Moto GP

Jorge Lorenzo Wins Mugello Thriller over Marc Marquez

Posted:

Monday, May 23rd, 2016

10:44 AM

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Jorge Lorenzo continued his momentum at the Autodromo del Mugello track today as he secured a thrilling victory in the Gran Premio d'Italia.

Lorenzo rode his signature race, leading every lap despite a titanic battle with Marc Marquez on the final lap, a lap in which Marqiez lead 90 percent of except the final few inches.

Lorenzo was quick to make his intentions clear and had a flying start from fifth place on the grid to take the holeshot. With his teammate Valentino Rossi on his tail, he led across the line after the first lap, but it soon became clear his fellow Yamaha rider would not go down without a fight. The Doctor made a pass going into turn one, but Lorenzo was not shaken and quickly regained the lead as the Italian ran wide.

With a clear track ahead the number 99 rider tried to break away, but he was unable to shake Rossi who continued to pile on the pressure, ready to seize any opportunity to pass. However the smooth Spaniard left no space for him to slip past and made sure to brake at the last possible moment every time going into turn one to keep the lead.

Lorenzo rode defensively until Rossi fell behind when his engine let go in a big way and was forced to retire. This allowed the current World Champion a small breather until Marquez tapped onto the back of his YZR-M1 with ten laps to go. With five points between them in the championship, the two compatriots battled hard for the win. The last lap saw a flurry of activity, with Lorenzo making an unexpected overtaking manoeuvre in the Scarperia corner. It didn't stick, but Lorenzo cleverly used his experience and launched his YZR-M1 out of the last corner to steal the victory, his third of the season, as he crossed the line 0.019s ahead of Marquez.

The early laps saw Lorenzo and Rossi in a tight battle until Rossi's engine went up in a cloud of smoke, along with the dreams of 90% of the crowd.

Lorenzo's 25 point haul gives him a total score of 115 points, keeping him in first position in the championship standings, with a ten-point lead. He is 37 points ahead of Rossi in third.

"It was an unexpected race, because we thought for example that Iannone and ViÌ±ales, who had a very high pace, would be fighting until the end for the victory, but in the end it was Marc," He didn't look like he had the pace in the practice sessions, but he was following me the whole race," Lorenzo said.

"I tried to escape, pushing so much on the changes in direction and I used a lot of energy and I thought I maybe I didn't have enough to fight with Marc for the victory, because with him riding behind me he maybe saved more energy and was more powerful at the end, but my luck was the engine this time.

"When I stayed behind him I thought I was losing the race and tried a bit of a crazy move that I pulled on De Angelis in 250cc in the race in 2005. This memory was in my head, so I said to myself "Why not try the same?" and did it. I passed him but went wide and he overtook me again. In the last corner I tried again under braking, but he closed the door so much that if I had released the brake maybe we could have touched and crashed together, so I decided to stay in second place and make a lot of speed in the last corner and exit with the slipstream and try.

"When I exited the corner I thought I was losing the race, but my bike caught up with him so much, it was a surprising win. In Moto3 we often see races like this, but in MotoGP this kind of finish doesn't happen often. Today, if I had been fighting with Rossi or Iannone, I wouldn't have won, it was a crazy battle," the Spaniard concluded.

Marc Marquez almost stole the show on the last lap but Lorenzo came from the slipstream to beat his compatriot by inches.

After starting from the second row, Marc Marquez completed the first lap in fourth position and moved to third on lap three, managing to keep the gap from Lorenzo and Rossi to less than a second. After Rossi retired from the race on lap eight, Marquez steadily made up ground on Lorenzo, with whom he engaged in a spectacular duel for victory on the final lap.

‰ÛÏToday we made a good race, we managed to get very close, and finally we made the podium which is always positive, but even with the slipstream I wasn‰Ûªt able to overtake Jorge," Marquez said.

