Marc Marquez has stormed to victory at Jerez after front-running rivals Andreas Dovizioso, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa all crashed out together which sees the defending MotoGP world champion claim the riders’ championship lead.
Marquez bolted to the front during the opening stages ahead of Lorenzo but was given the opportunity to escape as his rivals were all taken out in an incident on lap 18 which skittled both factory Ducati riders and Repsol Honda teammate Pedrosa out of the race.
At the start of the Spanish Grand Prix, Lorenzo had stormed to the front into the first corner ahead of typical fast-starter Pedrosa with Johann Zarco shuffling into third place ahead of pole-sitter Cal Crutchlow. But it didn’t take long for reigning MotoGP world champion Marquez to carve his way through the order after a poor qualifying left him on the second row.
By lap three Marquez dived past Repsol Honda teammate Pedrosa into second place before spending time behind Lorenzo to measure the Ducati rider’s pace while further back Crutchlow tipped off at the first turn.
Five laps later Marquez made his move into the lead with a classic charge up the inside at Lorenzo’s self-titled final corner at Jerez to power ahead at the start of lap nine.
Seeing his title rival bolt to the front, Dovizioso made his move up to third past Pedrosa but as Marquez pulled out a gap the Italian rider struggled to find a way past his Ducati teammate.
On lap 18 Dovizioso opted to dive up the inside of Lorenzo at the end of the back straight into turn six but outbraked himself and ran wide, pushing his teammate off line, which saw Pedrosa look to get past the pair up the inside.
But disaster struck when an unsighted Lorenzo looked to cut back to the inside only to find Pedrosa and hit the Repsol Honda rider which then sent him into Ducati teammate Dovizioso which caused all three to tumble out.
Marquez, initially unaware of the clashes behind him, was then able to ease off to victory with a healthy lead over Zarco who was promoted to second place have lost touch with the trio who crashed out ahead of him.
With a trio of front-runners skittling out it opened the final podium spot to the four-way fight between Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone, Pramac Ducati pair Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller and Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi.
Iannone tussled with Petrucci but was able to get clear of the chasing pack to take his second podium in as many races to continue the Suzuki revival. With Petrucci having to settle for fourth, Rossi rescued a tough race weekend for the factory Yamaha squad in fifth place with Miller in sixth.
Further back Maverick Vinales claimed seventh place for Movistar Yamaha after struggling for pace in the opening stages but held off Alvaro Bautista for the Angel Nieto Ducati squad.
Rookie Franco Morbidelli produced one of the rides of the day for Marc VDS Honda in ninth place while Red Bull KTM wildcard rider Mika Kallio beat both regular KTM riders to take 10th place in the 2019-dervied bike.
Pol Espargaro had to settle for 11th behind Kallio, with Takaaki Nakagami in 12th for LCR Honda ahead of Bradley Smith, with Tito Rabat (Reale Avinita Ducati) and Scott Redding (Aprilia) rounding out the points places.
Race results
- Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 41m 39.678s
- Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1) 41m 44.919s
- Andrea Iannone ITA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 41m 47.892s
- Danilo Petrucci ITA Pramac Ducati (GP18) 41m 48.295s
- Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 41m 48.421s
- Jack Miller AUS Pramac Ducati (GP17) 41m 49.446s
- Maverick Viñales ESP Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 41m 53.221s
- Alvaro Bautista ESP Angel Nieto Team (GP17) 41m 53.754s
- Franco Morbidelli ITA EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V)* 41m 56.500s
- Mika Kallio FIN Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 41m 59.083s
- Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 42m 0.827s
- Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V)* 42m 0.852s
- Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 42m 1.443s
- Tito Rabat ESP Reale Avintia (GP17) 42m 1.781s
- Scott Redding GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 42m 16.433s
- Hafizh Syahrin MAL Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)* 42m 21.539s
- Xavier Simeon ESP Reale Avintia (GP16)* 42m 28.919s
- Karel Abraham CZE Angel Nieto Team (GP16) +1 lap
Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (GP18) DNF
Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP18) DNF
Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) DNF
Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) DNF
Thomas Luthi SWI EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V)* DNF
Alex Rins ESP Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) DNF
Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) DNF