Less of a race than an ordeal, the 2015 Catalan Grand Prix was hot, slippery and in many ways a rerun of events from the past three races. Jorge Lorenzo won his fourth straight race, running away to the front from the end of the first lap, while defending world champion Marc Marquez crashed out in another unforced error.
The track conditions were not ideal, with air temperatures at the ground hovering near 40ºC, something that caused the Bridgestone tires to lose traction, particularly at the rear. Most of the crashes were a result of this phenomena, which had the fortunate side effect that no one was hurt.
It was Jorge Lorenzo’s race, much as it was for the last three rounds. From the end of the first lap he commanded the event with his usual smooth, fast style. Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso managed to hold on to 2nd place for a while before he slid out of the race. Marc Marquez stormed to second place by the second lap and then, unbelievably, made exactly the same mistake he did on Valentino Rossi in Argentina, and overshot Lorenzo in a desperate passing attempt. Marquez’ went wide in a controlled arc but then his bike caught the gravel trap and down he went. He got back on but only to ride his Honda into the pits.
Valentino Rossi, the current championship points leader, struggled for the first laps just to get to the front, losing precious time. He eventually took second place to secure his lead in the 2015 title fight but it was clear that he lost his chances of victory before the race began.
“Today I was a fast as Jorge” he said. But comments from the MotoGP paddock all focused on Rossi’s poor qualifying performances this year, and how crippling they have been to the 36 year old’s races.
The Suzuki’s of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales that started on the front row were overwhelmed by the rest of the pack by the first corner and were never again able to regain the lead group. In that first lap scramble, Espargaro touched Cal Crutchlow and the British rider crashed out, the only contact accident in the race. Espargaro continued and was running 4th at one time before he too slid out in the slippery conditions.
As the MotoGP circus moves to Holland in two weeks time, the championship standings are unchanged. Marc Marquez is almost certainly beyond hope of contention with a 50+ point deficit, while the factory Yamaha teammates of Lorenzo and Rossi appear dominant.
