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MotoGP, Pedrosa beats Marquez in Jerez, Lorenzo and Ducati on the podium

Fourth place for Zarco ahead of Dovizioso between the two Yamahas with Viñales sixth followed by Petrucci, Rossi a distant tenth

MotoGP: Pedrosa beats Marquez in Jerez, Lorenzo and Ducati on the podium

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It was too good an opportunity to miss, because from Friday he had already demonstrated that he had a bit more than the rest. His pole position on Saturday was the second clue. Dani Pedrosa had all his papers in order to play the leading role at Jerez and that is how it went. In fact, the Spaniard dominated his home round from flag to flag, without anyone managing to hinder his progress.

It is hard to ask for any more: “A very difficult race. It was not easy to stay calm with the hard tyre because I wanted to be faster, but I didn’t have maximum confidence on certain corners – the rider commented through tears later on the podium – with the hard tyre I had to be precise. Then I saw Marc getting close, but in any case I was able to resume my pace, winning on this special track.”

Behind him was Marc Marquez. This time there was nothing the phenom could do: “I tried to stay a second and a half behind Dani the entire time so that I could set up an attack – revealed number 93 who went to the bathroom immediately after finishing the race, as did Rossi – At the start, I did not feel at ease with the front because it was too soft and it moved around too much, whereas Dani was able to work better on the tyre, given his more flowing riding style. I tried all the way to the end. Then I had a scare and backed off, but in any case, this is a positive result.”

It was an extraordinary third place for Jorge Lorenzo. In fact, the medium tyre did not betray the Majorcan who took to the track with a knife between his teeth. This is his first podium in this new adventure with Ducati: This result is worth the same as a win – commented number 99 – I thought I would finish fifth or sixth, but instead I was able to be fast on my race pace. I am very tired – he added – because the bike was a bit twitchy.”

Johann Zarco put in a textbook performance. He was the best of the Yamahas, finishing fourth ahead of Andrea Dovizioso. And to think that in the opening laps, the French rider had even managed to bother Marquez. The Factory bikes fell short of expectations. In fact, Viñales had to settle for a sixth place finish among difficulties and mistakes. It went even worse for Rossi, who finished tenth due to tyre problems. For the Doctor, who went out with the hard and medium tyres, this is the worst result after his 12th place at Le Mans in 2013. Compared to last year, the nine-time world champion was 40 seconds slower – shocking stats.

In seventh place, Danilo Petrucci shone, followed by Folger and Aleix Espargaró on his Aprilia. Noteworthy were Crutchlow and Iannone’s crashes. 

 

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
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