MotoGP 2013 – Round 16 – Phillip Island – Lorenzo wins P.I. as Marquez disqualified – Phillip Island MotoGP
MotoGP 2013 – Round 16 – Phillip Island – Lorenzo wins P.I. as Marquez disqualified – Phillip Island MotoGP
Jorge Lorenzo has inflicted maximum damage on the day Marc Marquez could have clinched the MotoGP crown, as the current title-holder clinched his 50th career race victory in a Tissot Australian Phillip Island MotoGP including mandatory bike changes. Failing to acknowledge the pre-determined pit window, Marquez was shown the black flag.
Prior to the Phillip Island MotoGP race, it was announced that the duration would decrease from 27 to 19 laps on the grounds of safety, with tyre degradation throughout practice having been significantly higher than expected on the newly resurfaced Phillip Island circuit. Furthermore, all riders would be obliged to pit for bike changes on either the ninth or tenth lap of the race, while also running the harder available compound throughout.
A clean start saw no fallers, with Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) attacking Lorenzo at the Honda hairpin, but the Yamaha Factory Racing man immediately retaking the top spot on the run into Siberia. The sensation would come with the mandatory pit window, with Marquez’s teammate Pedrosa first to peel off from third place at the end of Lap 9 and followed by numerous other riders.
Lorenzo would pit at the end of the tenth tour but, having expected a pit lane duel with Marquez, saw the 20-year-old rookie continue for another circulation of the circuit. Marquez then came in at the end of Lap 11, outside the pre-determined window of pitting by Lap 10 at the latest. In a remarkable twist for the 2013 World Championship battle, Marquez was disqualified, as was Australian Bryan Staring (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) as the same error had been committed.
Having escaped a touch with Marquez as the latter re-joined from the pits, Lorenzo went on to claim win number six of the season; this also marked the first time since 2006 that a rider other than the now retired Casey Stoner had clinched victory at Phillip Island. Pedrosa finished second to maintain his own title aspirations, as Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi beat Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Cal Crutchlow and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista in a thrilling contest for third, while light rain began to fall as proceedings drew to a close.
Bradley Smith was sixth for Tech3, having run as high as fourth thanks to a rapid start, while the top ten was rounded out by Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team), Andrea Iannone (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Randy de Puniet (Power Electronics Aspar) who ended a race as lead CRT for the first time this year. Danilo Petrucci finished 15th for Came IodaRacing Project, denying a first point for Luca Scassa as the Cardion AB Motoracing rider finished less than one tenth of a second behind. On the same day, Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro collected honours of top CRT for the season.
After the race, the Repsol Honda Team put Marquez’s disqualification down to a misunderstanding in the team, saying that it thought he was able to run ten whole laps before pitting in, which is why he entered in the 11th.
The MotoGP™ fight now rages on to Motegi Twin Ring and the Grand Prix of Japan, with the championship lead having been decreased from 43 to 18 points. The season will then end at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, Spain on 10th November.
MotoGP Race Classification – Race Result – Round 16 – 2013 – Phillip Island MotoGP
1 Jorge Lorenzo 29’07.155 SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
2 Dani Pedrosa +6.936 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
3 Valentino Rossi +12.344 ITA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
4 Cal Crutchlow +12.460 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
5 Alvaro Bautista +12.513 SPA HONDA Go & Fun Honda Gresini
6 Bradley Smith +28.263 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
7 Nicky Hayden +32.953 USA DUCATI Ducati Team
8 Andrea Iannone +35.062 ITA DUCATI Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team
9 Andrea Dovizioso +35.104 ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
10 Randy De Puniet +37.426 FRA SUZUKI Suzuki Test Team
11 Aleix Espargaro +46.099 SPA ART Power Electronics Aspar
12 Colin Edwards +48.149 USA FTR-KAWASAKI NGM Mobile Forward Racing
13 Yonny Hernandez +49.911 COL DUCATI Ignite Pramac Racing Team
14 Hector Barbera +49.998 SPA FTR Avintia Blusens
15 Danilo Petrucci +58.718 ITA IODA-SUTER Came IodaRacing Project
16 Luca Scassa +58.791 ITA ART Cardion AB Motoracing
17 Claudio Corti +1’08.105 ITA FTR-KAWASAKI NGM Mobile Forward Racing
18 Michael Laverty +1’27.230 GBR PBM Paul Bird Motorsport
19 Lukas Pesek +1’31.093 CZE IODA-SUTER Came IodaRacing Project
20 Hiroshi Aoyama +1 lap JAP FTR Avintia Blusens
21 Damian Cudlin +2 laps AUS PBM Paul Bird Motorsport
22 Bryan Staring DNF AUS FTR-HONDA Go & Fun Honda Gresini
23 Marc Marquez DNF SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
Moto2
Pol Espargaro has retaken the Moto2™ World Championship lead, winning Sunday’s Tissot Australian Grand Prix in the absence of Scott Redding. Tom Luthi and Jordi Torres completed the podium, with Tito Rabat sinking to eighth place.
