Photo: Yamaha Racing
Honda factory rider Marc Marquez won the day at Jerez, partly due to a collossal crack-up between other front-runners.
Ducati riders Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso smashed together with Honda’s Dani Pedrosa with 16 laps to go. Marquez had just pulled in front, and ended up with his second win at Jerez and for the season. Second went to Johann Zarco on the Tech3 Yamaha, third went to Andrea Iannone on the factory Suzuki. Danilo Petrucci took fourth on the Pramac Ducati, and Yamaha factory rider Valentino Rossi was fifth.
Jack Miller was sixth (Pramac Ducati), Maverick Vinales (Yamaha), Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto), Franco Morbidelli (Marc VDS) and Mika Kallio (KTM) rounded out the top 10.
The Suzuki podium was the team’s third in a row, showing they’re for real this year. Rossi reached his own milestone—during the race, he ended up passing the 40,075-km mark in MotoGP racing. That’s the equivalent of riding around the world on a racebike.
Marquez’s win puts him in first overall now, with 70 points. Zarco is second overall, with 58 points. Maverick Vinales has 50 points for third. For full stats, visit MotoGP.com.
By the way—all three riders involved in that big smash-up are OK, as is Cal Crutchlow, who crashed out after taking pole in qualifying. Crutchlow tried to remount his bike after crashing out of fourth, but had to retire due to too much damage.
