Lorenzo delivered a perfect race to take victory for the Grand Prix České Republiky, his fifth of the season. Teammate Valentino Rossi rode a solid but lonely race and came home in third to make it a seventh double podium of the season for the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team.
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo put on an incredible show today at Automotodrom Brno, keeping rival Marc Marquez at bay for 22 laps to cross the line with a convincing 4.462s gap. Teammate Valentino Rossi also put up a strong fight at the early stages of the race when he battled with Bradley Smith and Andrea Dovizioso to take the chequered flag in third place.
Lorenzo had a brilliant start, taking the holeshot from pole and immediately tried to break away with Marquez running closely behind him. After the opening lap the X-Fuera rider posted times in the low 1’56s for the next eight laps. Riding faster than anyone on track, the pair created a gap to the group battling for third, but with 14 laps to go the Majorcan’s pace proved to be too hot for his rival, and he managed to break away.
In his element, Lorenzo remained unthreatened for the remainder of the race and continued to manage the gap to Marquez perfectly, claiming a first victory in Brno for Yamaha since 2010 by a convincing length.
Starting the race from third on the grid, Rossi slotted into fifth place, but quickly fought his way back to the front, overtaking Smith for fourth, but he lost valuable time behind Dovizioso in their battle for third place. With Andrea Iannone looming in fifth, Rossi put extra pressure on the compatriot in front of him and made the pass stick at the end of the third lap.
The Doctor put his head down to close the over two second gap to the frontrunners, but was unable to claw back the lost ground. Riding a lonely race, he focused on holding off his trailing rivals and crossed the line in third place, 10.397 seconds from the front, to make it his eleventh consecutive podium of the season.
Today’s race results have Lorenzo take over the lead from Rossi in the championship as the pair are on equal points, each having earned a total of 211 points so far, but Lorenzo having two more GP wins this season.
The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team will remain in Brno for a one-day tyre test tomorrow.
Jorge Lorenzo
1st / 42’53.042 / 22 laps
“I didn’t need to push at the end, so this was not a perfect race, because I could have been a little bit faster. I had a margin, not enough to be comfortable but enough to risk less. I pushed so much at the beginning of the race and I gave my maximum to escape from Marc, who stayed behind me for a lot of laps. I expected the race to be a little bit quicker at the beginning and to be riding 1’55,9, but with a full fuel tank, and also after the Moto2 the track seemed to have a little less grip, it was not possible. Luckily for me after a few laps I started to brake better with less fuel in the tank and enter corners faster than before. I improved my times only by one tenth of a second, but it gave me a 0,6s advantage in one lap and that went up to one second and I was able to get away little by little and win the race.”
Valentino Rossi
3rd / +10.397 / 22 laps
“This weekend Jorge always rode very fast, but at the same time I had hoped to be closer and that I was able to stay with Marc, because during the practices my pace was not so bad. Unfortunately I wasn’t fast and strong enough and also my rhythm was quite slow. It’s true that I had a bad start and lost time, but that was not the problem, I simply didn’t have a good enough rhythm and that’s a shame. I expected Brno to be difficult, because it had been difficult for the last few years, but I expected a better race, so we have to understand why and try to be stronger at the next races. It’s unbelievable that after eleven races Jorge and I are on the same level of points. It’s difficult, because it looks like Jorge came back very strong after the break and he is in a great shape, but we will have to keep trying.”
Massimo Meregalli – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director
“An incredible ride by Jorge again today, he continues to prove that in the right conditions he is untouchable and he thoroughly deserves this victory. He’s been on phenomenal form all weekend, so we expected nothing less from him. Valentino also rode a very strong race today after a fantastic qualifying yesterday. He didn’t have the best start, but in his usual form was determined to make up lost ground and finish on the podium yet again. I have to thank the entire team who have all worked extremely hard this weekend to make these results possible. Now we will test tomorrow before we head to the UK in two weeks where we fully intend to continue our domination of the podium.”
Consistent Smith completes Czech Grand Prix as top satellite rider
Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Bradley Smith determinedly battled his way to 7th position at the bwin Grand Prix Ceske Republiky as he finished once again as the leading satellite rider aboard his Yamaha YZR-M1. The young Briton began the day strongly by completing the warm up in 5th place which left him fully confident for the race today. When the 22 lap sprint commenced, the 24 year old undertook an impressive start to climb into 3rd position at the first corner as he rode right in the mix with the factory MotoGP bikes. Ultimately, he crossed the line in 6th position after the first lap whilst exchanging some aggressive passes with Andrea Dovizioso. Smith then stuck into his strong race pace in order to remain with the group, yet was overtaken by Dani Pedrosa on lap seven. However, at the halfway point, the English star remained in 7th whilst setting a series of consistent lap times as he aimed to open a gap to his chasing teammate and due to his impeccable riding, he completed the race in this position. His result in the Czech Republic saw him pocket another batch of points to add to his tally in the world championship as he continues to reside in 5th, ahead of the Factory Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso.
Meanwhile, Pol Espargaro delivered another resolute performance in the 11th round of the 2015 MotoGP World Championship as he clinched 8th position in the today’s race at the 5.4 kilometre Automotodrom Brno. When the highly anticipated event jumped into action, the Spaniard bolted from the middle of the third row and aggressively completed his first lap in 7th position. From here, he rode behind his teammate and embarked on a hot pace. On the fifth lap, Dani Pedrosa overtook him yet he remained fully focused and continued in his strong rhythm. As the race distance progressed, the 2013 Moto2 World Champion pushed onwards with his sights fully set on Smith, but as the lap numbers ran out, he met the chequered flag in 8th position in front of just over 138,000 fans. The result positively concludes a challenging weekend for the 24 year old in the Czech Republic which sees him progress up to 8th with 81 points in the World Championship standings.
