MotoGP 2016: Rossi denies Lorenzo and Marquez Spanish GP win

Valentino Rossi has won round four of the 2016 MotoGP world championship - the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez - for Yamaha ahead of team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo. Marc Marquez finished third for the factory Honda team.

Claiming his 113^th victory, Valentino Rossi lead from the start to finish to win at Jerez for the seventh time in his MotoGP career. Rossi got a good start, with Lorenzo and Marquez trailing right behind. Dani Perdosa got the best start of the lot who quickly put his Honda into third midway through the first lap. But lost the place eventually after a brilliant move from Marquez who held station till the end.

[caption id="attachment_68826" align="alignnone" width="642"] Picture Courtesy: Michelin[/caption]

Rossi upped his pace as the race went on and soon enough, had over half a second on Lorenzo, who was facing a challenge from Marquez, early on in the race. Eventually, the gap between the leader (Rossi) and Lorezno was around a second. No matter what the Spaniard tried, he just couldn’t manage the close in on his Italian team-mate, not shake off the threat from Marquez.

While ‘The Doctor’ was busy extending his lead, behind him, Lorenzo was giving it all he could to fend off Marquez’s Honda. But Marquez just couldn’t get close enough to apply adequate pressure to dethrone the Lorenzo from second place.

Midway through the race, Lorenzo broke out of Marquez’s pull and opened up a gap of nearly a second on his fellow Spanish rider. With ten laps remaining, Lorenzo began closing in on his race leading team-mate, Rossi. The gap between the two Yamahas that stood around three seconds, quickly dropped down to two seconds. Lorenzo stared to et his rhythm and the gap closed in gradually by a tenth with every lap.

[caption id="attachment_68828" align="alignnone" width="642"] Picture Courtesy: Michelin[/caption]

Rossi responded to Lorenzo’s newly found pace and went for it in the remaining three laps. Rossi started to pull away again, gaining more and more time all the way to the chequered flag, as he claimed his victory. Behind him Jorge Lorenzo took his 100th premier class podium finish and Marquez was able to keep the lead of the Championship, his lead reduced slightly to 17 points.

On the 10^th lap of the race, Dovizioso was forced to retire after his Desmosedici GP Ducati gave up on him with terminal issues. Alvaro Bautista, riding for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini crashed out of the race at Turn 11 after battling with Cal Crutchlow in the opening stages.

2016 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix (24/04/2016) 
Circuito de Jerez – 4.428 km, 13 turns

1. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA) 45m 28.834s
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA) 45m 31.220s
3. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team HONDA) 45m 35.921s
4. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team HONDA) 45m 39.185s
5. Aleix Espargaro (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR SUZUKI) 45m 42.977s
6. Maverick Viñales (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR SUZUKI) 45m 45.606s
7. Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team DUCATI) 45m 55.111s
8. Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA) 45m 59.584s
9. Eugene Laverty (Aspar Team MotoGP DUCATI) 46m 1.159s
10. Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing DUCATI) 46m 1.458s
11. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda HONDA) 46m 7.331s
12. Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA) 46m 8.503s
13. Loris Baz (Avintia Racing DUCATI) 46m 14.061s
14. Stefan Bradl (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA) 46m 16.720s
15. Yonny Hernandez (Aspar Team MotoGP DUCATI) 46m 16.822s
16. Michele Pirro (OCTO Pramac Yakhnich DUCATI) 46m 18.248s
17. Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA) 46m 18.347s
18. Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA) 46m 22.168s
19. Scott Redding (OCTO Pramac Yakhnich DUCATI) 46m 34.389s
20. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team DUCATI) DNF
21. Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA) DNF