MOVISTAR Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo took his first race win of 2014 in an action packed mixed weather race at Aragon with Open Class’ Aleix Espargaro taking his first MotoGP rostrum finish and Cal Crutchlow finally putting the Ducati on the podium.
The MotoGP race was declared a dry race, however Andrea Iannone suffered a big crash shortly followed by Valentino Rossi who had a huge high-side which knocked him unconscious. Rossi was sent for CT scans which came back all clear.
The rain started to fall and both Repsol Honda riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa crashed out leaving Lorenzo to take the reigns. The Repsol Honda riders did not switch onto their wet setup bikes and remained on slick tyres for the final few laps. Pedrosa remounted to take 14th as did Marquez who eventually finished 13th on his second bike.
Lorenzo strategically sussed out what he had to do and when which was shown by his 10-second victory lead. With four laps to go, the Movistar Yamaha rider decided to change onto his second bike with wet settings as MotoGP is a flag-to-flag race.
NGM Forward Racing’s Espargaro narrowly beat Britain’s Crutchlow putting them in second and third respectively. Both riders were forced to switch onto their wet setup bikes for the last few laps due to heavy rain.
In the latter stages, Crutchlow’s Ducati team-mate Andrea Dovizioso crashed out before swapping to his other bike. Dovizioso was taken to the medical centre with suspected ‘hip trauma’.
LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl and Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Bradley Smith completed the top five with Pol Espargaro in sixth.
On his return, Nicky Hayden finished ninth on-board the Drive M7 Aspar bike with Go&Fun Honda Gresini’s Scott Redding in tenth.
Aragon race results:
1. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 44:20.406
2. Aleix Espargaro* ESP NGM Forward Racing 44:30.701 (+10.295)
3. Cal Crutchlow GBR Ducati Team 44m:30.718 (+10.312)
4. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP 44:32.124 (+11.718)
5. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 44:49.889 (+29.483)
6. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 44:50.092 (+29.686)
7. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini 44:50.169 (+29.763)
8. Hiroshi Aoyama* JPN Drive M7 Aspar 44:58.247 (+37.841)
9. Nicky Hayden* USA Drive M7 Aspar 45:3.363 (+42.957)
10. Scott Redding* GBR Go&Fun Honda Gresini 45:14.343 (+53.937)
11. Danilo Petrucci* ITA IodaRacing Project 45:20.230 (+59.824)
12. Alex De Angelis* RSM NGM Forward Racing 45:21.124 (+1:00.718)
13. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team 45:35.633 (+1:15.227)
14. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 45:44.932 (+1:24.526)
15. Yonny Hernandez COL Pramac Racing 45:58.661 (+1:38.255)
16. Michael Laverty* GBR Paul Bird Motorsport +1 lap
17. Mike Di Meglio* FRA Avintia Racing +1 lap
18. Broc Parkes* AUS Paul Bird Motorsport +1 lap
19. Hector Barbera* ESP Avintia Racing +1 lap
DNF. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team
DNF. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
DNF. Andrea Iannone ITA Pramac Racing
DNF. Karel Abraham* CZE Cardion AB Motoracing
