2016 Jerez MotoGP Results
For the first time of season, MotoGP headed to Europe. Under perfect weather, Spain’s Jerez hosted the Spanish Grand Prix, round four of 18.
Heading into Jerez only two riders were victorious – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo, who won the season opener at Qatar, and Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez, who won rounds two and three in Argentina and Texas, respectively.
But this changed Sunday after 27 laps at the 2.75-mile Jerez containing 13 corners. Taking his first win since the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last season was the other factory YZR-M1 pilot, Valentino Rossi.
The nine-time World Champion completed the feat from pole – which was Rossi’s 62nd (across all classes) – the same as Lorenzo. This was also Rossi’s first pole since the Dutch TT last season.
En route to his 113th win across (87th in the premier class), Rossi led every lap. He was joined on the podium by Lorenzo, who remained in second for the entire race, and Marquez. Lorenzo, who claimed his 100th premier-class podium, finished 2.386 seconds back, and Marquez 7.087 seconds back. All three riders were on hard front and medium rear Michelin tires.
When the race began, Rossi got turn one, followed by Lorenzo and Marquez, who also qualified in the second and third positions, respectively. But Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa showed some serious speeds, moving from seventh to third on the opening lap. Marquez quickly responded, taking third back and holding the position for the remaining 26 laps.
Pedrosa finished fourth, 10.351 seconds behind, followed by the Team Suzuki Ecstar duo of Aleix Espagaro and Maverick Vinales, respectively. The top Ducati rider was Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone, who finished seventh after falling as far back as 14th.
Rounding out the top 10 were Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro, Aspar Team MotoGP’s Eugene Laverty, and Avintia Racing Ducati’s Hector Barbera.
As for Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso, for the third race this season he suffered an incident that wasn’t his fault. He experienced technical issues with his Desmosedici GP16 on the 10th lap, and was forced to retire. Two weeks ago in Austin, Dovi suffered a DNF after Pedrosa ran into him; he also crashed in Argentina after teammate Iannone took him out on the final lap while in podium contention. Dovi would push his bike across the line to earn 13th at Termas de Rio Hondo.
The only other DNF during Jerez MotoGP came from Aprilia’s Alvaro Bautista, who crashed out at turn 11 while battling with LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow (finished 10th).
The 2016 MotoGP Championship now breaks for two weeks ahead of the Grand Prix of France at Le Man’s Bugatti Circuit.
Photos by Luciano Bianchetto
2016 Jerez MotoGP Results
| Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 157.5 | 45’28.834 |
| 2 | 20 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 157.4 | +2.386 |
| 3 | 16 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 157.1 | +7.087 |
| 4 | 13 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 156.9 | +10.351 |
| 5 | 11 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 156.7 | +14.143 |
| 6 | 10 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 156.5 | +16.772 |
| 7 | 9 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 156.0 | +26.277 |
| 8 | 8 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | SPA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 155.7 | +30.750 |
| 9 | 7 | 50 | Eugene LAVERTY | IRL | Aspar Team MotoGP | Ducati | 155.7 | +32.325 |
| 10 | 6 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 155.6 | +32.624 |
| 11 | 5 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | LCR Honda | Honda | 155.3 | +38.497 |
| 12 | 4 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 155.2 | +39.669 |
| 13 | 3 | 76 | Loris BAZ | FRA | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 154.9 | +45.227 |
| 14 | 2 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 154.8 | +47.886 |
| 15 | 1 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Aspar Team MotoGP | Ducati | 154.8 | +47.988 |
| 16 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | OCTO Pramac Yakhnich | Ducati | 154.7 | +49.414 | |
| 17 | 43 | Jack MILLER | AUS | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 154.7 | +49.513 | |
| 18 | 53 | Tito RABAT | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 154.5 | +53.334 | |
| 19 | 45 | Scott REDDING | GBR | OCTO Pramac Yakhnich | Ducati | 153.8 | +1’05.555 | |
| Not Classified | ||||||||
| 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 155.7 | 18 Laps | ||
| 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 153.9 | 22 Laps | ||
2016 Jerez MotoGP Results – Photo Gallery
