With the Spanish GP riders really showing the rest of the field how it is done this year, the Spanish crowd at Catalunya certainly had high-hopes for Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez!
With Pedrosa qualifying in pole position on the grid and Lorenzo in third, it appeared that Marquez had the most work to do with his start in sixth, however a flying start saw him manage to muscle his way into the third place spot. Lorenzo also had an excellent start which saw him overtake Pedrosa to get himself to the front and this was the way the race continued until the chequered flag was waved – Lorenzo first, Pedrosa second and Marquez third ensuring an all Spanish podium to the sheer delight of the crowd.
Us Brits had much to cheer once again too however with Crutchlow starting from the front row of the grid in second, and although the start saw him pushed back to fourth, he was well in with a shot at some decent points to add to his already impressive tally. Sadly a hot, slippy track saw many crash out during the race and it was Cal’s turn on lap six. It was sad to see and although Cal was ready to admit it was totally his fault, these things certainly do happen and seeing as he’s been performing so well this year, we can’t stay mad at him for long can we?!!
However when one star falls, there is always another one not far behind and today was the day of Bradley Smith. Gritting his teeth (literally) with the pain of that badly bashed up finger, Bradley continued to improve and finished the race in sixth place – his best finish yet in Moto GP and a fantastic performance I’m sure you’ll all agree.
So after Round 6 the points standing are as follows:
- Dani Pedrosa – 123 points
- Jorge Lorenzo – 116 points
- Marc Marquez – 93 points
- Cal Crutchlow – 71 points
Lorenzo’s second win on the bounce has now reduced Pedrosa’s lead to only 7 points leaving the field wide open. Although it looks pretty certain that it is going to be Spanish rider to take the honours this year, with Crutchlow and Smith proudly waving the flag for GB, round 7 in Assen is certainly eagerly anticipated by all and who knows what events will unfold at the end of June.
And lets not forget, although we may not have a GB champion in Moto GP this year, we certainly do in other sports. A massive well done to Andy Murray on his third win at Queen’s – a nice warm-up for Wimbledon (COME ON ANDY!) and a huge congrats to Justin Rose on his maiden US Open win at Merion – a very successful weekend for Great British sport on the whole I’d say!!
