Podium at Mugello Lorenzo wins with Pedrosa second and Crutchlow third
Sun, 2nd Jun, Italy – Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo won a dramatic Gran Premio d’Italia TIM for the third successive year, leading home MotoGP™ championship leader Dani Pedrosa and Britain’s Cal Crutchlow, whilst local hero Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez and Alvaro Bautista all crashed out of the race.
Whilst Lorenzo made the perfect start by passing Repsol Honda Team’s Pedrosa in the first turn, Yamaha’s Rossi and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista came together in the fourth corner of lap 1, putting an end to both their races, and shocking the yellow-clad home crowd. They fortunately walked away unscathed, and whilst both were disappointed and clearly annoyed, Race Direction deemed it was no one’s fault and declared it a racing incident.
Jorge Lorenzo – “The conditions and the circumstances were good for us and I didn’t make a mistake, I made my best performance even if the conditions were much hotter than this morning. We are still struggling so much when the conditions get hotter. Anyway the key of the race was in the middle where I improved my riding, I was able to brake later with less fuel in the tank so I was able to improve the lap time by two tenths, from this moment Dani gave up a little pace and I could get away and win the race, more or less like last year. It’s very special; I won the last three years here so this track is magic for me and very positive for Yamaha. It also reminds us to keep working on the bike as at the tracks which are not so flowing like Mugello we will struggle. I’m very happy to give this win to Yamaha Motor Racing President Shigeto Kitagawa because this was his last race here in Grand Prix, as he will retire. He has done a great job for the team in the last years and it is a big loss for us. I hope he will enjoy the different life he will have. Our president Yanagi-san is also lucky for me, I won the 2010 Championship in Malaysia when he was there on the track and again today a victory with his presence.”
Back in the race, Pedrosa remained with Lorenzo until just past half distance, when small errors for two laps in a row allowed his teammate Marquez to attack, while Lorenzo put the hammer down, lapping at the highest pace of the race to pull out a healthy buffer.
In the opening laps Pedrosa hunts down Lorenzo who took the win
Dani Pedrosa – “I didn’t feel fully comfortable in the race today, but I’m happy because I was able to gain a large number of points. In general, this was a difficult weekend. The back tyre was giving me a lot of problems with grip but taking 20 points from this race and maintaing the lead the World Championship is something positive.”
Pedrosa kept Marquez at bay until the 20-year-old went past on the inside of Savelli curve on the 19th lap. Marquez’s hard work was quickly undone in exactly the same place just two laps later, as an unforced error resulted in a fourth crash in three days. It was also the end of his bid to become the first rookie in MotoGP history to claim five rostrum finishes at the start of his premier class career.
Cal Crutchlow – “I am really happy to be back on the podium because Mugello is one of the blue riband races on the calendar and that makes it feel a bit more special. It is an awesome result and I have to pay a big tribute to my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew who did an incredible job this weekend. I’ve not felt comfortable on the bike but today they gave me a package that was really competitive. In the second half of the race I was really strong and consistent and I could see for the last 10 laps I had the pace that was bringing me closer to Dani and Marc. I was in a really fast and consistent rhythm but I hate to be gifted a podium like that. I’m sorry Marc crashed because he was doing an amazing job again but to be honest I felt I could have caught Dani and taken third anyway. When I saw Marc crash I slowed down to not risk losing a second podium in a row, which is a fantastic achievement for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team and me. I’m fourth in the Championship, top non-factory rider again, so it has been another great way to finish the weekend and continue our very strong start to the season.”
Marquez scoots past Pedrosa a few laps from the end only to lose it and crash a few laps later
Marquez’s crash allowed Pedrosa to retake second place as Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Crutchlow made the podium for the second time in two weeks, becoming the first British rider since 1987 to take back-to-back podium finishes. Stefan Bradl delivered a mature ride to fourth place to equal his career-best result for LCR Honda MotoGP, which had coincidentally been achieved at the same race last year. Ducati Team filled positions five to seven, with Dovizioso eventually winning a battle with teammate Nicky Hayden while Michele Pirro raced the GP13 Lab bike to just behind the factory pair.
Alex Espargaro carried his Power Electronics Aspar CRT bike to its best result yet in eighth spot, with Tech 3’s Bradley Smith achieving ninth despite being in immense pain with an injured wrist and finger. Hector Barbera completed the top ten for Avintia Blusens.
Marc Marquez – “Today we finished with our first DNF of the season, but after three difficult days of setbacks and hard work, I finally felt good during the race. I don’t fully understand why I crashed, as I lost both the front and the back at the same time and was unable to save it. It’s clear that we made a mistake, but we can’t go looking for excuses. We’ve looked at the telemetry and it shows that I was going at the same speed and on the same line as before but, anyway, you learn from these mistakes. We can’t forget that this is my first year in the class and I am here to learn how things are in MotoGP. In spite of everything we were still fighting for second place, which is a reason to be happy. I want to apologize to Honda and to the team, as they always support me and work so hard. Now we are turning our focus to Montmelo, and I can’t wait to race there.”
Lorenzo and Crutchlow celebrate a double podium for Yamaha
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| race I | ||||
| 1 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | ESP | 41’39.733 |
| 2 | Daniel Pedrosa | Honda | ESP | 0’05.400 |
| 3 | Cal Crutchlow | Yamaha | GBR | 0’06.412 |
| 4 | Stefan Bradl | Honda | GER | 0’19.321 |
| 5 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | ITA | 0’19.540 |
| 6 | Nicky Hayden | Ducati | USA | 0’26.321 |
| 7 | Michele Pirro | Ducati | ITA | 0’38.144 |
| 8 | Aleix Espargaro | ART | ESP | 0’39.802 |
| 9 | Bradley Smith | Yamaha | GBR | 0’40.243 |
| 10 | Hector Barbera | FTR | ESP | 0’48.392 |
| 11 | Randy De Puniet | ART | FRA | 0’48.480 |
| 12 | Danilo Petrucci | Ioda-Suter | ITA | 1’13.708 |
| 13 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | ITA | 1’14.601 |
| 14 | Colin Edwards | FTR Kawasaki | USA | 1’21.249 |
| 15 | Karel Abraham | ART | CZE | 1’25.738 |
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| 1. | Daniel Pedrosa | Honda | ESP | 103 |
| 2. | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | ESP | 91 |
| 3. | Marc Marquez | Honda | ESP | 77 |
| 4. | Cal Crutchlow | Yamaha | GBR | 71 |
| 5. | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | ITA | 50 |
| 6. | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | ITA | 47 |
| 7. | Nicky Hayden | Ducati | USA | 45 |
| 8. | Alvaro Bautista | Honda | ESP | 38 |
| 9. | Stefan Bradl | Honda | GER | 30 |
| 10. | Aleix Espargaro | ART | ESP | 28 |
| 11. | Bradley Smith | Yamaha | GBR | 24 |
| 12. | Michele Pirro | Ducati | ITA | 22 |
| 13. | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | ITA | 21 |
| 14. | Hector Barbera | FTR | ESP | 13 |
| 15. | Randy De Puniet | ART | FRA | 11 |
| 16. | Ben Spies | Ducati | USA | 9 |
