MotoGP: Lorenzo edges Marquez in Silverstone thriller

Sun, Sep 1st – Jorge Lorenzo has returned to winning ways in a highly dramatic Hertz British Grand Prix at Silverstone, beating championship leader Marc Marquez by less than one tenth of a second. Dani Pedrosa completed the podium as home favourite Cal Crutchlow struggled to seventh place.

Lorenzo – “This was one of the best races I’ve ever had. I’m really happy and really pleased. It’s a very important win. I pushed from the beginning to try and open a gap, even more than in recent races but it was impossible. Marc never gives up, even if he’s a little bit injured after the warm up. He overtook me three laps from the end so I studied him a little for one lap and I saw he was struggling in some braking so I overtook him on the corner where he crashed. I pushed in the last lap to the maximum, I opened a little gap but I made a mistake in braking and almost crashed. When he overtook me three corners from the end I thought it was over again and second place but then he opened a little gap in the last corner so I thought “now or never” and I tried and got it. To be honest I’m not thinking about the championship, I’m thinking just to enjoy this victory which was very special to get then focus on Misano!”

On Saturday, Marquez had clinched his third pole position in five race meetings but further participation was put in doubt when he dislocated his left shoulder by crashing in Sunday morning Warm-Up. After being given the green light in the circuit Medical Centre, the 20-year-old Repsol Honda Team rider headed up the front row from Yamaha Factory Racing’s Lorenzo and Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Crutchlow.

Marquez – “I’m very happy with how things went today. This morning when my shoulder popped out I thought that my weekend was over, but the doctors were able to put it back in place quickly and that allowed me to be up there at the front, fighting with Jorge. I didn’t feel much pain, because I received an injection to dull the pain, but I was lacking strength and was feeling tired by the end. Despite all this, I was able to battle all the way until the final corner with Jorge, who eventually emerged victorious today. Congratulations to him! For me these 20 points are like a win!”

Critically for Lorenzo, the Mallorcan made another strong start and dived into the lead at Copse corner. In a near repeat performance to Brno last weekend, he would proceed to resolutely defend from both Repsol Honda Team riders. Marquez then seized the advantage at Brooklands just over two laps from home, only for Lorenzo to retake the lead as he confidently out-braked his opponent at Vale. On the final lap, Marquez again grabbed the advantage at Brooklands, before Lorenzo re-passed in a confident move at Luffield, which featured slight contract between the two bikes.

Pedrosa – “I’m disappointed with the result today. I rode well but got a bad start and conceded a lot of seconds on the opening two laps, so I had to really push in order to recover ground. I gradually caught up with Marc and Jorge, but I wore my tyres out in the process and at the end of the race I lacked grip on the right-hand corners. I tried to calm down and slow my pace in order to lower the tyre temperature, although finally I wasn’t able to match their performance. That meant that when I attempted to pass the bike slid out a lot and I was unable to really get involved in the fight for the win. I will have to give it another go at Misano.”

The leading duo crossed the finish line separated by just 81 thousandths of a second, meaning Silverstone continues a pattern from Brno of witnessing the closest finish of the season so far. Struggling for rear grip, Pedrosa was a further one and a half seconds behind, having been unable to take advantage of the battling pair in front of him. In fourth spot was Rossi who, having dropped back after his strong start, had become involved in yet another entertaining battle with GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, while LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl finished in sixth place.

Cal Crutchlow – “Honestly I’m pleased the weekend is over and at least we finished the race. It certainly wasn’t the easiest race I have ever done and it is disappointing that I couldn’t challenge. But after the crashes I just had no power at all in my right arm and I was also lacking grip at the start when the tyres were cold. Unfortunately that is what happens when you crash three times in a weekend. I didn’t give myself enough time to get laps under the belt to set the bike up properly. The only positive we can take away is that we have been faster than last year. But it’s definitely less than what I hoped for when we arrived at the track on Wednesday. Congratulations though to Jorge, Marc and Dani because they put on an incredible show today and had fantastic speed. I’d have loved to be up there with them and now I’m just looking forward to a few quiet days at home before we go to Misano where I hope to fighting closer to the front again.”

Having missed his home race in 2011 before starting at the back in 2012, Cal Crutchlow had hoped for a much stronger Silverstone weekend in 2013. He crashed twice on Saturday and again in Sunday’s Warm-Up, then paid the price for a poor getaway as the Tech3 rider plummeted from third to sixth at the start. He would fall back to his eventual finishing position of seventh when the charging Bautista – who had lined up eighth on the grid – overtook at the end of Lap 1.