When looking back at the Phillip Island round of the 2013 season, the race is likely to be remembered as a key turning point in the campaign. Redding’s chances took a major blow on Saturday, with the Englishman and long-time championship leader being ruled out of action as he fractured his left wrist. Following an operation on Saturday night, the Marc VDS Racing Team rider was left helpless on the sidelines.
Espargaro (Tuenti HP 40) started from his fifth pole of the season, joined on the front row by teammate and last weekend’s Sepang winner Tito Rabat who has demonstrated rapidity since practice began on Friday. A reduced race distance saw the riders tackling only 13 laps of the southern Australian venue, with fears over tyres having seen changes to the duration following the qualifying session on Saturday.
It would prove to be a lights to flag victory for Espargaro, his fifth of the season, allowing the Catalan to win at Phillip Island for the second consecutive year; in the process, he snatches back the championship lead for the first time since after the season-opening race in Qatar. In a brilliant day for Espargaro’s championship situation, teammate Rabat finished only eighth after running off the circuit.
Tom Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing) pushed Espargaro all the way, finishing only half a second behind Espargaro for a fifth rostrum of the season and his second within the space of a week. Jordi Torres was third for Aspar Team Moto2, collecting his first rostrum result since winning the German Grand Prix in July.
The top five was completed by NGM Mobile Racing’s Simone Corsi and former Phillip Island winner Alex de Angelis, who ran second for NGM Mobile Forward Racing in the early stages of the race. Redding’s teammate Mika Kallio was seventh from the aforementioned Rabat, Aspar’s Nico Terol and QMMF Racing’s Anthony West who successfully finished in the top ten in his home event. Reigning Moto3™ World Champion Sandro Cortese finished 11th for Dynavolt Intact GP from Forward’s Ricky Cardus and Tech3’s Danny Kent.
Five riders failed to finish: Julian Simon (Italtrans Racing Team), Johann Zarco (Came IodaRacing Project), Xavier Simeon (Maptaq SAG Zelos Team), Louis Rossi (Tech3) and Alex Mariñelarena (Blusens Avintia), while Tuenti HP 40’s Alex Pons finished 24th after an early-race off. Pons, Italtrans’ Takaaki Nakagami and Maptaq SAG Zelos Team’s Marcel Schrotter were all handed penalties for jumping the start.
With just the Japanese and Valencian rounds of the season remaining, Espargaro leads Redding in the championship by 16 points following a dramatic shaking up of the establishment. Rabat sits third, 36 points behind the leader with a maximum of 50 left on offer. The action will continue at Twin Ring Motegi next weekend.
