Yamaha magic continues as Lorenzo wins; Rossi, Marquez crash out

Motorland Aragón (Spain), 28 Sept 2014: On Sunday’s Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón proved to be the most dramatic of the season so far as Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo defied both his rivals and the changing weather to deliver a master class in Grand Prix riding and claim his first victory of the season.

Teammate Valentino Rossi’s Aragón fortunes were the mirror opposite, the Italian crashing out in the early laps.

With a dry start to the race, Lorenzo was one of the few to opt for the soft front medium rear tyre combination and made a jump of three places to fo

urth in the opening corners. Third was to follow quickly and then a promotion to second as front runner Andrea Iannone became one of the first of many to crash out.

Lorenzo tucked in behind race leader Marc Marquez, beginning the Spanish duel that race fans had been waiting for. Never more than half a second apart, it wasn’t until there were just 15 laps remaining thatLorenzo made his move through the uphill section of the circuit for the lead. Three laps later Marquez was back through, passing into turn one.

One lap later and the weather became another rival to face on track as the white flag was waved. With some drops of rain falling riders were now clear to change to wet bikes if wanted. The lead group stayed out and with 9 laps remaining Lorenzo mirrored Marquez’ earlier pass, re-taking the lead into turn one.

A lap later and with the track getting damper in places, Lorenzo slowed and both Marquez and Dani Pedrosa passed in the uphill series of corners. With rain now clearly evident the front three played a dangerous gamble, not wanting to allow the others to get away by pitting. With four laps to go Lorenzo made his move, diving in to change for his wet bike and returning immediately to the track. In the meantime, Pedrosa had crashed out in the start straight, promoting Lorenzo to second.

Race leader Marquez opted not to pit and a lap later also fell victim to the wet, crashing out and leavingLorenzo with a clear run to the finish line and his first victory of the season.

Teammate Rossi had started well from his sixth place grid position and had been making progress when he ran wide in the down hill section, running off track and onto the slippery grass where he crashed heavily. He lost consciousness briefly after the crash but regained it quickly and was taken immediately to the medical centre for a check up. There appears to be no injuries however he has now transferred to hospital for a precautionary check up.

Lorenzo’s superb race craft delivers the maximum 25 points. He remains in fourth position, now just 12 points behind his teammate in third. Rossi’s DNF means he stays on 214 points, now three behind Pedrosa in second.

Repsol Honda release adds:

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa today fell victim to problematic weather, crashing in the final laps of the Aragón GP, as Jorge Lorenzo took his maiden win of 2014.

The Spanish duo, who started the race in prime positions – Marc 1st and Dani 2nd – dropped positions in the first lap, Marc crossing the line in 2nd and Dani in 4th. After a brief battle with Andrea Iannone, Marc passed into 1st and a few corners later Andrea crashed, promoting Jorge Lorenzo to 2nd and Dani to 3rd. Jorge took the lead from Marc on lap nine for a few laps before Marc again passed for the lead at turn one on lap twelve, as the white flag was displayed by track marshals, signifying that riders may now swap bikes if necessary.

Marc and Jorge then battled for a few laps, trading the race lead, when the rain flag was shown on the start / finish straight at the beginning of lap sixteen. Dani passed Jorge and proceeded to duel with Marc as other riders began to enter the pits to change bikes, for the wet setup and tyres. The rain was almost non-existent at the back of the circuit, but quite intense on the front straight, and with just four laps remaining both Marc and Dani made the choice to stay out. Dani made a small mistake in turn one and crashed out, then unfortunately on the next lap Marc also crashed. Both riders were able to get back to the pit lane and change the bike, but with two laps remaining it was too late. Marc finished 13th and Dani 14th.

Marc (292) still leads the Championship by 75 points over Dani (217), who is 3 points ahead of Valentino Rossi (214) – who crashed out on lap four – and Lorenzo (202) has closed the gap considerably after his race win. Now the Championship will head East in two weeks time for the three back-to-back races of Japan, Australia and Malaysia.

eom