Races – Report and results of the 2018 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix (Marquez winner) –

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2018 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix report and results (Marquez winner)

Races - Report and results of the 2018 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix (Marquez winner) -

Incredible 2018 Spanish Grand Prix! While Marc Marquez’s home victory comes as no surprise given the Honda’s domination in Jerez, the spectacular clash between Dovizioso, Lorenzo and Pedrosa reshuffles the cards in the provisional championship… in favor of Johann Zarco !

The first race in Europe was full of twists and turns! Firstly because of the many announcements from KTM which has unveiled its plans for the coming seasons, with a certain Johann Zarco as a cornerstone, recruited for two years in the official Orange team alongside Pol Espargaro ! 

  • MNC of May 5, 2018:
  • MNC of May 3, 2018 : 
  • MNC file : 

On the track, it was the Hondas that quickly stood out on the recently refreshed asphalt in Jerez: Marquez, Pedrosa and Crutchlow gave the "la" during practice, the LCR rider even signing a record pole position in qualifying! Despite this performance of the Englishman, however, it was Marc Marquez who seemed the strongest as the race approached….

  • Spanish GP – 
  • Spanish GP : Z

Fast and consistent, the No.93 was clearly wearing the favorite costume, although a few small drops during practice indicated that the HRC rep was flirting with limits. This did not prevent him from quickly taking control of the Spanish GP, then from spinning without looking back – despite the heat on the gravel left by the fall of Luthi! – towards his second victory in a row after that of Austin ! 

His rivals, powerless, could only fight for the places of honor, the defending champion having a lead of up to 7 seconds … Suffice to say that Marquez was untouchable today in Andalusia, as he was. the previous race in Texas but also in Argentina where he dominated outrageously, before being sanctioned for his overzealousness.

  • Spanish GP – 
  • Spanish GP – 

Behind, the fight raged for second place between Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa, each looking for an opening as the final third of the race approached. Unfortunately, the three men clashed during an action triggered by Dovizioso, which Dani Pedrosa tried to take advantage of to get rid of the two Ducatis with eight laps to go..

Bad luck, the maneuver involuntarily led the three pilots to the mat without the responsibility of each one being able to be directly engaged: "no sanction" will be given, informs the race direction after a careful examination of this unfortunate percussion, but which holds from the simple fact of racing. 

For Lorenzo, who led the first laps before being eaten by Marquez, the sentence is particularly severe: author of a very poor start to the season, the Mallorcan retrograde to 20th place in the provisional standings, tied on points with Mika Kallio (KTM test driver!) and Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia. Catastrophic? No: worse, still !

  • Spanish GP – 

His teammate, Andrea Dovizioso, for his part lost the lead in the general classification to Marc Marquez. "DesmoDovi" drops from first to fifth row, just behind Andrea Iannone who signs his second consecutive podium at Jerez on the Suzuki. 

Races - Report and results of the 2018 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix (Marquez winner) -

As for Dani Pedrosa, still suffering from his fractured wrist in Argentina, he appears in 11th position in the provisional standings ahead of Alex Rins, who records his third white result in four races. The Suzuki rider resolutely walks the alternative: fall in Qatar, podium in Argentina, fall in Austin and another fall in Jerez…

Andrea Iannone took the opportunity to regain the ascendancy in the coat of arms of Hamamatsu with his two podiums in a row (Austin and Jerez), even if he took advantage of the triple fall in front of him to move up the standings. But like many other pilots, ultimately !

Zarco second in the championship !

And among the beneficiaries of this clash is Johann Zarco, who was lonely behind the second group before the fall of Dovizioso, Lorenzo and Pedrosa. "I was not completely at ease and I lost with each acceleration", reports the n ° 5 who did not believe his eyes when he discovered the three motorcycles on the ground !

Races - Report and results of the 2018 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix (Marquez winner) -

"Sometimes, we need a little luck", confesses the French driver who was offered this second place on a plateau after the "strike" which occurred in front of him! The Tech3 rider then applied himself to managing his end of the race while remaining safe from a hypothetical comeback from Iannone, Petrucci and Rossi, who followed him at three seconds. 

Johann Zarco, qualified for the eighth time in a row on the front row, thus won second place in the Spanish GP, 5 seconds behind the winner. But above all, he recovered second position in the provisional classification, behind the official Honda rider (70 points against 58). Johann does better than Maverick Viñales on the official M1, third with 50 points !

