Lorenzo takes out Dovizioso, Vinales, Rossi: All the reactions & pics

THE 2019 CATALUNYA MotoGP is one we will be discussing for a long time all thanks to a single mistake by Jorge Lorenzo that led to the unprecedented chaos of Andrea Dovizioso, Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales falling into a DNF. 

Marc Marquez, as if he needs luck to go with his incredible talent, missed the pile-up by inches and now leads the MotoGP standings by a full 37 points. Is it game, set, match...? 

First, watch the full motion disaster movie below as Lorenzo loses the front and turns bowling ball with Dovizioso, Vinales and Rossi becoming a trio of wobbling skittles. When it comes to Marquez's title aspirations, we can safely call that a veritable 'strike'!

 

 

 

 

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The crash that defined the #CatalanGP race // #MotoGP #MotoGP70 #Motorcycle #Racing #Motorsport

A post shared by MotoGP (@motogp) on Jun 17, 2019 at 1:49am PDT

So how did the perpetrator, the three victims and the one huge winner see if from their unique perspectives? Read below...

[Click on the name to get the full story]

JORGE LORENZO

"I made a good start, recovering a lot of positions, and I felt very good on the bike. Better than the rest of the weekend and I was recovering a lot on braking. Then in the previous acceleration, Maverick needed to close [the throttle] to not hit Marc, so I took advantage of this, using his slipstream and preparing an overtake. But probably I tried to overtake Maverick in the wrong moment, in the wrong place, especially.

"I knew this was a tricky corner, like the first corner at Austin, which is very similar. And I saw many crashes like this in all the categories, it happened to me also in 2016 with Iannone. So probably I was too excited, knowing that I was feeling good and I just felt that I could go faster and faster. I didn't make any crazy braking. I was more-or-less alongside Maverick and I braked quite normally, the problem was that we were too many riders [close together].

"In front was Dovi, who prepares very well the exit of the corner, with a wide entry. So I was getting closer and closer to Dovi and to not hit him I needed to brake more and the front tyre closed. I think the same moment, in another corner, would not happen. Also if I didn't try to overtake in that moment it wouldn't happen. So it was a combination of factors.

"Obviously the worst thing, more than my crash, is that I made the three others crash. Because they are fighting for the championship. I am not fighting for the championship, I'm very far, I don't have almost any points and it doesn't matter if I crash.

"I had made a good start, but I would love just to crash alone this time. No apology is enough in that moment. You need to say sorry, you need to apologise, but I understand that any apology isn't enough and it's a big pity. But in my favour I would say this type of corner created a lot of problems in the past, created a lot of problems today and will do again in the future."

MAVERICK VINALES

“You can overtake me on the straight where we are slow. You only need to wait four corners. The back of the grid [should be his punishment]. He took out four riders. If he took out somehow myself or Valentino, we are not fighting for the championship. It’s a racing incident, but not so bad, but he took out also Andrea who is fighting for the championship.

"He destroyed my race, Valentino’s race and Dovizioso’s championship. It’s pretty hard to recover 25 points. I hope Race Direction is as severe as they were with me yesterday,” [referring to the three-place grid penalty he received after touring at the end of Q2]. I’m honest. I saw him on the inside. I tried to avoid the crash. I think a bike touched my rear tyre and I just flew. It was impossible.”

VALENTINO ROSSI

"It's a great, great, great shame because today I felt very good because I arrive at the race from a good weekend. We worked well during practice. We learned something important and I felt comfortable with the bike. Also this morning with the medium tyre I have a good pace, I was constant, I felt good in braking and I enjoyed riding the M1. So I was very optimistic for the race. Sincerely, in the first two laps, I felt better also because with more temperature the medium tyre was working very well. We stayed until 9pm yesterday to make the right tyre choice and I think we had the right tyre choice so I think that I can fight for the podium.

"But I was behind Petrucci, I was a bit faster than him and I wanted to try to overtake. But I overtook in the wrong moment because I arrived faster to Turn 10 and after I saw the crash in front and unfortunately I cannot avoid Jorge's bike. I tried not to crash but the bike came below my tyres and at the end I also crashed. I have a bit of pain in my ankle because my foot remained between the two bikes, but it's like this. This is racing and sometimes it happens.

"After this weekend there remains a big desperation because we did only one lap, but on the other side some positive vibes because compared to Mugello we are a lot more competitive. The bike worked better, also we worked better during the weekend. We tried the maximum from all points of view, so now we need to rest one week and wait for Assen with a good feeling from Barcelona."

ANDREA DOVIZIOSO

"I prefer not to comment about the incident, but the race still was entirely up for grabs at that point."

MARC MARQUEZ

“Of course, if you watch it people will say ‘what is Lorenzo doing?’ but for me it is not like this. Lorenzo was in the line, unlucky for him he loses the front and Dovi and Vinales are out of their line, so they were there and the bike hit them. Lorenzo wasn’t out of control but unlucky for them he lost the front, which is easy to do there, plus the fuel tank...”

What's your take? Jorge has owned up, should he be penalised? Comment below.