Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1131259
MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 9 / JUNE 14-16, 2019 CIRCUIT DE BARCELONA-CATALUNYA / CATALONIA, SPAIN P70 strong in the beginning, but not in the end," he admitted; while a jubilant Marquez "could not find words to say how I feel." Luthi got the jump off the line from first-time pole starter Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP40 Kalex), and by the end of lap one, the third front-row starter Sam Lowes (Fed- eral Oils Kalex) was already almost a second adrift. The Briton would continue to lose places, while Marquez, sixth on lap one, rapidly disposed of rookies Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Kalex) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Speed Up), and was third ahead of Lowes by lap three. At this point, Fernandez got ahead of Luthi for a couple of laps, helping his compatriot to close the gap. By lap seven, Luthi was back in front, and Marquez was leaning hard on Fernandez. Next time around he was ahead, and hounding his Swiss rival, the two of them soon pulling clear. It was a duel that would last almost full distance. Marquez had several attempts at taking the lead, and finally succeeded under braking for turn one at the start of lap 14. But Luthi stayed close for the next three laps, before a couple of moments under braking suggested he'd be better off set- tling for second. Third went to Jorge Navarro (Speed Up), from Fernandez and the ever-improving Enea Bastiani- ni (Kalex). There were very few crashes compared with the other classes, but the first victim was Remy Gardner (ONEXOX Kalex), who Pecco Bagnaia (Pramac Ducati) also crashed out for the fourth race in a row; Hafizh Syahrin (Red Bull KTM) retired. Marquez now has 37 points and more than a race in hand in the championship, 140 points to Dovizioso's 103. Rins is at 101, Petrucci 98 and Rossi 88. Moto2 Alex Marquez (EG-VDS Kalex) made it three in a row in Barce- lona. It was a career-first hat trick for the local hero and gave him the championship lead after ear- lier points leader Lorenzo Baldas- sarri (Flexbox Kalex) crashed out after a bad start. It was a hard fight, resolved only in the closing stages, with Thomas Luthi (Dynavolt Kalex) finally accepting second. "I was Suzuki rider Joan Mir, who would himself succumb to Rins with five laps to go. On the last lap, Rins passed the Ducati, leading it over the line by three-tenths, Mir less than two-tenths behind. More than five seconds back, Red Bull KTM's Pol Espargaro took a third successive top 10. He was alone at the end. He'd been passed by Crutchlow but held off second LCR rider Takaaki Nakagami and Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Ducati), some four seconds clear of Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM). With a high rate of attrition, there were only 13 finishers, with Andrea Iannone (Aprilia) and a distant Miguel Oliveira (KTM) and Suzuki test rider Sylvain Guintoli in the points. Fabio Quartararo rode like a demon to pull clear of Danilo Petrucci for his first MotoGP podium.