A TEXTBOOK ride from Jorge Lorenzo saw him take his third victory of 2013 for the Factory Yamaha squad ahead of the chasing Honda pair of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez.
Lorenzo got a great start from third on the grid and was side-by-side with pole sitter Pedrosa within a few hundred yards. Lorenzo led going into turn one for the first time and stayed there for the remaining 25 laps in what was a masterful display of discipline and consistent speed. It appeared for some time that the two Hondas were able to keep in touch with the leader, but with a few laps to go it became clear that there would be no catching the Mallorcan rider.
A bit further down the road Cal Crutchlow, who qualified second, and Valentino Rossi, who made a great start from eighth on the grid, were pushing hard to keep pace with the leading trio. Ultimately the task proved too great for Crutchlow and he lost the front end going into turn 10 with 20 laps still remaining. Rossi ended the race a distant fourth – the gap to team-mate Lorenzo of almost six seconds will be cause for concern for the nine-time world champion who is still looking for that elusive first win since he moved to Ducati in 2011.
Crutchlow was not the only rider to fall foul of the challenging Spanish track, as high heat meant tyre degradation and grip levels came into play. Bautista and Laverty failed to complete a single lap, with de Puniet, Iannone, Hayden and Barbera all going down during the course of the race. This left the midfield pack wide open, and Britain’s Bradley Smith capitalised on this with a fantastic season’s best sixth place aboard the Tech3 Yamaha. His achievement was even greater considering the fact that the young rider practically destroyed his left little finger last time out at Mugello.
MotoGP race results from Catalunya, 2013
- Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 43:06.479
- Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) +1.763
- Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) +1.826
- Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) +5.874
- Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) +26.756
- Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) +32.228
- Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP13) +32.692
- Aleix Espargaro ESP Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) +58.615
- Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) +1:03.142
- Michele Pirro ITA Ignite Pramac Racing (GP13) +1:09.774
- Danilo Petrucci ITA Came IodaRacing Project (Suter-BMW CRT) +1:24.377
- Claudio Corti ITA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) +1:33.679
- Yonny Hernandez COL Paul Bird Motorsport (ART CRT) +1:45.355
- Bryan Staring AUS Go&Fun Honda Gresini (FTR-Honda CRT) +1:50.745
- Javier Del Amor ESP Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) +1 lap
- Lukas Pesek CZE Came IodaRacing Project (Suter-BMW CRT) +1 lap
Not Classified:
Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) +10 Laps
Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (ART CRT) +15 Laps
Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) +20 Laps
Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team (GP13) +20 Laps
Andrea Iannone ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing (GP13) +21 Laps
Randy De Puniet FRA Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) +24 Laps
Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) +25 Laps
Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART CRT) +25 Laps
