Ducati rider Jorge Lorenzo won for the second time in Barsecola, transforming his pole position into a brilliant victory after a short fight with Marc Marquez.

Lorenzo rides like a tank. The Spanish rider got a phenomenal form and began to show the usual results. The motorcycle was finally fitted to his style, and things went well. After the victory at Mugello, Jorge scored his win at Catalunya, and very easily and relaxed.

Jorge started from the pole position, being the leader after the first qualification on his Ducati. Famed for his quick starts, Lorenzo was expected to head the field into Turn 1 from pole, but instead Marc Marquez, second at the standing start, became the leader on lap 1. Iannone then challenged Marquez for the lead at the sharp Turn 10 left-hander, but gave up and allowed Marquez to keep the lead and Lorenzo to take second.

The pair had soon broken away from all but Dovizioso, who managed to just about stay in touch with Marquez until he tucked the front at the Turn 5 left-hander on the ninth lap. After his teammate fell, Lorenzo began to check out, while Marquez's pace dropped off.

Honda Repsol rider hoped to give a battle, but all in vain. Jorge quickly regained his first position, and by the middle of the race with an advantage of up to a second and a half it became clear that Marc can not keep the leader’s pace. Moreover, the Spaniard managed to increase his triumph from the halfway point to the chequered flag, winning by 4.4s.

Valentino Rossi used the falling of Andrea Dovizioso. The whole race the Doctor was riding at his own pace - far from the leaders, but at a comfortable distance from the rest of the peloton. As a result, the race became his fourth third-place finish of 2018.

LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow also had an excellent race and finished fourth, picking off Honda works rider Dani Pedrosa at the Turn 4 right-hander in the second half of the race.

Maverick Vinales, Rossi's teammate, had a horrific start, but recovered to sixth, winning in a race-long battle with fellow Yamaha rider Johann Zarco. Danilo Petrucci took the eighth place, ahead of fellow Ducati satellite rider Alvaro Bautista and Iannone, who struggled noticeably to stay on track in the race.

Mika Kallio and Sylvain Guintoli were the first retirements of the race, with Tom Luthi, Xavier Simeon, Aleix Espargaro and Hafizh Syahrin suffering standalone falls. LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami had an accident with the KTM of Bradley Smith at Turn 5, who had run as high as eighth early on.

Pramac's Jack Miller and Suzuki's Alex Rins also retired, while the motorcycle of Tito Rabat caught fire when he was riding in the top 10.

Race results:

Credit: motorsport.com

#Racing #Race #Motosport #Bike #MotoGP