Movistar Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo of Spain was the winner of Aragon GP in his home country. The eventful race saw two-time defending champion Marc Marquez crashing out for the fifth time this season and another Spaniard Dani Pedrosa edging out championship leader Valentino Rossi to the third place. By his victory at Aragon, Lorenzo has narrowed the gap on title rival and his team-mate Valentino Rossi to 14 points. After Marquez crashed out in the second lap, it became easy for Lorenzo but a thrilling battle ensued for the second place between Rossi and Pedrosa. Lorenzo thinks he has a great chance of overtaking Rossi and win the MotoGP championship for the third time. Whoever wins the 2015 World Championship, Yamaha Movistar team has already bagged the Team Championship trophy. With only four races remaining this season, it is unlikely that anyone can upstage the Yamaha riders. With 5 crashes this season, Marquez still holds the third spot but he is 79 points behind Rossi and there is no way he can wipe out that lead. It will be interesting to see whether Rossi becomes a champion for the 10th time or Lorenzo realizes his third title dream.
On Sunday, Jorge Lorenzo overtook Marquez at the start of the Aragon MotoGP and led from start to finish. In trying to overtake Lorenzo, Marquez ended up in the gravel on the second lap itself and the race was over for him. In a fierce battle for the second place, Dani Pedrosa prevailed over Valentino Rossi in the last lap. Earlier in the qualifying on Saturday, Marquez had broken his own 2014 record of 1’47.187 by 0.552 seconds to finish at 1’46.635. Lorenzo was second and Andrea Iannone finished third. Pedrosa had matched his teammate for most part in qualifying but he ended up fifth behind Pol Espargaro. Rossi was placed sixth; Aleix Espargaro seventh; Cal Crutchlow eighth, Danilo Petrucci ninth and Bradley Smith finished tenth.
After Lorenzo pulled away from Marquez in the main race, the reigning champion began chasing him. Marquez did his best to stay as close to Lorenzo as possible but in the middle of a fast turn on lap-2, his bike slid under him across the track and Marquez went down. Marquez was furious with himself and clenched both his fists. He made an attempt to pick up the bike but couldn’t return to the race. While Lorenzo eased away in the lead after Marquez’s crash, the Aragon GP produced an explosive race for Valentino Rossi. The Italian veteran fought his way from sixth on the grid and had to contend with Ducati’s Andrea Iannone and Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa. With Lorenzo difficult to catch, Rossi wanted at least a second-place finish to contain the damage to his World Championship lead.
Pedrosa had opened a sizeable lead and therefore, Rossi went after him and kept the pressure on Spaniard. Until the closing stages, Rossi kept a hot chase but Pedrosa countered him each time. In the last lap, Rossi gave one final try but Pedrosa’s top-end speed denied the Italian. When the race ended, Lorenzo was first and Pedrosa second. Rossi had to rest content with the third spot on the podium. Ducati’s Andrea Iannone of Italy finished fourth and his teammate and countryman Andrea Dovizioso fifth. The sixth place was taken by Suzuki’s Aleix Espargaro, seventh by Honda’s Cal Crutchlow, eighth by Yamaha’s Bradley Smith, ninth by another Yamaha rider Pol Espargaro and Colombia’s Ducati rider Yonny Hernandez took the tenth spot. With four races remaining this season, Rossi is still the leader with 263 points to Lorenzo’s 249. Third placed Marquez is way behind with 184 points.
At Aragon, Movistar Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo shared the podium for the eighth time this season. That was enough for them to take the Team World Championship title even as four races in the season still remain. This is the first time since 2010 that Movistar Yamaha team got their hands on the Team World Championship. For the last four seasons, Repsol Honda team had been the Team Champions.
