Lorenzo extends winning streak in Catalunya

Jorge Lorenzo has closed to within a point of MotoGP championship leader Valentino Rossi after recording a commanding victory at the Catalunya Grand Prix.

The Yamaha rider made no mistakes once again to complete a lights-to-flag win at the Barcelona circuit as the former double world champion extended his winning run to four races.

Lorenzo catapulted into the lead at the start which he refused to give up for the entire race, despite coming under pressure from team-mate Rossi, who was forced to settle for second.

Marquez slotted into second spot on the opening lap but his challenge soon came to an abrupt halt when he dropped his Honda at the hairpin on lap four.

The reigning world champion was clearly frustrated at his error which saw him record his third retirement of the season.

Rossi capitalised on the mistake to surge into second spot where he set his sights on leader Lorenzo.

The drama continued to unfold behind when Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso crashed out of third position, handing the position briefly to the pole sitting Suzuki of Aleix Espargaro.

However, a crash for Espargaro ultimately awarded third to a hard charging Dani Pedrosa, which he maintained until the chequered flag.

Ducati’s Andrea Iannone emerged victorious in a race long battle with Tech 3 Yamaha’s Bradley Smith for fourth.

The sister Suzuki of Maverick Vinales finished sixth ahead of Scott Redding, Stefan Bradl, Danilo Petrucci and Alvaro Bautista.

Australia’s Jack Miller bounced back from a run of consecutive retirements to score his career best premier class finish in 11th position for LCR Honda.

Result: MotoGP Catalunya Grand Prix

Position	Rider	Bike	Laps	Gap
1	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	25
2	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	25	+0.885s
3	Daniel Pedrosa	Honda	25	+19.455s
4	Andrea Iannone	Ducati	25	+24.925s
5	Bradley Smith	Tech 3 Yamaha	25	+27.782s
6	Maverick Viñales	Suzuki	25	+29.559s
7	Scott Redding	Marc VDS Honda	25	+36.424s
8	Stefan Bradl	Yamaha Forward	25	+42.103s
9	Danilo Petrucci	Pramac Ducati	25	+49.350s
10	Álvaro Bautista	Gresini Aprilia	25	+52.569s
11	Jack Miller	LCR Honda	25	+53.666s
12	Eugene Laverty	Aspar Honda	25	+55.765s
13	Loris Baz	Yamaha Forward	25	+55.832s
14	Mike Di Meglio	Avintia Ducati	25	+1:09.037s
15	Alex de Angelis	ART/Aprilia	25	+1:25.263s
16	Héctor Barberá	Pramac Ducati	24	+1 Lap
DNF	Aleix Espargaró	Suzuki	20	Retirement
DNF	Nicky Hayden	Aspar Honda	13	Retirement
DNF	Marco Melandri	Aprilia	6	Retirement
DNF	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	6	Retirement
DNF	Pol Espargaró	Tech 3 Yamaha	4	Retirement
DNF	Marc Márquez	Honda	3	Retirement
DNF	Cal Crutchlow	LCR Honda	3	Retirement
DNF	Yonny Hernández	Ducati	2	Retirement
DNS	Karel Abraham	Honda	0	Withdrawn

Championship Standings

Position	Rider	Points
1	Valentino Rossi	138
2	Jorge Lorenzo	137
3	Andrea Iannone	94
4	Andrea Dovizioso	83
5	Marc Marquez	69
6	Bradley Smith	68
7	Cal Crutchlow	47
8	Maverick Vinales	46
9	Pol Espargaro	45
10	Dani Pedrosa	39
11	Danilo Petrucci	39
12	Aleix Espargaro	31
13	Scott Redding	27
14	Yonny Hernandez	26
15	Hector Barbera	16
16	Loris Baz	13
17	Alvaro Bautista	11
18	Jack Miller	11
19	Stefan Bradl	9
20	Michele Pirro	8
21	Nicky Hayden	8
22	Eugene Laverty	7
23	Hiroshi Aoyama	5