Jorge Lorenzo dominated the race in Jerez to take victory by over 5 seconds
Jerez, May 3rd– Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo dominates the race in Jerez to take victory by over 5 seconds as Rossi claims his 200th podium.
Jorge Lorenzo reclaimed the Circuito de Jerez as “Lorenzo Land” as he proved to be simply untouchable on his way to his 55th World Championship victory. The Spaniard has dominated throughout the weekend, and continued this during the race as he led from the lights to the flag.
His winning margin of 5.576s was an indication of just how much he was in control of the race, as he even had time to salute the fans on his final lap before crossing the line to take the chequered flag.
Jorge Lorenzo – “I am absolutely proud of myself and of the team that we finally delivered some extraordinary work, because we had some problems that have been beyond our control. Due to the lining of the helmet in Doha, my illness in Austin and the tyres in Argentina we couldn’t demonstrate our true potential. This time I could do it during the whole weekend and especially on braking. Sometimes it happens that on Sunday I feel a bit worse on braking than during the rest of the weekend, but today that didn’t happen. I was able to brake really late, enter well into the corners, and carry good corner speed and acceleration, so everything was fine. When this happens you have to make profit of it and win the race. I was thinking about jumping into the lake, but I am 28 years old…! It’s not the same as when you are 23, so in the last second I decided to stop and go back to the bike. Today it’s mother’s day so it’s very special, because my mum saw the race and saw me winning andtomorrow I turn 28. It’s important that we recover some points to Vale because he’s been very strong at the beginning of this season and always on the podium. It’s also important we have recovered the feeling and ability to go fast and now we have to enjoy these hours, this night and this victory!”
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez rode valiantly with his broken finger and even managed to hold off a charging Valentino Rossi (+11.586s) at the end of the race to claim second. Rossi was 2 seconds behind Marquez with 10 laps to go, and the Spaniard must have had a feeling of déjà vu when his pit board said Rossi had closed the gap to a second with only seven laps left.
Valentino Rossi – “It was a difficult weekend. From Friday on we were struggling a lot to find the right setting and I wasn’t able to ride on the maximum level. We improved and worked until after the warm up, trying to improve the setting. In the end it’s a podium, so it’s not so bad, but also in the race I wasn’t strong enough to fight with Jorge and also with Marc. Especially entering the corners I wasn’t at 100%. I had one moment in the race where I was not doing so bad and I was close to Marc. We hoped for another good fight until the end and I thought I could do it, because I got the gap down to one second, but had to give up. I have scored a lot of points and scored two victories and four podiums. This time I extended my lead to Dovizioso, but it looks like Jorge also came back into the championship with this victory. He is just 20 points behind, but the championship is still long. We don’t have to think about the points yet, just of the bike, trying to be competitive every weekend.”
Unlike in Argentina, he managed to respond to keep the Italian at bay with Rossi eventually crossing the line in third, a further six seconds back, to claim his 200th World Championship podium.
CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow secured a rather lonely 4th place to finish as the leading satellite rider 3.8s ahead of Pol Espargaro on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1. Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone won a hard fought battle for sixth against Aleix Espargaro on the Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR.
Bradley Smith finished in eighth, while Andrea Dovizioso (9th) had to ride through the field after running wide a twice during the opening laps and finding himself down in 25th.
Pramac Racing’s Yonny Hernandez completed the top ten with Hector Barbera finishing as the top Open class rider in 14th, just ahead of Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista (15th) who claimed the final Championship point.
Rossi (82pts) now has a 15-point advantage over Andrea Dovizioso (67pts) in the MotoGP™ World Championship standings whilst Jorge Lorenzo (62pts) has moved into third at the expense of Marquez (56pts).
Marc Marquez – “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.”
Moto2
German Jonas Folger takes second Moto2™ race win of 2015
AGR Team’s Jonas Folger takes a controlled victory ahead of Johann Zarco and Tito Rabat after a dramatic last corner clash in Jerez.
