MotoGP: Round #4 Repsol Honda Race Report – Jerez

Date :

May 04, 2015

 MotoGP: Round #4 Repsol Honda Race Report – Jerez

Honda Racing Corporation Press Release:

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez produced a stellar performance to close the gap in the Championship with a well earned second place at the GP of Spain in front of 122,000 spectators. Teammate Hiroshi Aoyama unfortunately crashed out of the race but thankfully escaped serious injury.

It was a frantic start as pole man Lorenzo led with a blistering pace and breaking the race lap record on lap two. Marc did a fantastic job to stay with Lorenzo before a gap began to emerge mid-race. With fatigue setting in as Marc’s right arm compensated for his weaker injured left hand, Rossi had made his way through the pack into third place and was closing in. Marc showed grit and determination controlling the gap and taking an important second place and twenty valuable points.

Hiroshi was caught amongst the pack starting in sixteenth but dropped down to nineteenth in the early laps. Using the hard option rear tire he knew the beginning of the race would be difficult but as the race progressed his grip level would improve and he could fight to move through the pack. He climbed back to fifteenth before a high speed crash in turn five – after losing the front – ended his race prematurely on lap fifteen.

Marc is now 4th in the World Championship standings with 56 points, 26 behind Rossi. With Pedrosa 14th on 10 points.

There is a post-race test scheduled tomorrow, with the original plan for Marc not to test however, tomorrow morning he will reassess his situation and if possible complete a few laps to test a new swing arm and give important information to the HRC technicians. Hiroshi had an x-ray after the race which revealed no break but heavy swelling in his shoulder. His condition will also be assessed in the morning to determine if he can test or not.

Marc Marquez #93:

2nd

“This is a track where we’ve always struggled a little because of my riding style – and this year also because of my injury, but today we achieved what we set out to do. On the opening laps I followed Jorge, but by lap five I could tell that although my finger was not a problem, I was unconsciously working more with my right arm and it began to stiffen up. From then on, I decided to just try and finish the race strong. Then I saw that Valentino was closing in on me and I thought “it’s going to be Argentina all over again” but I gathered strength and this time I was able to maintain the gap between us. We leave Jerez a little closer to the World Championship leader, but Jorge has extended his advantage.”

Hiroshi Aoyama #7:

DNF

“It wasn’t an easy race. We expected it to be much hotter but unfortunately the conditions changed. I still stand by my choice of hard tire in the race, at the beginning we were struggling with the grip but from mid-race I began to feel better. We knew the hard tire would be strong towards the end of the race and allow me to battle with the other riders, but unfortunately before I could capitalize from this I made a mistake and crashed. It was a hard race and ending like this is really disappointing. I’d like to thank all the team, they helped me a lot and it was a great experience.”

Round 4 Gran Premio bwin de Espana Results:

1     LORENZO Jorge     99     SPA     25     Movistar Yamaha MotoGP     Yamaha     44’57.246

2     MARQUEZ Marc     93     SPA     20     Repsol Honda Team     Honda     +5.576

3     ROSSI Valentino 46     ITA     16     Movistar Yamaha MotoGP     Yamaha     +11.586

4     CRUTCHLOW Cal     35     GBR     13     CWM LCR Honda     Honda     +22.727

5     ESPARGARO Pol     44     SPA     11     Monster Yamaha Tech 3     Yamaha     +26.620

6     IANNONE Andrea     29     ITA     10     Ducati Team     Ducati     +27.021

7     ESPARGARO Aleix 41     SPA     9     Team Suzuki Ecstar     Suzuki     +35.445

8     SMITH Bradley     38     GBR     8     Monster Yamaha Tech 3     Yamaha     +36.296

9     DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4     ITA     7     Ducati Team     Ducati     +41.933

10     HERNANDEZ Yonny 68     COL     6     Pramac Racing     Ducati     +51.072

11     VINALES Maverick 25     SPA     5     Team Suzuki Ecstar     Suzuki     +51.674

12     PETRUCCI Danilo 9     ITA     4     Pramac Racing     Ducati     +52.421

13     REDDING Scott     45     GBR     3     Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS     Honda     +53.052

14     BARBERA Hector     8     SPA     2     Avintia Racing     Ducati     +53.200

15     BAUTISTA Alvaro 19     SPA     1     Aprilia Racing Team Gresini     Aprilia     +57.344

16     BRADL Stefan     6     GER     0     Athina Forward Racing     Forward Yamaha     +59.018

17     HAYDEN Nicky     69     USA     0     Aspar MotoGP Team     Honda     +1’01.506

18     LAVERTY Eugene     50     IRE     0     Aspar MotoGP Team     Honda     +1’03.163

19     MELANDRI Marco     33     ITA     0     Aprilia Racing Team Gresini     Aprilia     +1’06.895

20     MILLER Jack     43     AUS     0     CWM LCR Honda     Honda     +1’14.182

21     DE ANGELIS Alex 15     RSM     0     Athina Forward Racing     Forward Yamaha     +1’26.832

22     DI MEGLIO Mike     63     FRA     0     Avintia Racing     Ducati     +1 lap

23     AOYAMA Hiroshi     7     JPN     0     Repsol Honda Team     Honda     DNF

24     BAZ Loris     76     FRA     0     Athina Forward Racing     Forward Yamaha     DNF

25     ABRAHAM Karel     17     CZE     0     AB Motoracing     Honda     DNF

Rider Standings:

1     ROSSI Valentino     46     ITA     82     Movistar Yamaha MotoGP     Yamaha

2     DOVIZIOSO Andrea     4     ITA     67     Ducati Team     Ducati

3     LORENZO Jorge     99     SPA     62     Movistar Yamaha MotoGP     Yamaha

4     MARQUEZ Marc     93     SPA     56     Repsol Honda Team     Honda

5     IANNONE Andrea     29     ITA     50     Ducati Team     Ducati

6     CRUTCHLOW Cal     35     GBR     47     CWM LCR Honda     Honda

7     SMITH Bradley     38     GBR     36     Monster Yamaha Tech 3     Yamaha

8     ESPARGARO Aleix     41     SPA     31     Team Suzuki Ecstar     Suzuki

9     ESPARGARO Pol     44     SPA     26     Monster Yamaha Tech 3     Yamaha

10     VINALES Maverick     25     SPA     20     Team Suzuki Ecstar     Suzuki

11     PETRUCCI Danilo     9     ITA     19     Pramac Racing     Ducati

12     REDDING Scott     45     GBR     13     Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS     Honda

13     HERNANDEZ Yonny     68     COL     12     Pramac Racing     Ducati

14     PEDROSA Dani     26     SPA     10     Repsol Honda Team     Honda

15     BARBERA Hector     8     SPA     10     Avintia Racing     Ducati

16     MILLER Jack     43     AUS     6     CWM LCR Honda     Honda

17     AOYAMA Hiroshi     7     JPN     5     Repsol Honda Team     Honda

18     HAYDEN Nicky     69     USA     3     Aspar MotoGP Team     Honda

19     BAZ Loris     76     FRA     2     Athina Forward Racing     Forward Yamaha

20     BAUTISTA Alvaro     19     SPA     2     Aprilia Racing Team Gresini     Aprilia

21     BRADL Stefan     6     GER     1     Athina Forward Racing     Forward Yamaha

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