Moto2 Race Classification
1 / Pol ESPARGARO / SPA / Tuenti HP 40 / KALEX / 20’19.219 / 170.7 /
2 / Thomas LUTHI / SWI / Interwetten Paddock Moto2 / SUTER / 20’19.810 / 170.6 / 0.591
3 / Jordi TORRES / SPA / Aspar Team Moto2 / SUTER / 20’19.898 / 170.6 / 0.679
4 / Simone CORSI / ITA / NGM Mobile Racing / SPEED UP / 20’20.112 / 170.6 / 0.893
5 / Alex DE ANGELIS / RSM / NGM Mobile Forward Racing / SPEED UP / 20’20.330 / 170.5 / 1.111
6 / Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Technomag carXpert / SUTER / 20’22.292 / 170.3 / 3.073
7 / Mika KALLIO / FIN / Marc VDS Racing Team / KALEX / 20’22.453 / 170.2 / 3.234
8 / Esteve RABAT / SPA / Tuenti HP 40 / KALEX / 20’22.874 / 170.2 / 3.655
9 / Nicolas TEROL / SPA / Aspar Team Moto2 / SUTER / 20’29.401 / 169.3 / 10.182
10 / Anthony WEST / AUS / QMMF Racing Team / SPEED UP / 20’37.302 / 168.2 / 18.083
11 / Sandro CORTESE / GER / Dynavolt Intact GP / KALEX / 20’37.536 / 168.2 / 18.317
12 / Ricard CARDUS / SPA / NGM Mobile Forward Racing / SPEED UP / 20’38.634 / 168 / 19.415
13 / Danny KENT / GBR / Tech 3 / TECH 3 / 20’51.413 / 166.3 / 32.194
14 / Gino REA / GBR / Argiñano & Gines Racing / SPEED UP / 20’52.054 / 166.2 / 32.835
15 / Doni Tata PRADITA / INA / Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 / SUTER / 20’54.807 / 165.8 / 35.588
Moto3
Alex Rins has won a thrilling Moto3™ Tissot Australian Grand Prix, coming out on top of a multiple-rider battle to beat Maverick Viñales by just three thousandths of a second. Both riders decreased the championship-leading advantage of pole-sitter Luis Salom, who completed the podium at Phillip Island.
Rins’ latest victory of 2013 was surely his most dramatic to date, ensuring he has now matched Salom on six race wins this season, as well as having won three of the last four Grand Prix. Remarkably, the top seven riders were covered by just over one second, with Niccolo Antonelli only a further 1.1 in arrears.
The majority of riders in the field found themselves in tight groups for the duration of the 23-lap race, affected by light rain on certain parts of the newly resurfaced circuit. Philipp Oettl (Interwetten Paddock Moto3) would fail to start due to engine problems and there were retirements for Francesco Bagnaia (San Carlo Team Italia) and Hyuga Watanabe (La Fonte Tascaracing), but no less than 30 riders managed the testing conditions to finish.
A titanic battle at the forefront saw a selection of riders enjoying time in the lead, whereas Salom ran as low as seventh but looked to be making his customary climb to the very sharp end in the closing minutes of the race. However it was Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger who stole the limelight as the final lap began, shooting into the lead at Doohan curve, only to run wide and drop to sixth three corners later.
The run to line resulted in the closest finish so far this year in the World Championship, with Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) pipping Viñales (Team Calvo) after having both started on the second row of the grid. The winner now moves to within just five points of championship leader Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo) with a pair of races remaining in Japan and Valencia, whereas Viñales is also in contention and 22 in arrears of the overall leader.
Rins’ teammate Alex Marquez finished fourth, with the first group completed by local favourite Jack Miller (Caretta Technology – RTG), Folger, front-row starter Efren Vazquez (Mahindra Racing) and Antonelli (GO&FUN Gresini Moto3). Avant Tecno’s Niklas Ajo was a further 12.8 seconds behind and headed the second group, with Alexis Masbou rounding out the top ten for Ongetta-Rivacold. Mahindra’s Miguel Oliveira recovered to 26th spot and was fortunate to avoid injury after flying over his handlebars at the MG hairpin on the opening lap.