Bradley Smith
7th / +21.821 / 22 laps
“It’s a good achievement to finish as the top satellite bike again and the result concludes a positive weekend for us in the Czech Republic. Having said that, it is quite frustrating to finish 21 seconds behind the leader but this seems to be our level at the moment. All weekend the team has done a fantastic job and I really enjoyed fighting for the front row in qualifying yesterday. In the race today we took a bit of a gamble due to the hot weather conditions and I rode the medium front tyre and when I was following the Ducati riders at the beginning, I overheated it slightly, which caused me to drop back a bit. However, from the halfway point onwards, I felt more comfortable. It seems that we lose too much time at the start and so this is the weakest point. It is limiting us a little but despite that, I know that the guys are working really hard to find any kind of solution. Another positive is that I extended my lead over Pol in the championship standings, plus I didn’t lose too many points to Dovizioso. We’re fifth and we will continue to fight as hard as possible to remain in that position so I am super excited about continuing this run at my home GP.”
Pol Espargaro
8th / +23.240 / 22 laps
“Of course, I can’t be completely satisfied with today’s result, but compared to the race in Indianapolis we finally made a good step forward as we completely made up the gap to Bradley. We were able to improve the behaviour of the bike in the braking areas as well as the turning which was where I was stronger than my teammate today. Unfortunately, we are still lacking rear grip and I’m quite surprised that the other riders don’t seem to face the same difficulties. However I’m convinced that if we can solve this issue then we will be able to ride a lot faster. Therefore, we have still plenty of work ahead of us, but it has definitely been a productive day and we were able to draw some positive conclusions which should help us to make further steps forward during the next races. In addition, another encouraging point of the weekend was that I moved up one position in the championship standings and I’m keen to collect another top result at Silverstone to boost my placement further.”
Loris Baz – A victory for the team
The Grand Prix of the Czech Republic weekend closes with a smile for the Forward Racing team at Brno. Loris Baz, riding the Yamaha Forward of the Swiss team, crossed the finish line in 15th position, first among the Open bikes. Claudio Corti, his teammate, came twentieth at his second MotoGP race wearing the Forward Racing colours.
Baz, after two days of difficult free practices, became the protagonist in a good fight with his rivals in the Open category, Barbera and Hayden, and crossed the finish line in 15th position claiming the win and the pointzone. With the point gathered today on the Czech track, the Frenchman shortens the distance from the current leader of the category: the Spaniard Barbera is now only 5 points away.
It was also a good race also for Claudio Corti who, after retiring in his maiden race at the Sachsenring, crossed the finish line in 20th place. The Italian, 24th at the start, now has another weekend of work on his shoulders before the race at Silverstone in two weeks time.
Loris Baz
15th / +1’00.316 / 22 laps
“It was a really tough race, but I’m satisfied with the result. We made some small changes just before the race and I managed to stay in the fight all the time with my rivals in the Open category. I can only thank one by one to all the guys: we found ourselves in a difficult situation, but everyone continued to work at his very best. I went on track convinced I could do well and the victory is the only way to thank them for what they did.”
Claudio Corti
20th / +1’50.033 / 22 laps
“I expected more from the race, but overall I’m happy with how the weekend went. It was important to do kilometres and finish the race after retiring in my opening event at the Sachsenring. I am confident and I am convinced that at Silverstone we will be closer to the other Open bikes. Well done to Loris for the win, it is a major achievement for the whole team.”
2015 MotoGP Czech Republic
Brno 16/08/2015
race I
1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 42’53.042
2 Marc Marquez Honda ESP 0’04.462
3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0’10.397
4 Andrea Iannone Ducati ITA 0’13.071
5 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0’15.650
6 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati ITA 0’15.725
7 Bradley Smith Yamaha GBR 0’21.821
8 Pol Espargaro Yamaha ESP 0’23.240
9 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki ESP 0’43.784
10 Danilo Petrucci Ducati ITA 0’45.261
11 Yonny Hernandez Ducati COL 0’49.973
12 Scott Redding Honda GBR 0’50.174
13 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia ESP 0’54.437
14 Stefan Bradl Aprilia DE 0’54.624
15 Loris Baz Yamaha FRA 1’00.316
20 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 1’50.033
MotoGP World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 11 of 18
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 211
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 211
3. Marc Marquez Honda ESP 159
4. Andrea Iannone Ducati ITA 142
5. Bradley Smith Yamaha GBR 106
6. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati ITA 104
7. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 91
8. Pol Espargaro Yamaha ESP 81
9. Cal Crutchlow Honda GBR 74
10. Danilo Petrucci Ducati ITA 63
11. Maverick Viales Suzuki ESP 62
12. Aleix Espargaro Suzuki ESP 53
13. Yonny Hernandez Ducati COL 41
14. Scott Redding Honda GBR 37
15. Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 20
16. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia ESP 16
17. Loris Baz Yamaha FRA 15
26. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 0
Circuit Length:
5403
Weather:
Sunny
Lap Record:
1’56.274
(Jorge Lorenzo, 1-1-2012)
Fastest Lap Ever:
1’54.989
(Jorge Lorenzo, 16-8-2015)
Last Years Winner:
Daniel Pedrosa
