Monday 15 July: Heavy impacts for World Champion Lorenzo and Championship leader Pedrosa, left both on the sidelines. Even Crutchlow raced with injuries. Copy and images courtesy of MotoGP
With both of his major rivals out of contention, Marquez – starting on his third pole position of the season – knew that a second race win (after Austin, Texas) would allow him to snatch back the advantage in the title race. A poor start saw the 20-year-old rookie drop to fourth place, but he picked off those ahead of him one by one and took the lead from home rider Stefan Bradl at the end of the sixth lap. Once Crutchlow took second, the Spaniard would manage the gap and win by 1.5 seconds.
Crutchlow’s own race started from second. Fighting the pain of his injuries after two large accidents on Friday, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider dispatched of Alvaro Bautista and Bradl before stealing second from Valentino Rossi in a strong move at Sachsen Kurve on Lap 16. He then looked to threaten for a career-first victory, but Marquez had been looking after his tyres and was able to comfortably control the gap until the end of the 30th and final lap; nevertheless, Crutchlow becomes the first British rider since Barry Sheene in 1982 to collect four podium finishes in one season.
Having returned to winning ways at Assen, Rossi has now claimed consecutive rostrum placings. From his first front row start since the Portuguese Grand Prix of 2010, the Yamaha Factory Racing rider seized the lead as the red lights went out. He proceeded to battle with local favourite Bradl but was overhauled by eventual winner Marquez on Lap 5. Three laps later, Rossi passed the Bradl to go second, but then fell back to the final podium spot when Crutchlow steamed ahead.
Bradl’s fourth place for LCR Honda MotoGP may have meant that he has still missed out on the podium, but the German has again equalled his career-best result. GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista completed the top five from eighth on the grid, while Tech 3’s Bradley Smith ended his day sixth - confirming two British riders in the top six of a premier race for the first time in two decades - from the impressive Aleix Espargaro; from fifth on the grid, the Power Electronics Aspar rider rode his CRT-specification bike in as high as third place before feeling the wrath of the prototypes.
Further down the order, the final points went to 13th-placed Colin Edwards (NGM Mobile Forward Racing) and the two riders who a day earlier had passed through to the Q2 shootout from Q1, with Danilo Petrucci and Claudio Corti 14th and 15th for Came IodaRacing Project and NGM Mobile Forward Racing, respectively. Two riders failed to see the end of the race, as there were crashes for both PBM’s Yonny Hernandez and Gresini’s Bryan Staring.
Round 9 of 18, the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, will be staged at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca next weekend. This, the second leg of the first double-header this year, will bring the curtain down on the first half of MotoGP™ 2013. Marquez now carries a two-point championship lead over Pedrosa, with Lorenzo 11 behind the leader.
On Saturday, Torres was narrowly beaten to the top grid position as
Simeon claimed his career-first pole position for Desguaces La Torre
Maptaq. Torres (Aspar Team Moto2) would start second, while from the
front row Espargaro (Tuenti HP 40) aimed to make the most of an
eighth-placed start for chief rival Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team).
Espargaro immediately seized the lead off the start line and would hold
the advantage until Lap 19, when Torres – who maintained a consistent
pace over the full 29-lap distance – dived through at the Sachsen Kurve.
Behind the leading duo, Simone Corsi kept a watching brief and
opportunistically overtook Espargaro for second place on the final lap;
this capped off his first rostrum for almost two years. Despite dropping
back another position, Espargaro finished four positions in front of
Redding.
Fourth place went to Italtrans Racing Team’s Julian Simon, while
multiple Sachsenring podium finisher Alex de Angelis put on a charge in
the second half of the Grand Prix to finish inside the top five for NGM
Mobile Forward Racing, overhauling Tom Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2
Racing) and championship leader Redding, who endures his worst result of
2013 thus far. Pole man Simeon could not demonstrate such strong race
pace and finished 12.8 seconds behind the winner.
Six riders failed to make the finish. Tech 3’s Danny Kent and TargoBank
Motorsport wildcard Alex Mariñelarena departed the race early, with the
Spaniard sustaining a contusion to the left knee. Blusens Avintia’s
Kyle Smith was next to fall, soon joined on the sidelines by Desguaces
La Torre SAG’s Marcel Schrotter. Argiñano & Gines Racing’s Roman
Ramos (covering for Alberto Moncayo, who was injured in a training
accident) retired into the pit lane and while winner Torres’ teammate
Jordi Terol crashed out in the closing stages of the race.
Heading into the summer break, Redding continues to top the standings
(143 points), although Espargaro (120) has reduced the gap from 30 to
23. Espargaro’s teammate Tito Rabat (88) has lost ground, having scored
only two points for 14th place on Sunday. Reigning Moto3™
World Champion Sandro Cortese picked up the final point for Dynavolt
Intact GP, while one standout performance came from QMMF Racing Team’s
Anthony West who rose to eighth from 16th on the grid.
Sunday’s result marks the first time in 2013 that three different makes
of Moto2™ chassis – Suter, Speed Up and Kalex – have shared the podium.
The action will continue with the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix in
mid-August.
Moto3: Rins beats Salom after last-lap pass
Alex Rins has won the Moto3™ eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland from
pole position, overhauling championship leader Luis Salom at the
penultimate corner of the race. Maverick Viñales, who also battled for
the lead throughout, was third to ensure that the top three riders in
the championship filled the podium places.
On Saturday at the Sachsenring, Rins has picked up his third pole
position of the season for Estrella Galicia 0,0 and was highly keen to
place himself back in the championship fight following a costly
retirement at Jerez earlier in the season.
Rins led from pole, but after an entertaining battle with Viñales
elected to yield the lead to the Team Calvo rider. The order would
continue to change between the duo, until Lap 24 when Viñales took the
advantage after Rins ran wide, only for Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Salom – who
had typically waited patiently in third position – to seize the
advantage in an impressive double overtaking manoeuvre at Sachsen Kurve.
Following Salom’s move, Rins crucially passed Viñales into the final
bend which allowed him three laps to hunt down the new leader. The
margin was three tenths of a second at the start of the last lap, but
Rins bravely dived up the inside of the penultimate corner to seal his
second victory after Austin, Texas while the leading trio crossed the
finish line separated by only two and a half tenths of a second.
In fourth position, Mahindra Racing’s Miguel Oliveira overhauled
Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Marquez in the closing stages, with the
latter having made a charge in the second half of the race. Efren
Vazquez was sixth on the second Mahindra, while Jack Miller was
disappointed to finish seventh for Caretta Technology – RTG, having
started fifth on the grid. The top eight was rounded out by equally
disappointed home rider Jonas Folger (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3), who had
been fourth on the grid.
Ongetta-Rivacold’s Alexis Masbou did not make the start following a
problem in the Warm-Up, whereas four riders crashed out of the race. An
early mistake by wildcard rider Kevin Hanus (Thomas Sabo GP Team) saw
him collect Eric Granado (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3), whereas wildcard
Luca Amato (Mahindra Spiel-Kiste) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (GO&FUN
Gresini Moto3) made mistakes of their own.
Sunday’s result sees Salom retain his championship lead (172 points),
with Viñales remaining second (158). Race winner Rins (142) has now
moved closer to second place overall as 30 points cover the top three.
Moto3™ now takes a break of one month before returning for the Red Bull
Indianapolis Grand Prix on 18 August.
