Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo survived difficult wet/dry conditions at Aragon that caught the likes of world champions Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez, among others to take his first victory of the 2014 MotoGP season.
At the start, Iannounce shot to the lead of the race but his ride at the front of the field was short lived and he crashed out on the second lap of the race. The Italian was battling with pole sitter and MotoGP points leader Marquez when he was caught out by the wet grass at turn 10.
He wasn’t the only one to retire this early in the race with multiple MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi joining him as the list of retirees on lap four. The Italian was taken to hospital for precautionary checks.
These two crashes served as a trailer to the drama that lied ahead in the 800th MotoGP race. With nearly two-third of the race over, rain started to fall around the Spanish circuit. Jorge Lorenzo took an inspired decision to switch to the wet weather machinery while the Honda pair of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa gambled on slicks despite the rain.
As it turned out, pitting was the right call and this decision helped Lorenzo take his first victory since MotoGP Valencia 2013.
Marquez and Pedrosa eventually pitted but by that time the damage was already done and the Honda pairing salvaged to 13th and 14th places respectively.
Back at the front, Open Class driver Aleix Espargaro held off Ducati’s Cal Crutchlow to take the runners up position. The two went side-by-side on the start/finish straight with the former eventually taking the second place. Cal Crutchlow would however be content with the result, considering his team struggled all weekend at Aragon.
Moto2: Vinales wins ahead of championship leader Rabat
Maverick Vinales registered his second win of his debut season in Moto2, beating championship leader Esteve Rabat at his home in Spain.
It was easy lights-to-flag victory for the 2013 Moto3 world champion who continues to impress in MotoGP’s feeder category.
Meanwhile, Esteve Rabat extended his championship advantage to teammate and rival Mika Kallio to 33 points after the latter could finish no higher than seventh at Aragon.
Third place went to Caterham’s Johann Zarco who completed the podium after a fierce battle with Interwetten Sitag' Thomas Luthi.
Moto3: Fenati takes victory in dry conditions as Marquez takes championship lead
In the Moto3 category, it was Romano Fenati who emerged victorious with a superb drive from 13th on the grid for Sky Racing Team.
The pivotal moment of the racep, however, was the crash between championship rivals Alex Marquez and Jack Miller. While Marquez continued and finished second to take the championship lead by 11 points, Miller lost out and finished well outside the points in 27th place. However, Australian's more than impressive performances this season have helped him bag a drive with LCR Honda team in the premier category for 2015.
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