Seven years of drought for Valentino Rossi at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit came to an end today. The Yamaha rider won the race ahead of Márquez and Pedrosa.
Lorenzo had a great start from pole and was followed by Mázquez and Iannone, who climbed up to 3rd from 8th. Pedrosa overtook him on turn 5 and had to defend from Viñales and Rossi. Il Doctore would overtake both of them, although he was about to be hit by Viñales, who avoided the crash. Rossi set the fastest lap and got close to the leading group, leaving Pedrosa behind for Viñales to pass him as well.
Márquez was next on the list for Rossi, and after him only Lorenzo separated him from victory with 19 laps to go. Seeing Rossi’s threat, Márquez got rid of Lorenzo for the lead of the race. Iannone tried to overtake Lorenzo as well, but they ended up crashing on turn 10 and both of them had to retire from the race. Aleix Espargaró had to abandon the race as well following some problems with his rear tyre.
After a constant fight with Márquez, Rossi managed to stay ahead of him in the last lap and got the win 7 years after his last one in Montmeló. Pedrosa completed the podium, followed by Maverick Viñales, Pol Espargaró, Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Dovizioso, Álvaro Bautista, Danilo Petrucci, Héctor Barberá, Jack Miller, Stefan Bradl, Eugene Laverty, Tito Rabat and Michele Pirro.
Márquez is the new leader of the championship with 125 points, 10 ahead of Lorenzo and 22 of Rossi. Pedrosa is 4th, 43 points behind.