Crutchlow’s teammate Bradley Smith again found himself dicing with the pair of Ducati Team riders, but was ultimately taken advantage of by Nicky Hayden for eighth place. Smith would end the day ninth, while Andrea Dovizioso crashed out on the penultimate tour. The Italian joined second-lap faller Lukas Pesek (Came IodaRacing Project) on the sidelines, promoting Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro into the top ten despite a broken finger and injured neck after a Saturday crash; he therefore led home the CRT riders as PBM’s Michael Laverty ended his maiden home race in 19th position, ahead of Colombian teammate Yonny Hernandez.

Bradley Smith – “I was very pleased with my start and we decided to race with the softer rear tyre option, as we were lacking a bit of grip during the whole weekend. I wanted the sun to come out but unfortunately the temperatures remained cold and after just three laps we already knew that the race would be difficult one. Probably the hard tyre would have been the right choice but we did not have enough time to evaluate it yesterday. We did what we could and even if I didn’t want to finish behind Nicky, I decided it was safer the finish the race after Andrea crashed out just in front of me. All in all it has been a tough weekend but riding in front of nearly 75.000 British here today has been an incredible feeling.”

Following the race, it was announced that Marquez has been given two Penalty Points under the new system due to not slowing down under the yellow flags in the morning Warm-Up. This also happened to be the moment that saw him crash at the same turn as Cal Crutchlow. Not to be confused with Championship Points, the penalty system was introduced in 2013, under which Up to 10 penalty points can be imposed, with sanctions applied at certain thresholds. Any rider reaching four penalty points starts the next race from the back of the grid, while seven points lead to a pit lane start and 10 points a race ban.

With the triple-header of Indianapolis, Brno and Silverstone now over, MotoGP™ returns in two weekends’ time with the GP Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini from Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. With six events remaining in 2013, debutant Marquez carries an advantage of 30 points over Pedrosa, with Sunday’s winner Lorenzo now trailing the championship leader by 39 points.

 

Moto2

Moto2™ championship leader Scott Redding has won his home Grand Prix at Silverstone. The Marc VDS Racing Team rider, who took the lead off the start line, was assisted in the closing stages as a tight battled raged for second place. Pole-sitter Takaaki Nakagami and Tom Luthi completed the podium.

On Saturday, Japan’s Nakagami had claimed his second pole position within the space of a week, but it was Redding who seized the lead as the red lights went out. Critically for the English rider, much fighting over the remaining rostrum places would prove a decisive element in his first home victory since 2008, when he had claimed a career-first win in the 125 class at Donington Park.

A race-long duel between Nakagami (Italtrans Racing Team) and Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing) featured various changes of position, not least on the last lap when the duo swapped places at Vale and Club corners before battling deep into the Brooklands complex. The Japanese would finish ahead of the Swiss, with Tuenti HP 40’s Tito Rabat and Technomag carXpert’s Dominique Aegerter in close attendance. Redding’s teammate and Brno winner Mika Kallio was sixth.

Sunday was a difficult affair for title contender Pol Espargaro. Following a crash at the start of the Warm-Up session, the Tuenti HP 40 rider started sixth on the grid but lost ground in the early stages of the race – falling to as low as 11th. He fought back up to eighth behind Came IodaRacing Project’s Johann Zarco, but crucially loses a further 17 points in his championship fight with Redding. Six races remain in 2013.

Three riders failed to finish. Argiñano & Gines Racing’s Alberto Moncayo was an early faller, while British wildcard Gino Rea (Gino Rea Montaze Broz Racing, fracturing the fourth metacarpus of his right hand) and Xavier Simeon (Maptaq SAG Zelos Team) crashed across the final pair of laps.

At JiR Moto2, Australian Jason O’Halloran finished 25th as he replaced France’s Mike di Meglio, injured at Brno last weekend, while both Blusens Avintia’s Dani Rivas and Argiñano & Gines Racing’s Steven Odendaal missed the race following a multiple collision at the end of the morning Warm-Up.

Moto2 continues in two weekends’ time, with the GP Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Scott Redding – who has become the first Briton to win an intermediate class race in his home country since Tom Herron triumphed at the Isle of Man TT in 1976 – will head to Italy with a 38-point championship advantage over Pol Espargaro.