"We struggled throughout the weekend with acceleration and top speed. I tried to give my all and I did the best race I could do today, I really tried everything. I took several risks in an attempt to win, but on the home straight Jorge slipstreamed me. Now we have to keep working on acceleration because we‰Ûªre still lacking a little in that regard. Honda is working hard back in Japan, as we do at the tracks and we‰Ûªll try to take a step forward ahead of the next race.‰Û

After a shocking start Andrea Iannone rebounded for the final spot on the podium

After fighting back from a shocker of a start Andrea Iannone returned to the podium with a third place finish after clawing his way back from eighth on the opening lap.

‰ÛÏI am very happy because I made a great recovery and I had a better pace than all the other riders on the track, but unfortunately I couldn‰Ûªt get a good start," the Italian lamented.

"I‰Ûªm disappointed about that because if I had been closer to the leaders I think I could maybe have been able to fight for the win. When I caught Dovizioso we passed each other a couple of times and we lost a bit of time: after passing him however I no longer had any chance of catching the two up front. I was quick throughout the weekend and this means that I have improved a lot as a rider and that the bike is competitive. In two weeks‰Ûª time at Barcelona we will try and do even better.‰Û

Dani Pedrosa rode a workman like race and finished 4th

Dani Pedrosa celebrated his 250th GP start with another strong performance. Seventh at the end of the first lap, he was able to put in a series of good laps and match the pace of the leading riders, recovering positions to arrive at a fight for third position with Andrea Iannone. Pedrosa set his best time, just 0.047 seconds off the race‰Ûªs fastest lap, on his final lap, and finally settled for fourth, only 168 thousandths of a second behind the Italian.

After getting off to an excellent start from row 5, Andrea Dovizioso finished the opening lap in fifth place and passed Aleix EspargarÌ_ for fourth on lap 5. The Romagna-born rider then closed up to the leading trio and, after Rossi‰Ûªs retirement, moved into third place. After eight laps however he had to give up the position, first to his team-mate and then Pedrosa, and he finished the race with a fifth place.

‰ÛÏThe weekend finished with a good fifth place and that‰Ûªs positive, especially since I haven‰Ûªt seen the chequered flag for quite a few races," Dovizioso said.

"Starting so far behind could have penalized me, but I was able to get off the line well and immediately reach the leading group," he continued, "We had worked well on race pace and so I was quite quick, but I was unable to be smooth and half-way through the race I had a problem with arm pump in my right arm and lost a lot of my strength.

"This problem forced me to drop my pace, but above all it caused me to make a few errors including one at San Donato, which prevented me from remaining in the battle for the podium in the last few laps.‰Û

Andrea Dovizioso finished in fifth after being passed in the final laps by his team mate and Pedrosa

Maverick ViÌ±ales fought back from a poor start to finish sixth.

ViÌ±ales, who started from the front-row in second position, lost nine places in the straight due to a problem with his machine‰Ûªs electronics. The issue rectified itself immediately, but this cost him several positions, so he had to recover from there on-in. Being hard on tyres in overtaking, the grip-level dropped pretty quickly and although his lap-times were very close to the leader‰Ûªs pace, he couldn‰Ûªt score better than sixth position at the flag.

‰ÛÏI‰Ûªm very disappointed with the race, we did really well the whole weekend and finally we couldn‰Ûªt get the deserved result," ViÌ±ales said.

"Unfortunately, all the problems came from the start: I had a good jump, but then when it came to put it into fourth-gear something went wrong with the bike‰Ûªs acceleration and this made me lose so many positions. Then the problem disappeared and everything was working fine for the rest of the race, but because I was behind so many riders, and I had to push very hard to recover, this destroyed the tyres, which were finally too-worn to get closer.

"It‰Ûªs a shame because according to the timesheets my pace was as good as the leaders, so this meant that with a good start I could have fought for the podium, which I felt was achievable for us. It‰Ûªs a pity, but now I need to revise the data with my engineers and understand what happened in order to fix it.