Moto3 Race Classification
1 / Alex RINS / SPA / Estrella Galicia 0,0 / KTM / 37’40.375 / 162.9 /
2 / Maverick VIÑALES / SPA / Team Calvo / KTM / 37’40.378 / 162.9 / 0.003
3 / Luis SALOM / SPA / Red Bull KTM Ajo / KTM / 37’40.553 / 162.9 / 0.178
4 / Alex MARQUEZ / SPA / Estrella Galicia 0,0 / KTM / 37’40.877 / 162.8 / 0.502
5 / Jack MILLER / AUS / Caretta Technology – RTG / FTR HONDA / 37’40.976 / 162.8 / 0.601
6 / Jonas FOLGER / GER / Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 / KALEX KTM / 37’41.452 / 162.8 / 1.077
7 / Efren VAZQUEZ / SPA / Mahindra Racing / MAHINDRA / 37’41.479 / 162.8 / 1.104
8 / Niccolò ANTONELLI / ITA / GO&FUN Gresini Moto3 / FTR HONDA / 37’42.642 / 162.7 / 2.267
9 / Niklas AJO / FIN / Avant Tecno / KTM / 37’55.449 / 161.8 / 15.074
10 / Alexis MASBOU / FRA / Ongetta-Rivacold / FTR HONDA / 37’56.335 / 161.7 / 15.96
11 / Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN / MAL / Red Bull KTM Ajo / KTM / 37’56.349 / 161.7 / 15.974
12 / Jakub KORNFEIL / CZE / Redox RW Racing GP / KALEX KTM / 37’56.480 / 161.7 / 16.105
13 / Isaac VIÑALES / SPA / Ongetta-Centro Seta / FTR HONDA / 37’56.686 / 161.7 / 16.311
14 / Romano FENATI / ITA / San Carlo Team Italia / FTR HONDA / 37’56.907 / 161.7 / 16.532
15 / Brad BINDER / RSA / Ambrogio Racing / MAHINDRA / 37’57.004 / 161.7 / 16.629
— Lorenzo Flies to Record Breaking Phillip Island Pole
— Lorenzo on Phillip Island pole as mandatory pit-stops announced
Jorge Lorenzo has clinched pole position for the Tissot Australian Grand Prix, beating Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi to the top spot in a highly dramatic shootout at Phillip Island.
With only three rounds remaining in the 2013 MotoGP™ season and Marquez able to clinch an historic premier class title win this weekend, the qualifying session at Phillip Island would prove to be one of the most incident-packed of the year. Ultimately, Lorenzo clinched his third pole of the campaign – his first since Jerez in May – courtesy of a best lap of 1’27.899, but this was only after the reigning World Champion’s Yamaha Factory Racing bike clipped a seagull. The margin at the front would be two tenths of a second, with Marquez able to secure the world crown on Sunday if he ends the race with a points-advantage of 51 or more.
In third place, Rossi – who on only three occasions in his career has failed to finish on the podium at Phillip Island – will start on the front row for the second consecutive race, ahead of GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista who qualified fourth but went off-track at the end of qualifying. Fifth will be Sepang winner Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) – who is the only rider other than Marquez and Lorenzo who retains a mathematical possibility of winning the championship – from Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Cal Crutchlow, who will start sixth. Row 3 will be occupied by Tech3’s Bradley Smith plus Ducati Team pairing Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso.
Tenth on the grid will be Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone, who entered the Q2 shootout from Q1, as was also the case with Dovizioso. It was towards the end of Q1 when Iannone was involved in an on-track disagreement with Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro, who failed to feature in Q2 for only the fourth time this in 2013. In the meantime, Colin Edwards set the CRT pace as he qualified 11th for NGM Mobile Forward Racing, one position in front of Randy de Puniet while the Frenchman’s teammate Espargaro will be 13th on the grid; both de Puniet and Edwards suffered incidents in the Q2 shootout.
LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl has taken no further part in the weekend since attempting to ride in opening practice, having fractured his right ankle at Sepang one week ago; the German hopes to return at Motegi next weekend. Australian Bryan Staring will start his home race 21st on the Gresini CRT bike, with fellow countryman Damian Cudlin having qualified 23rd for PBM on his 31st birthday.
