Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa took a dominant first win of his season in front of his home fans at the Jerez circuit.
But it was second place man Marc Marquez who ruffled the feathers of Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo, after a race long scrap the two Spaniards came to blows on the final corner with Marquez pushing Lorenzo wide and relegating Lorenzo to third place. After the race in parc-ferme Marquez went to apologise to Lorenzo but Lorenzo didn’t want to hear it, the current MotoGP World Champion said he would make no comment on the incident.
After a lonely ride, Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi took fourth place. The Italian was followed by Tech3’s Cal Crutchlow who was able to keep in front of GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista. The Ducati duo of Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso claimed seventh and eighth places respectively. Taking top CRT honours was Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro. And crossing the finish line in tenth place was rookie Bradley Smith on his Monster Yamaha Tech3 machine.
Ducati Test Team’s Michele Pirro finished eleventh and after qualifying well Avintia Blusens Hector Barbera took twelfth. Taking points for the first time this season was PBM’s Michael Laverty, IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci and NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards.
The race like yesterday’s Qualifying was littered with crashes Yonny Hernandez and Randy De Puniet were the first to crash out, followed later by Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone and Stefan Bradl crashed on the fourth lap. Came IodaRacing Project’s Lukas Pesek also suffered a low-side. All riders looked ok.
Ben Spies did not take part in today’s race after being advised to rest his injured shoulder. While Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham thought it is better to miss the Jerez race after suffering too much pain in his collarbone.
Marc Marquez still leads the World Championship standings with 61 points overall. The next race takes place at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France. By Laura Turner