After a horror start from second due to a technical glitch, Maverick ViÌ±ales salvaged 6th

Monster Yamaha Tech3 team rider Bradley Smith produced a strong showing to finish in 7th place aboard the Yamaha YZR-M1. The British star undertook a superb start and shot from the head of the third row on the grid up to 3rd by the time he entered the first corner as he fought with the leading MotoGP bikes.

He quickly stuck into his rhythm but got shuffled back yet remained composed and reignited his campaign to move back up the field by setting a series of consistent lap times. He reclaimed 8th at the midpoint of the race and continued to make advances forward with his target being the factory Suzuki of Aleix Espargaro who he slotted past on lap 15.

The 25 year old powered onwards and comfortably opened a gap to the pursuing riders before speeding across the finish line only 13.340 seconds behind the leading bike. The result sees him successfully clinch a return to the top independent team position.

"I am very happy to finally be the top independent rider plus back to where I need to be. I worked on my starts all weekend and we did way more practice than usual but it looks like it paid off!" Smith said.

Bradley Smith successfully clinched a return to the top independent team position with seventh.

Octo Pramac Yakhnich's Danilo Petrucci was eight accreoss the line. Although happy with his ride an bike Petrucci was not happy to be passed by Smith and lose the top independent team position and vowed to fight back hard in Barcelona.

The GP of Italy was Aleix EspargarÌ_‰Ûªs 100th GP start; he had a brilliant launch from sixth on the grid to third into the first corner, but unfortunately, the crash he suffered in this morning‰Ûªs warm-up destroyed his machine and his mechanics had to do extra work before the race to completely rebuild it for the race. The machine, however, didn‰Ûªt give him the same positive feeling that he had experienced previously and this prevented him keeping the excellent pace he showed in the early laps. EspargarÌ_ ended the race just inside the top ten with ninth.

Michele Pirro, entered as a wild-card with the Desmosedici GP of the Ducati Test Team, concluded his race in tenth place.

Main Photo: The Mugello podium.

MotoGP Results - Round 6 - Gran Premio d‰ÛªItalia - Mugello
1. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 41m 36.535s
2. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 41m 36.554s
3. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 41m 41.277s
4. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 41m 41.445s
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 41m 42.791s
6. Maverick ViÌ±ales ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 41m 45.205s
7. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 41m 49.875s
8. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 41m 51.133s
9. Aleix Espargaro ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 41m 55.178s
10. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 41m 58.833s
11. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 42m 4.471s
12. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 42m 12.247s
13. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 42m 14.567s
14. Stefan Bradl GER Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 42m 16.629s
15. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 42m 36.346s
16. Yonny Hernandez COL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 42m 40.932s
DNF Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) DNF
DNF Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) DNF
DNF Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) DNF
DNF Alvaro Bautista ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) DNF
DNF Loris Baz FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) DNF

MotoGP Rider Standings
1 Lorenzo Jorge Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 115 Points
2 Marquez Marc Repsol Honda Team Honda 105 Points
3 Rossi Valentino Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 78 Points
4 Pedrosa Dani Repsol Honda Team Honda 66 Points
5 Vinales Maverick Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 59 Points
6 Espargaro Aleix Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 49 Points
7 Espargaro Pol Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 48 Points
8 Barbera Hector Avintia Racing Ducati 43 Points
9 Iannone Andrea Ducati Team Ducati 41 Points
10 Laverty Eugene Aspar MotoGP Team Ducati 36 Points
11 Dovizioso Andrea Ducati Team Ducati 34 Points
12 Smith Bradley Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 29 Points
13 Bradl Stefan Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 25 Points
14 Bautista Alvaro Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 21 Points
15 Pirro Michele Ducati Team Ducati 18 Points
16 Petrucci Danilo Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 17 Points
17 Redding Scott Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 16 Points
18 Rabat Tito Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 11 Points
19 Crutchlow Cal LCR Honda Honda 10 Points
20 Baz Loris Avintia Racing Ducat 8 i Points
21 Hernandez Yonny Aspar MotoGP Team Ducati 3 Points
22 Miller Jack Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 2 Points