MotoGP Race Results From the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez

Dani Pedrosa thoroughly and completely dominated Sunday's Spanish GP at Jerez. Starting from pole, the 31-year-old Sabadell native led all 27 laps and, in the process, became the first rider in the history of the sport to win at least one race for 16 consecutive seasons—12 in MotoGP. Repsol Honda teammate Marc Marquez was second, with Jorge Lorenzo third in his first podium appearance for Ducati.

Amid the hottest conditions of the weekend, Pedrosa set an enviable standard for consistency. He opened a half-second gap on Marquez after one lap, set the quickest time of the race on lap three, and then knocked off 17 successive laps within 0.483 seconds of each other. When Marquez closed to within a second on lap 24, Pedrosa lowered the boom again. Margin of victory was 6.136 seconds.

Pedrosa wasn’t as comfortable during the race as his smooth riding may have suggested. “I had to be very, very focused every turn,” he said, adding that the hard-compound front Michelin he chose for the race was not his favorite. “I wanted to go faster, but I felt in some corners that I was about to crash. In the middle of the race, Marc started to be fast and put on some pressure, but I was able to control my pace and manage my lap times.”

While Pedrosa was disappearing at the front, MotoGP rookie Johann Zarco was proving once again that he is destined for stardom—or possibly an off-track drubbing. The two-time Moto2 world champion started sixth then sliced up Valentino Rossi, Maverick Vinales, Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Iannone, and even, briefly, Marquez to complete lap four in second. Zarco and Lorenzo were among the four riders who opted for the medium front tire.

Marquez, one of just three to use the hard rear, took the long view. "I was pushing," he said, regarding his late-race run at Pedrosa. "But from the beginning, I felt that the front tire was too soft; it had a lot of movement. I had a big moment, and I said, 'Okay, second position is a really good end to this weekend.' In those conditions, Dani is the best. He is really smooth. I always struggle at Jerez, but today we were strong."

Crutchlow and Iannone crashed, unhurt, in separate incidents, allowing Lorenzo to concentrate on Zarco. The Majorcan, who celebrated his 30th birthday this past Thursday, equated his third-place finish to a victory. "I expected to fight for fifth or sixth," he admitted. "The race pace was very slow because of the heat, and I could catch and overtake some riders. I was very tired but I never gave up." Teammate Andrea Dovizioso was fifth, one spot ahead of Vinales.

After crashing while leading at the season-opening race in Qatar, Zarco has finished every subsequent round in the top five. Fourth is his best placing thus far in the premier class. “At the beginning of the race, my feeling was great,” he said. “I almost, however, crashed twice, which allowed Marc to overtake me. I was really on the limit and wasn’t able to follow the top two riders. My target is to be on the podium or as close to it as possible, so we did the job today.”

With his victory on Sunday, Pedrosa moves to fourth in the championship, 10 points behind leader Valentino Rossi. “It was a difficult race after a difficult weekend,” said Rossi, following his 10th-place finish. “I never had a good feeling with the bike or the tires. We worked a lot, especially to fix the [tire] spin in acceleration. In the race, I was also in trouble with the front. At the end, I had to slow down a lot.”

Overall race time was two seconds faster than last year. “The surface is always quite slippery, but as temperatures rise, the adhesion reduces further and this creates issues that the riders didn’t have to contend with on the other days this weekend,” said Michelin’s Nicolas Goubert. “We have a very important test here on Monday, where we will work toward making a decision on the direction we will take with front tire construction for the rest of the season.”

Following Monday's test, the MotoGP teams will regroup in France for round five of the series. "It was amazing today to pull out this win because our rivals were not as good," Pedrosa said. "Normally, they are the favorites at this track and at least one bike is on the podium. We got back some points after our mistake in Argentina. It's quite good for us and more interesting for the championship."