Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and Marc Marquez (Honda) fought an epic battle for the win at Silverstone Sunday, with Lorenzo winning by a tiny margin after the riders swapped the lead repeatedly over the final three laps. This was Lorenzo’s fourth win of the season, and it halted a record win streak by the young rookie Marquez. Dani Pedrosa finished in third. Marquez fought hard despite dislocating his shoulder in a practice crash before the race.
Marquez increases his points lead to 30 over Pedrosa in the Championship. For additional details, results and points, visit the official MotoGP site.
What a great weekend of racing. I must think the crowd loved the Moto2 race as well.
With another 2 points in the penalty system, would make entertaining race to see Marquez slice through the field like he did last season in Moto2? Not that I really want to see that. I like seeing the level playing field with the other Aliens at the front. I hope Vale has something in the bag for Misano.
Great race! Good pacing at the front two spots for most of the race, with Marquez waiting for Lorenzo to make a mistake (not likely) or just wait him out to pounce at the end. Pedrosa burning out his tires to make up a 2 second gap and make it a three way for the lead. Even good scrapping battles with Rossi and Tech3 riders, and Hayden and Dovi!! Almost like three races in one!
Silverstone looks like a great track, and made for excellent racing!
It will be interesting to see how Marquez heals up his shoulder, and how the shoulders of Pedrosa and Lorenzo keep healing for the next few races!
How do you not love Jorge?
Fantastic racing. All three classes were more than just entertaining. Marquez is the new Rossi, Roberts, Saarinen, Hailwood for sure. He’s really amazing.
I’m thinking that the Yamaha has another 0.1 to 0.2 of a second in lap time reduction when (if) they deploy the Seamless transmission. It’s not as fast shifting as the Honda tranny but it should still help them out of the corners and up to top speed just enough to put them back on par with the Hondas. Lorenzo’s last ditch pass on the inside shows the Yamaha turn in handling advantage is still there. Let’s hope they use it soon so we can at least see some more close racing. Without it I’m afraid the rest of the season will be a walk in the park for a healthy Marquez.
Great race. Good to see Jorge win, but hard to imagine anyone beating a healthy Marquez. The kid is phenomenal
What would make this season absolutely incredible would be if Rossi could somehow manage to find that little bit extra he needs to join the Three Amigos at the front. He keeps talking as if he’s almost there, and hopefully next year he can make this a legitimate four-rider fight.
Then again, with the ascension of Marquez I have to wonder how much longer Pedroza will remain in the conversation. Lorenzo is death and taxes, but Honda’s brass pointedly stated before this season began that this year was “put up or shut up” time for little Dani. So far, I’d say he’s done reasonably well, obviously, but then Pedroza always does reasonably well. The guy is probably the most successful Top Class rider who never won the title, and apparently that isn’t good enough for Honda. Their growing impatience with him is almost palpable.
If it weren’t for Alberto Puig….
re: “that isn’t good enough for Honda”
Repsol.
No, in this case I think it’s less about Repsol and more about HRC’s dissatisfaction with Pedroza’s seeming lack of an all-out desire to win. Reading between the lines (and sometimes not even having to do that, as with the HRC boss’s pointed comments this past offseason) the impression seems to be that Dani is too easily contented with second place.
Repsol? They love the guy. They’re the reason he’s even there. They’re the reason Nicky got the shaft from Honda in 2007. That wasn’t Honda’s doing; it was primarily the result of Dani’s ‘favorite son’ status with Repsol.
Not that any of this is news to you, of course. I know that you already know all this, but still, not everyone does.
Looks like Dani is the current Randy Mamola when it comes to being good enough to win but it still doesn’t happen often enough. He will still have all his $ he has earned trying to be a GP Champion.
I think of the Pedrosa/ Mamola parallel often. The big difference is I think Randy* had enough fun I don’t feel too bad he never got all the right breaks to with the title. Dani, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have much going on besides racing. Getting caught cheating on his caption’s exam makes him seem kind of sad.
At least he will be rich, that isn’t bad.
Goose
*Remember him going out for practice, coming in and flipping up his (dark) visor to show he was wearing full make-up, eye shadow, mascara, the whole bit? Randy had fun and lived large, he probably still does.
This season we’ve seen some of the most competitive racing we’ve had in MotoGP in years. The sporty really needed a season like this. Too bad Lorenzo and Pedrosa had the injuries, or even the points lead would be close.
What an awesome finale. Lorenzo won that one on pure determination. He just refused to lose. Marquez was unbelievable with a dislocated shoulder. Pedrosa had nothing left ( tire wise) after fighting his way up there. Too bad. would have loved to see all. Three of them jockeying or top spot. Val was superb. He’s not the old Val, but he’s still got some skills and determination. If Crutchlow is hurting himself this bad on a Yamaha, the chap is going to be in serious danger on the Ducati next year.
2 words… BARN BURNER…!!!
re: This was Lorenzo’s fourth win of the season (sp), and it halted a record win streak by the young rookie Marquez.
2 words… phyrric victory.
re: “Marquez increases his points lead to 30 over Pedrosa in the Championship.”
and more than 40 points over jay. 🙁 that is, if you were to restore the 2pt penalty.
pyrrhic (sp).
How so?
These 2 points are not championship points deducted from Marquez’s tally but rather “penalty points” given to him, with real penalties when you get to a certain number of points. Each rider starts the season with 0 points. If you reach 4 points you get to start the race from the back of the grid, if you reach 7 points you start from pit lane and at 10 points you are banned from the race. Once you get to 10 points, it goes back to 0. Same thing at the end of the season (no carry-over to next season).
The penalty points are not deducted off the championship points, its a separate system
re: “Each rider starts the season with 0 points. If you reach 4 points you get to start the race from the back of the grid, if you reach 7 points you start from pit lane and at 10 points you are banned from the race. Once you get to 10 points, it goes back to 0.”
re: “its a separate system”
yup, clear as mud. and to think, teams, fans, and the media dare criticize FIM/Dorna for having a rule book in a constant state of flux.