Valentino Rossi claimed his second victory of the 2016 MotoGP season, overcoming Marc Marquez at the Catalan GP.
The Italian recovered from a poor turn one which saw the work of a good launch off the start undone, and his controlled race paid dividends against a bucking Honda.
A relatively quiet race gave third to Dani Pedrosa, as a decision to use the softer medium compound didn’t reap many rewards.
The riders and teams had to adjust to the Formula 1 configuration at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, following the tragic death of Moto2 rider Luis Salom on Friday.
This meant a tighter final sector to what they had used before. In practice and qualifying it had appeared to favour the Honda’s as the Yamaha’s had struggled to adapt.
But in the race, it was the greater ride-ability of the M1 Yamaha that brought it back into play, due to the more unpredictable braking characteristics of the Repsol Honda.
Tyres were also a major talking point as the longevity of the medium Michelin’s was deemed to be marginal, however, the pace difference against the hard compound made it, in theory, the faster race tyre.
As the race unfolded there was no drastic fall away in lap times, but the pace difference between the compounds wasn’t as expected and as the majority used the more durable rubber on both sides, it proved the right decision.
The big, potentially championship defining moment came for Jorge Lorenzo as the world champion failed to finish.
From second on the grid, he took the lead into the first corner, holding off pole-sitter Marquez.
Lorenzo settled into his rhythm, as he so often does. However, this time it wouldn’t end well for the Spaniard. Rossi made a charge moving up to second before quickly passing Jorge.
Marquez quickly made his move and soon Lorenzo was behind Pedrosa and out the podium places.
A great battle with the ever-aggressive Maverick Vinales, the man who replaces him at Yamaha next year, saw a bold move by the Suzuki rider drop Lorenzo to fifth.
Just when things couldn’t get worse they did as Iannone on the Ducati started to close in. The Italian, who has lost his reputation as a future star due to various crashes this season, proved that again as he lost control under braking and punting Lorenzo off at turn ten.
The message was soon passed to his title rivals up front as Marquez begin his push for the victory.
After several laps following behind Rossi, he finally drafted past the Italian into turn one with five laps to go. It was clear, however, that the two-time champion was struggling to keep on the racing line and sure enough Rossi made his way back past with the same overtake a lap later.
In their first compelling battle since the contentious coming together at Sepang last year, it was another error under braking into turn seven that gave Rossi enough of a cushion to take the checkered flag.
Marquez had to settle for second but heads home the new championship leader with a ten-point lead over Lorenzo. Rossi also made up for the points lost in Mugello, albeit is still 22 points behind the Honda rider.
Dani Pedrosa and Maverick Vinales were third and fourth and in the championship the pair are ten points apart in fourth and fifth.
While Pol Espargaro produced an excellent ride to finish fifth ahead of Cal Crutchlow. The Briton enjoyed one of his better races too in sixth beating a disappointing Andrea Dovizioso who never featured. The independent Ducati of Hector Barbera who had started from fourth.
But it was another day when ‘The Doctor’ produced another perfect cure in his bid for an eighth premier class title. Next stop is Assen for the Dutch MotoGP and the venue at which the Rossi/ Marquez battle really began last year. I’m sure 2016 won’t disappoint either.
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