Lorenzo wins Catalan Grand Prix

There is no stopping Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo at the moment as the Spanish rider led every lap of the Catalan Grand Prix to score his fourth consecutive victory and close within one point of teammate Valentino Rossi in the championship standings.
 
Starting on the front row of the grid in third position, Lorenzo got a brilliant start to lead the field into the first corner and he retained the lead until the chequered flag. The only rider to put pressure on Lorenzo was Rossi, who managed to match the pace of his teammate in the final stages of the race and claimed second place just 0.885 seconds behind Lorenzo. Finishing in third place at Montmeló was Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa for his first podium this season. All three riders on the podium used the combination of medium compound front and rear slick tyres for the race.
 
Clear sunny skies throughout the day resulted in the warmest conditions yet experienced this weekend, with track temperatures during the race peaking at 55°C; 6°C higher than in qualifying yesterday. As was the case yesterday the medium compound front and rear slicks were the most popular choice during the race. Twenty-one riders selected the medium compound front slick for the race, with the only exception being the four factory Ducati riders who chose the hard compound front slick instead. For the rear tyre, fifteen riders selected the medium compound rear, with the remaining ten riders opting for the soft compound rear slick. Today’s hot conditions made for challenging conditions during the race with a greasy track surface, yet Lorenzo was still able to set the quickest ever overall race time for the Catalan Grand Prix, beating the old mark by three seconds.
 
Lorenzo’s quartet of consecutive victories sees him reach 137 championship points, just behind Rossi who retains the championship lead on 138 points. Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone finished in fourth place today, which moves him into third place on the championship table on 94 points.
 
Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department
“Congratulations to Jorge for his victory today and Yamaha for a 1-2 in what were quite challenging conditions. It was a bit hotter today which made the track surface greasy and hard to manage for the riders, particularly early in the race when they had to push hard with a full tank of fuel. Race tyre choice reflected what the riders used in FP4 yesterday with the medium compound front and rear slicks the most popular option due to their good balance of braking and cornering performance. Our engineers worked closely with the riders and teams all weekend to try and find a good setting at this low grip and bumpy circuit and looking at the quick pace this weekend, I am happy that our revised tyre allocation for this year performed so well.”
 
Jorge Lorenzo, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Race Winner
“Today it was very hot, the warmest conditions of the whole weekend so it was hard to repeat the pace I had yesterday. Today Valentino improved a bit in the hot conditions, while I was a bit worse compared to yesterday, but I kept my focus and made no mistakes even though Valentino pushed me so hard. In the end I could win so the effort I made was worth it.”