding out the top 10.

Bryan Staring finished the race a solid 18th, while Damian Cudlin battled gearbox problems and eventually dropped out of the running with a few laps left to run.

Aspar Team rider Nico Terol pieced together a convincing win in the Moto2 class, pulling away from the field out of pole position and never headed as the focus fell on the battle for the minor podium placings.

The man on the march was Marc VDS rider Scott Redding, who forced his way from 13th on the grid to run as high as second in the first half of the race.

Redding duelled with primary championship rivals Esteve Rabat and Pol Espargaro, with the Tuenti HP 40 pairing both able to move by the Brit in the decisive stages.

Terol held his advantage to claim the win by 1.736 seconds, with Rabat running second and Espargaro third.

Redding’s fourth place ensure he retains his points lead, with his teammate Mika Kallio buying into the battle in the last few laps to finish fifth.

Jordi Torres was sixth, with Johann Zarco seventh, Julian Simon eighth, Mattia Pasini ninth and Sandro Cortese completing the top 10.

Aussie Ant West had been battling for the final points-paying place before registering a DNF with seven laps to run.

Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins took the Moto3 victory after a hearty scrap with Team Calvo’s Maverick Vinales for the duration of the race.

The duo traded places at the front but it was polesitter Rins who was able to make a well-timed move on the final lap to secure the win.

Rins’ teammate Alex Marquez was a lonely third, not able to match the leader’s pace today, with current championship leader Luis Salom pushing his way through the field to fourth but losing some points to his title rivals in the process.

Miguel Oliveira slot his Mahindra into fifth and the first non-KTM in the order, with Philipp Oettl, Jonas Folger, Romano Fenati, Aussie Arthur Sissis and Efren Vazquez completing the top 10.

Jack Miller bought into the points-paying places, eventually finishing 13th.

The MotoGP World Championship continues at Malaysia in a fortnight before a quick turnaround ahead of the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

Moto GP World Championship
Round 14 – Aragon, Spain

MotoGP race:
1. Marc MARQUEZ
2. Jorge LORENZO +1.356
3. Valentino ROSSI +12.927
4. Alvaro BAUTISTA +13.787
5. Stefan BRADL +13.973
6. Cal CRUTCHLOW +14.662
7. Bradley SMITH +31.220
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO +40.671
9. Nicky HAYDEN +53.413
10. Andrea IANNONE +55.067
11. Aleix ESPARGARO +58.001
12. Yonny HERNANDEZ +1m05.513
13. Randy DE PUNIET +1m06.589
14. Hiroshi AOYAMA +1m08.674
15. Claudio CORTI +1m09.130
16. Colin EDWARDS +1m12.041
17. Luca SCASSA +1m45.152
18. Bryan STARING +1m45.228
19. Lukas PESEK +1m45.583
DNF. Damian Cudlin (AUS)

MotoGP championship standings (after round 14 of 18):
1. Marc MARQUEZ 278
2. Jorge LORENZO 239
3. Dani PEDROSA 219
4. Valentino 185
5. Cal CRUTCHLOW 156
6. Stefan BRADL 135
7. Alvaro BAUTISTA 125
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO 112
9. Nicky HAYDEN 102
10. Bradley SMITH 80
11. Aleix ESPARGARO 76
12. Michele PIRRO 50
13. Andrea IANNONE 47
14. Colin EDWARDS 31
15. Hector BARBERA 27
16. Randy DE PUNIET 23
17. Danilo PETRUCCI 23
18. Yonny HERNANDEZ 11
19. Ben SPIES 9
20. Claudio CORTI 8
25. Bryan STARING (AUS) 2

Moto2 race:
1. Nicolas TEROL
2. Esteve RABAT +1.736
3. Pol ESPARGARO +3.530
4. Scott REDDING +3.783
5. Mika KALLIO +4.049
6. Jordi TORRES +11.602
7. Johann ZARCO +16.298
8. Julian SIMON +18.765
9. Mattia PASINI +22.266
10. Sandro CORTESE +23.757
11. Takaaki NAKAGAMI +23.924
12. Marcel SCHROTTER +24.487
13. Dominique AEGERTER +28.011
14. Alex MARIÑELARENA +33.120
15. Danny KENT +43.909
16. Axel PONS +44.230
17. Gino REA +44.293
18. Louis ROSSI +47.587
19. Ricard CARDUS +47.678
20. Roman RAMOS +52.153
DNF. Ant West (AUS)

Moto2 championship standings (after round 13 of 17):
1. Scott REDDING 215
2. Pol ESPARGARO 195
3. Esteve RABAT 171
4. Mika KALLIO 143
5. Takaaki NAKAGAMI 130
6. Dominique AEGERTER 122
7. Johann ZARCO 113
8. Nicolas TEROL 108
9. Thomas LUTHI 94
10. Jordi TORRES 83
11. Simone CORSI 74
12. Xavier SIMEON 71
13. Julian SIMON 57
14. Alex DE ANGELIS 46
15. Mattia PASINI 42
16. Anthony WEST 39
17. Marcel SCHROTTER 28
18. Toni ELIAS 21
19. Randy KRUMMENACHER 20
20. Mike DI MEGLIO 18

Moto3 race:
1. Alex RINS
2. Maverick VIÑALES +0.426
3. Alex MARQUEZ +12.377
4. Luis SALOM +16.416
5. Miguel OLIVEIRA +16.496
6. Philipp OETTL +21.539
7. Jonas FOLGER +25.255
8. Romano FENATI +27.711
9. Arthur SISSIS +27.888
10. Efren VAZQUEZ +28.977
11. Alexis MASBOU +29.601
12. Brad BINDER +29.748
13. Jack MILLER +33.833
14. Niccolò ANTONELLI +33.850
15. Livio LOI +47.978
16. Eric GRANADO +48.137
17. Francesco BAGNAIA +48.190
18. Isaac VIÑALES +48.725
19. Bryan SCHOUTEN +48.731
20. Ana CARRASCO +48.792

Moto3 championship standings (after round 13 of 17):
1. Luis SALOM 259
2. Alex RINS 250
3. Maverick VIÑALES 247
4. Alex MARQUEZ 149
5. Jonas FOLGER 129
6. Miguel OLIVEIRA 115
7. Jack MILLER 79
8. Alexis MASBOU 69
9. Efren VAZQUEZ 62
10. Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN 60
11. Arthur SISSIS 59
12. Jakub KORNFEIL 56
13. Brad BINDER 50
14. Romano FENATI 48
15. Niklas AJO 43
16. Isaac VIÑALES 33
17. Niccolò ANTONELLI 32
18. Philipp OETTL 18
19. John MCPHEE 15
20. Danny WEBB 15

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