Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 5 / MAY 17-19, 2019 BUGATTI CIRCUIT / LE MANS, FRANCE P76 Kalex thereafter in eighth; while Remy Gardner (ONEXOX Kalex)— fastest in morning warm-up—was 12th, at the far end of row four. Luthi led away from Marquez and teammate Xavi Vierge, with Navarro in hot pursuit ahead of Baldassari. But on lap two Bal- dassarri high-sided, and fell un- der the wheels of Pasini, who ran over him before also crashing. Up front, Luthi was soon in trouble, and on lap three Mar- quez scythed past easily. Vierge followed him through directly, and the Swiss veteran would continue to drop back. Not-so-Italian veteran Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing) had started down in 18th but was up to 10th already by the end of lap one. On the sixth, he was third, and promptly displaced Vierge to start putting the pressure on Marquez. But it all went wrong into the tight lefts at the end of lap 10, as he lost the front and slithered to a furious conclusion. no-score dealt a heavy blow to his dwindling championship hopes. Iannone and Rabat both retired. Marquez now has 95 points to Dovizioso's 87, with Rins at 75, then Rossi (72) and Petrucci (67). Moto2 Alex Marquez took his EG-VDS Kalex to a textbook first win since 2017, stamping authority on a race that saw championship leader Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flex- box HP40 Kalex) stretchered off with concussion and a dislocated shoulder after crashing out of fifth place on only the second lap. The weather had been margin- ally less disruptive in qualifying for the smaller class, with Jorge Navarro (Speed Up) on a second successive pole, from Thomas Luthi (Dynavolt Kalex) and Mar- quez, with regular substitute rider Mattia Pasini (Petronas Kalex) heading row two. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) was the first non- rewarded the record home crowd with an excellent ride. A bad first lap left fast Frenchman Fabio Quartararo down in 15th, but he set the quickest lap of the race as he forged through to an eventual eighth. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) had spoiled his chances by miss- ing out on Q2 because of the rain. Fifteenth on the grid, he was up to eighth by lap eight but was consigned to ninth at the end by the charging Quartararo. Alex Rins (Ecstar Suzuki) com- pleted the top 10. He too had ru- ined his chances by missing out in qualifying, starting from 19th, and picking through gradually. His last victim had been Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda), who had spent most of the race dropping gradually away behind Crutchlow before Quartararo swept past, and a little later Rins as well. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) was a lone 12th, after pulling clear of Zarco's KTM; the off-key French- man barely two seconds ahead of Red Bull satellite-teamsters Hafizh Syahrin and Miguel Olivei- ra, who had changed places on the last lap. With Mir 16th, a lap down, there were points for all the rest. Maverick Vinales (Monster Ya- maha) was one of the big losers. A bad start saw him circulating in 14th until he was knocked down and out by Bagnaia on only the eighth lap after he had slowed suddenly to avoid a collision with the elder Espargaro. A second Miguel Oliveira leads Andrea Iannone at the tail end of the pack.