"Johann attacks very hard, he will be a dangerous driver for the championship and it is not the first time that I say it", notes Marc Marquez who recovers the reins of the classification with 12 lengths in advance on Zarco. Sacred compliment for the French driver !

Official Yamaha in the cellar…

For Yamaha, the reasons for satisfaction stop there: neither Rossi, 5th at 8.7 sec, nor Viñales, 7th at 13.5 sec, were not involved during this Spanish round. The two factory pilots spent the weekend railing against their M1’s lack of traction, pointing out the same type of ailments as last year.

Races - Report and results of the 2018 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix (Marquez winner) -

"We lack traction and our pace is deteriorating very quickly, more than that of our rivals," regretted Valentino Rossi, who considered this Spanish Grand Prix as a justice of the peace on their progress compared to last season. Recall that the concerns of the Yamaha boys had been manifested for the first time in Jerez, a rather slippery track which puts the Yamaha in difficulty..

However, this scenario is repeated in 2018 despite a return to the 2016 chassis … which Johann Zarco uses with much more ease – and without complaint! At this stage, it is also not excluded that the French – leaving for KTM – ends the season in front of the official motorcycles of the Iwata crest on his private M1. Ironically, when you hold us…

Crutchlow is an excellent driver … part time !

Also note the new fall of Cal Crutchlow, who accumulates blunders after having briefly distinguished himself at the head of the world championship after his victory in Argentina. The Honda-LCR rider, author of a splendid pole at Jerez, signs his second consecutive crash after Austin (19th at the finish).

Races - Report and results of the 2018 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix (Marquez winner) -

Two errors in four races: the results do not match his status as a driver directly supported by the factory. The n ° 35 fell back to 7th place in the provisional and above all loses an opportunity to shine and achieve his dream of recovering the handlebars of Pedrosa in 2019…  

Finally, this 2018 Spanish Grand Prix marks Michelin’s 400th Grand Prix success … a performance without much significance, since the Bibendum has been the sole supplier of the premier category for two seasons! We will appreciate more the 37th victory of Marquez in MotoGP, his 63rd all categories combined ! 

MotoGP 2018 Spanish Grand Prix results

  1. 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 41’39.678
  2. 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +5.241
  3. 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +8.214
  4. 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Alma Pramac Racing Ducati +8.617
  5. 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +8.743
  6. 43 Jack MILLER AUS Alma Pramac Racing Ducati +9.768
  7. 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +13.543
  8. 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Angel Nieto Team Ducati +14.076
  9. 21 Franco MORBIDELLI ITA EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda +16.822
  10. 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +19.405
  11. 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +21.149
  12. 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda +21.174
  13. 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +21.765
  14. 53 Tito RABAT SPA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati +22.103
  15. 45 Scott REDDING GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia +36.755
  16. 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN MAL Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +41.861
  17. 10 Xavier SIMEON BEL Reale Avintia Racing Ducati +49.241
  18. 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Angel Nieto Team Ducati 1 lap

Not classified

  • 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team Ducati 8 laps
  • 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 8 laps
  • 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 8 laps
  • 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda CASTROL Honda 9 laps
  • 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 14 laps
  • 42 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 20 laps

Did not complete the 1st round

  • 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 0 lap

Ranking of the 2018 MotoGP World Championship after Jerez

  1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda SPA (70 points)
  2. Johann ZARCO Yamaha FRA (58 points)
  3. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha SPA (50 points)
  4. Andrea IANNONE Suzuki ITA (47 points)
  5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati ITA (46 points)
  6. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA (40 points)
  7. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda GBR (38 points)
  8. Jack MILLER Ducati AUS (36 points)
  9. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati ITA (34 points)
  10. Tito RABAT Ducati SPA (24 points)
  11. Dani PEDROSA Honda SPA (18 points)
  12. Alex RINS Suzuki SPA (16 points)
  13. Franco MORBIDELLI Honda ITA (13 points)
  14. Pol ESPARGARO KTM SPA (13 points)
  15. Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati SPA (12 points)
  16. Hafizh SYAHRIN Yamaha MAL (9 points)
  17. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda JPN (9 points)
  18. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia SPA (6 points)
  19. Mika KALLIO KTM FIN (6 points)
  20. Jorge LORENZO Ducati SPA (6 points)
  21. Scott REDDING Aprilia GBR (5 points)
  22. Bradley SMITH KTM GBR (3 points)
  23. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati CZE (1 point)
  24. Thomas LUTHI Honda SWI
  25. Xavier SIMEON Ducati BEL

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