In a separate twist, Bridgestone have announced that they are unable to guarantee safety of their rear slick tyres beyond 14 laps, and it has therefore been decided that every rider will be required to enter the pits and change to his second machine with fresh tyres at least once during the race. No rider is permitted to make more than 14 laps on any one slick rear tyre. This means that a bike/tyre change before lap 12 will require a second bike/tyre change to finish the race. Prototypes will have to use the hard-, and CRTs the medium spec tyre.
And to mark the occasion of the Australian race, it was fitting that Casey Stoner was inducted as a MotoGP™ Legend at Phillip Island on Saturday. The World Champion of 2007 and 2011 becomes the 20th MotoGP™ Legend, joining riders such as compatriots Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan.
— Compulsory Pit Stops for MotoGP
Dorna has been notified by Bridgestone that they are unable to guarantee safety of their rear slick tyres beyond 14 laps. It has therefore been decided to make the following changes to the MotoGP class race in the interests of the safety of the riders.
1. The race distance will be 26 laps.
2. Every rider will be required to enter the pits and change to his second machine with fresh tyres at least once during the race.
3. No rider is permitted to make more than 14 laps on any one slick rear tyre.This means that a bike/tyre change before lap 12 will require a second bike/tyre change to finish the race.
4. Riders using “Factory” and “Satellite” machines will be required to use the “hard” option tyre (B51DR). Extra quantity will be allocated by Bridgestone.
5. Riders using CRT machines will be required to use CRT “hard” option tyre (B50DR). Extra quantity will be allocated by Bridgestone.
6. The pit lane speed limit zone will be extended both on entry and exit, and the exit route to rejoin the track will be marked by a white line in the runoff area. Crossing this line whilst rejoining the track from pit lane will result in a penalty.
Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department – “With the new, improved track surface at Phillip Island it was expected that we could see a new Circuit Best Lap record today, but to see it beaten by such a margin was a very pleasing result. We could see after FP3 that tyre temperatures were extremely high, so we offered an extra-hard specification rear slick tyre for the works riders to evaluate in FP4. However, this compound option didn’t work as well on the track surface, hence we will be offering our original hard specification rear slick to riders for the race. Both our extra-soft and soft compound front slicks were used today and the feedback from riders was that both options worked well and I expect both of the front slick choices to be utilised in tomorrow’s race. We anticipated tyre temperatures would be higher this year at Phillip Island, but not to the extreme levels we have seen this weekend. After analysing the used tyres after today`s sessions, we have decided that the maximum safe distance that our rear slick tyres can be run is fourteen laps. Following discussions between Bridgestone, Dorna and the FIM on how to best manage rider safety for the race, it was race direction`s decision to make tomorrow`s race a flag-to-flag contest.”
FRONT ROW
1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha Factory Racing 1’27.899
2. Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1’28.120
3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing 1’28.647
SECOND ROW
4. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1’28.713
5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1’28.748
6. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1’28.809
THIRD ROW
7. Bradley Smith (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1’28.941
8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Team 1’29.295
9. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati Team 1’29.660
FOURTH ROW
10. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Pramac Racing Team 1’29.756
11. Colin Edwards (USA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1’30.264
12. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Power Electronics Aspar 1’30.735
FIFTH ROW
13. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Power Electronics Aspar 1’30.081
14. Claudio Corti (ITA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1’30.530
15. Yonny Hernandez (COL) Ignite Pramac Racing Team 1’30.641
SIXTH ROW
16. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Avintia Blusens 1’30.733
17. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Came Iodaracing Project 1’30.894
18. Michael Laverty (GBR) Paul Bird Motorsport 1’30.979
SEVENTH ROW
19. Hector Barbera (SPA) Avintia Blusens 1’31.061
20. Luca Scassa (ITA) Cardion AB Motoracing 1’31.093
21. Bryan Staring (AUS) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1’31.775
EIGHTH ROW
22. Lukas Pesek (CZE) Came IodaRacing Project 1’32.474
23. Damian Cudlin (AUS) Paul Bird Motorsport 1’33.007
