MotoGP: Rossi Wins Catalan GP Despite Marquez’s Best Effort

Valentino Rossi performed a brilliant show, winning the Catalan Grand Prix 2016 in Barcelona, despite a great battle from Marc Marquez on his home track.

The Catalan Grand Prix 2016 started with a bad news as the 24-year-old Moto2 rider Luis Salom died after a fatal crash at turn 12 in Barcelona. Yet, as it is said, the show must go on and that is the thing that the family of the perished rider choose and the qualifying carried on for the Catalan Grand Prix. Despite starting from second position, Lorenzo grabbed the race lead heading into the first corner. Starting with the premiere class pole for the first time in Barcelona, Marquez was riding close to him followed by his team-mate Pedrosa. Rossi started from the fifth place in the second row and a terrible launch dropped him to the eighth position. However, he responded quickly and grabbed the sixth position by the end of the first lap.

The Doctor seemed to have retrieved his control and was the fastest rider on the track with some hot laps. The Italian Yamaha rider was in a hurry to take the lead so he made a splendid move, passing both Vinales and Iannone in just one attempt. Without wasting any time, Rossi overtook Pedrosa and, with this pace, grabbed the second place within a lap. Riding just behind his team-mate Rossi took the lead in less than five laps. On the other hand, Lorenzo dropped to the fourth place behind the Honda duo.

Vinales was also trying to claim the fourth position but Lorenzo was not making it easy for his replacement at Yamaha for the next season. However, the previous champion was experiencing wheelspin problems, like he encountered at Jerez, and finally, Vinales succeed in taking the fourth position. On the other hand, Marquez was riding hard to chase Rossi and it was clear that the race winner will be among these two. The Spanish Honda rider also had a close call once when the front of his bike nearly washed off.

While Lorenzo was struggling with his problems, Iannone was lining him up for an overtake. However, his misjudgement in braking led him striking into Lorenzo’s bike and both the riders retired from the race after this crash. The most interesting battle was still on and Marquez passed Rossi on turn 1 when three laps were remaining and the latter was doing his level best to maintain the lead.

Rossi repeated the Marquez move regaining the race lead on the penultimate lap and was able to maintain a breathing space between Marquez and himself. During his efforts to overtake Rossi, the Honda rider was pushing to the limit and ran wide on turn 7. Utilising this moment, Rossi expanded his lead and finished with a gap of over one second before Marquez. Pedrosa finished in third place followed by Vinales in fourth. Finishing this race in second, Marquez takes a lead in the championship followed by Lorenzo and Rossi.