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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