Folger took the lead from Rabat with 17 laps to go, and didn’t look back as he created a gap at the front of the pack, going on to take his second race win of the season by 1.931s, to add to his victory in Qatar. As Folger was controlling the race at the front, the real action was taking place behind him in the battle for the last two podium places.
Pole sitter Rabat led the race throughout the early stages and looked nailed-on for a comfortable second with only a couple of laps to go. The reigning Moto2™ Champion saw his tyres dramatically drop off at the end, and suddenly found himself falling into the grasp of Paginas Amarillas HP40’s Alex Rins and the charging Johann Zarco on the Ajo Motorsports Kalex, who had started from 9th on the grid and made his way up to fourth.
Rins and Zarco dramatically closed the gap on the last lap, and approaching turn 13, it was clear they would make a move on Rabat, who at this point was sliding all over the place. Rins attempted a move up the inside, before making contact with Rabat and falling into the gravel trap, eventually remounting to finish in 18th.
Zarco (+1.931s) saw his chance and snatched second from under his compatriots nose in the drag to the line (making contact in the process), while Rabat (+2.222s) had to settle for third and 16 Championship points.
Derendinger Racing Interwetten’s Thomas Luthi (+6.833s) rode a strong race to finish in a lonely fourth, over four seconds ahead of Xavier Simeon on the Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Kalex in fifth.
Franco Morbidelli finished in sixth, ahead of Rin’s teammate Luis Salom (7th), Simone Corsi (8th) and Alex Marquez (9th).
Marcel Schrotter completed the top ten, less than two-tenths of a second ahead of Julian Simon (11th), who made a brilliant recovery after being forced to start at the back of a grid due to receiving a penalty form Race Direction for being 2kg under the weight limit during Qualifying.
Speed Up Racing’s Sam Lowes finished in 20th place, having started the race from the second row; as he struggled with grip levels from the word go.
Johann Zarco (72pts) now has a 16-point lead at the top of the Moto2™ World Championship standings over Jonas Folger (57pts), with Alex Rins in third on 49 points.
Moto3
Kent wins epic last lap battle in Moto3™
Leopard Racing’s Danny Kent won his third Moto3™ race in a row, in an epic last lap scrap with Fabio Quartararo and Miguel Oliveira.
Unlike in Austin and Argentina, Kent could not break away from the field despite numerous attempts, and found himself involved in a fight for the lead with Fabio Quartararo, Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder. Coming into the final corner, it looked like 16-year-old Quartararo might take the victory, but he out-braked himself and had to stand up his Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda. He made contact with Kent and ran wide, leaving the Brit with just a short run to the line to claim his third win of the season.
KTM Red Bull Ajo’s Oliveira was right in the mix for the race win, actually leading for most of the final lap, but had to settle for second as he finished just 0.097s behind Kent in the drag to the line. Oliveira’s teammate Brad Binder (+0.296s) was the man to benefit from Quartararo’s last corner mistake, as he had let the front three fight amongst themselves throughout most of the race, while patiently waiting in fourth. The South African rider claiming the last step on the podium when Quartararo (+0.882s) ran wide, with the 16 year old Frenchman crossing the line in 4th.
Kent’s teammate Efren Vazquez had fought back from 17th on the grid to fifth by lap 10, and looked like he may also challenge for the race win, before fading in the last few laps to take a lonely fifth. Romano Fenati was a further seven seconds back from Vazquez, as he won an intriguing battle for 6th ahead of Francesco Bagnaia on the Mapfre Team Mahindra, and Quartararo’s teammate Jorge Navarro.
Gresini Racing Team Moto3’s Francesco Bagnaia was in ninth, with John McPhee rounding out the top ten on the SAXOPRINT-RTG Honda. Karel Hanika finished the race down in 22nd after crashing and remounting, but was later fined 5 penalty points by Race Direction for intentionally making contact with Juanfran Guevara, who broke his collarbone. As a result, when added to the two points he had from before, Hanika now has a total of 7 penalty points and will have to start the race in Le Mans from the pit lane.
Kent (91pts) now has a 31-point lead over his teammate Vazquez (60pts) in the Championship standings, with 16-year-old Fabio Quartararo (52pts) in third.
