Marquez takes dominating home victory in Barcelona

Marc Marquez celebrated a dominating home victory at the Catalan GP while an apologetic Jorge Lorenzo had his strongest start to a race this season before falling.

The hottest conditions of the weekend met the MotoGP World Championship as the 24-rider strong field lined up on the grid. 51°C track temperature caused Marc Marquez little issue as he relished an early fight as the lights went out.

Marquez would soon find himself leading his home Grand Prix with a comfortable advantage due to incidents behind. Consistently lapping in the mid to low 1’40s during the early stages of the race, Marquez maintained his advantage to cross the line 2.660s clear of second place. This is the reigning MotoGP World Champion’s second premier class win in Barcelona and his fourth of the 2019 season.

The victory is Marquez’s 48th in the premier class and helps to extend his championship lead to 37 points over Dovizioso who was involved in the accident with Lorenzo. Honda hold a 15 points advantage over Ducati in the Constructor Championship.

Jorge Lorenzo had his best start to a Grand Prix as a Repsol Honda Team rider, jumping from tenth up to fourth place by just the second corner. Looking comfortable at the front, Lorenzo quickly closed in on the leading trio. Unfortunately Lorenzo suffered a fall at Turn 10 soon after, ending his race while fighting for the podium and sadly unable to avoid contact with other riders. The opening laps demonstrated Jorge Lorenzo’s ever-improving feeling on the RC213V.

The Repsol Honda Team now prepares for a day of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya where both Marquez and Lorenzo will run through a number of solutions for the future. Racing action resumes in Assen, June 28 – 30 in a few weeks time.

Repsol Honda Team hunt home glory in Barcelona

With the lead in the Rider and Constructor World Championships in hand, the Repsol Honda Team arrives in Barcelona ready to fight.

After a scintillating Italian GP, the Repsol Honda Team enters the Catalan GP with renewed vigour after narrowly missing out on victory in Mugello. Both Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo are looking forward to added support from home fans at the 4.6km long Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Marquez has enjoyed a consistent podium record at the Catalan GP, failing to finish in the top three just once in the premier class. This bodes well as Marquez looks to continue building his championship lead over his title rivals, the reigning MotoGP World Champion currently 12 points clear of Dovizioso.

Jorge Lorenzo, current holder of the pole position and fastest race lap records at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, is hoping to rediscover his feeling from Le Mans on the RC213V. With five wins and seven podiums to his name, Lorenzo has enjoyed multiple successes at his home race in the past and arrives optimistic of more progress.

Free Practice 1 begins the weekend at 09:55 local time Friday, June 14 with the 24-lap Catalan GP commencing at 14:00 local time on Sunday, June 16. A one-day in-season test follows the Grand Prix on Monday.