Marc Marquez won his home Spanish
Grand Prix and took the overall MotoGP lead after the reigning champion’s main
rivals collided spectacularly. The Honda rider was in a race of his own for the
last eight laps after the Ducati pairing of Andrea Dovizioso, the previous
championship leader and Jorge Lorenzo collided with Honda Dani Pedrosa while
fighting for second place.
Pedrosa, who had wrist surgery less
than a month ago, was thrown high over his bike after trying to go past the two
Ducati’s on the inside. Lorenzo came across into the corner as Dovizioso went
wide, colliding with Pedrosa and sending the two Ducati’s into the gravel. All
three riders walked away from the crash. French Tech3 Yamaha rider Johann Zarco
was gifted the runner-up slot, 5.241 seconds behind, and is now Marquez's
closest rival in the championship.
Four times world champion Marquez,
who started the race from fifth place, now has 70 points after four races to
Zarco's 58. Dovizioso dropped to fifth overall with 46. Italian Andrea Iannone
finished third for Suzuki. Compatriot Valentino Rossi was fifth at the Jerez
circuit in southern Spain in a race that saw him reach a career milestone by
completing the circumference of the planet in race kilometers.
Rossi
has now covered 40,075km in competition over 23 seasons, starting at the 1996
Malaysian Grand Prix. Britain's Cal Crutchlow started on pole position for the
LCR Honda team but failed to finish, crashing out at turn one after nine laps
and while in fourth place.
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