Marc Marquez wins, conquering the first position in the World Championship ranking. On the podium also Zarco and Iannone. A few laps before the end, both Ducati riders and Pedrosa had an accident.
The World Champion dictates his own rules here in Jerez de la Frontera, gaining a new victory in the GP. But this race has also been Ducati’s failure, with both Dovizioso and Lorenzo falling, together with Pedrosa, while fighting for the podium: the riders had an accident that took them all out of the game. Johann Zarco didn’t miss the chance and got a 2nd place. As for the 3rd, Andrea Iannone eventually won the fight and got another podium, doubling Austin’s success.
A great start for Lorenzo (the only rider with soft front tyre) and Pedrosa, who immediately took the lead followed by Zarco, Crutchlow, and Marquez. An Aprilia (Aleix Espargaro’s one) had to leave a few moments after the beginning due to a technical issue. The battle heated up real quick among the Spanish riders heading the group, closely followed by the Tech 3 rider, the poleman and by Dovizioso, who managed to overtake the Suzuki duo. After a few minutes, we witnessed the first two falls: they involved Rins and Crutchlow with only the British rider able to re-join the race.
Twelve laps before the end, the World Champion distanced himself from the rest of the group leaving the battle for the remaining steps on the podium in the hands of Ducati’s and Pedrosa. Seven laps before the end, on Dry Sack Turn, Dovizioso passed Lorenzo, who tried to regain his position right away but ended up closing the trajectory too much, hitting Pedrosa first (a scary high-side for him, luckily with no injuries) and then bouncing on the former World Championship leader. The accident was under investigation of the Race Direction, but they decided then for no further action.
Marc Marquez wins the first home race of the season with a large gap over Johann Zarco. Andrea Iannone steps on the podium for the second race in a row, defeating Danilo Petrucci, Valentino Rossi and Jack Miller (these are also their positions at the end of the race). Maverick Viñales finished 7th, ahead of Alvaro Bautista, while the last positions in the top 10 belong to Franco Morbidelli (his best result of the season) and the wild card Mika Kallio, the best KTM in Jerez.
The ranking
