Pedrosa and Márquez on the podium for Honda in Jerez
Dani Pedrosa led from start to finish in today’s Spanish Grand Prix while Valentino Rossi still leads the overall ranking after coming home in 10thNadal-Anderson: US Open Final
Three Spaniards on the podium in Jerez
The victory, a one-two for the Honda team who had reigning champion Marc Márquez crossing the line second 6.136 seconds behind his team mate, was Pedrosa's first on Spanish soil since he won at the same circuit in 2013. It was also his first in MotoGP since San Marino last September and continued his streak of winning a race in every season he has been in the top flight since 2006.
Viñales closes two within two points of Rossi
Jorge Lorenzo took third place, the triple MotoGP champion's first podium for Ducati since his move from Yamaha, completing a Spanish sweep of the podium places in motorcycling's 3,000th world championship grand prix. Rossi's lead was cut to two points over Spanish team mate Maverick Viñales, who finished sixth in the race, with the 38-year-old Italian now on 62 after four races. Viñales has 60, Márquez 58 and Pedrosa 52.
Pedrosa, the third different winner in four races, had started on pole for the first time since 2015 and pulled away at the start but it was not a comfortable afternoon for the little Catalan. "It was an extremely hard race to be calm," he said aftewards. "I wanted to go faster but maybe the track conditions were not there and the feeling in some corners I was about to crash. I wasn't really riding very comfortably so I had to be very focused every turn. At the middle of the race Marc started to be fast and put some pressure but I was able to control my pace and manage my lap times and my riding."
Tyre too soft for Jerez circuit, says Márquez
Britain's Cal Crutchlow had started third but fell back before crashing out while French rookie Johann Zarco took up the challenge behind Márquez on the non-works Yamaha Tech3, eventually finishing fourth. Márquez said he had pushed hard to match Pedrosa but had felt from the start that the front tyre was too soft for the conditions. "With three laps remaining I had a big moment and said OK. I saw that second position was really good here...I always struggle at Jerez and here we were strong so I have a lot of confidence."
#MM93 mentality in Jerez: “Push – but inside the limit!”#SpanishGP 📰https://t.co/y6zkrrRgNC pic.twitter.com/dylGMYjGYw — MotoGP™ 🏁 (@MotoGP) 7 May 2017