Lorenzo wins in Australia, Marquez disqualified
As the current title holder Jorge Lorenzo clinched his 50th career race victory in the Tissot Australian Grand Prix. Marquez failed to acknowledge the pre-determined pit window and was shown the black flag. Prior to the race, it was announced that the duration would decrease from 27 to 19 laps on the grounds of safety, with tyre degradation throughout practice having been significantly higher than expected on the newly-resurfaced Phillip Island circuit. Furthermore, all riders would be obliged to pit for bike changes on either the ninth or tenth laps of the race, while also running the harder available compound throughout. A clean start saw no fallers, with Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) attacking Lorenzo at the Honda hairpin but the Yamaha Factory Racing man immediately retaking the top spot on the run into Siberia. The sensation would come with the mandatory pit window, with Marquez’s teammate Pedrosa first to peel off from third place at the end of Lap 9 and followed by numerous other riders. Lorenzo would pit at the end of the tenth tour but, having expected a pit lane duel with Marquez, saw the 20-year-old rookie continue for another circulation of the circuit. Marquez then came in at the end of Lap 11, outside the pre-determined window of pitting by Lap 10 at the latest. In a remarkable twist for the 2013 World Championship battle, Marquez was disqualified as was Australian Bryan Staring (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) as the same error had been committed. Having escaped a touch with Marquez as the latter rejoined from the pits, Lorenzo went on to claim win number six of the season; this also marked the first time since 2006 that a rider other than the now retired Casey Stoner had clinched victory at Phillip Island. Pedrosa finished second to maintain his own title aspirations, as Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi beat Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Cal Crutchlow and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista in a thrilling contest for third, while light rain began to fall as proceedings drew to a close. Bradley Smith was sixth for Tech3, having run as high as fourth thanks to a rapid start, while the top ten was rounded out by Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team), Andrea Iannone (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Randy de Puniet (Power Electronics Aspar) who ended a race as lead CRT for the first time this year. Behind him, Aleix Espargaro secured enough points to clinch overall CRT honours for the second year in succession. Danilo Petrucci finished 15th for Came IodaRacing Project, denying a first point for Luca Scassa as the Cardion AB Motoracing rider finished less than one tenth of a second behind. The MotoGP™ fight now rages on to Motegi Twin Ring and the Grand Prix of Japan, with the championship lead having been decreased from 43 to 18 points. The season will then end at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, Spain on 10th November. 
Image - Yamaha
 Image - Yamaha 1st Jorge Lorenzo: "It was a crazy and chaotic race, the first time we have changed bikes in a dry race. It needed a lot of attention from all of us and the mechanics to be ready, as anything could happen. We practiced the bike changes a lot and that was one of the keys to the victory. I was slow in Warm Up and we had to change some things. We changed the strategy and made some improvements. I was so fast in the race, but Marc and Dani (Pedrosa) were really quick too."
Giving his opinion on the incident where contact occurred between the
two riders, as Marquez left pit lane on his second bike, and the black
flag which was to come for his title challenger, Lorenzo continued: "I braked too late and Marc was coming out of the pit lane so we
touched and we were lucky to avoid crashing. We were both at fault. He
did not look who was coming, but it was 50/50. The one who is already on
track should have the priority. I don’t know exactly what happened to
Marc today, if it was a mistake from him or his team, or whether he did
not see the pit board. We’ve been very lucky. Without the
mistake from Marc I think he would have been first or second. Now the
championship has changed so much. Before the race we had no chance, a 2%
or 3% chance and now it’s 20% or 30%. But Marc is very competitive at
every track, so we need to go as hard as possible at Motegi and
Valencia."
2nd Dani Pedrosa: "Today’s race was very stressful -above all before the start, as the rules were being changed every five minutes. Everything was turned on its head and it was very difficult to adapt first time, without making any mistakes. Marc made mistakes and I did too. Everything was going so fast and it was confusing for both the riders and the mechanics. We had to be clear about which lap to enter the pits, as it wasn’t obvious which was lap nine and which was lap ten. The two bikes needed to be prepared and the tyres as well, the pit lane was much longer than normal... it was all so strange today. The exit line from the pits wasn’t clear, and neither could you see the entry line very well, so it was all a bit improvised. In my case I was able to rectify my mistake on the track and, although the second bike wasn’t the same for me as the first, I managed to take second in the race and be very competitive.” 3rd Valentino Rossi: "At the end the result was good, I’m so happy to be on the podium here at Phillip Island because it’s always a great pleasure and a great atmosphere. I tried to give the maximum, the race was very thrilling and I enjoyed it very much, especially because with the team we were able to do a very good job in the pit and gain two positions. I had a great battle with Cal, when I understood it was for the podium I tried to give the maximum. In the last half of the lap it started to rain which was very scary but at the end it was ok and a good result. We still need to work and improve to be faster for the next race.” |