Cycle News

MOTOGP MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 7/JUNE 15, 2014 CIRCUIT OF CATALUNYA/BARCELONA, SPAIN P76 SEVEN IN A ROW? NO Marc Marquez's seven-race pole position streak came to an end with a crash entering turn one at his home track during the final qualifying session. Actu- ally, that was the least that could have happened to him after trying to get into the first corner at an unreal speed. Having more braking power thanks to 340mm front brakes seems helpful, but it can also play against a rider who is al- ways looking for the limits - and he had to find out how far he could get on the new brakes at the Catalonian track. Anyway, third place on the front row of the grid still kept his hopes alive of a seventh victory on Sunday. The defending champion played his personal strategy again by mounting three tires on his two bikes, something none of his rivals can do because of their fear to not perform at their best with different bikes that never seem to behave the same way, but this doesn't seem to affect Marquez's performance. "Well, we're at home and it was the last lap," Marquez said. "I braked too late, but did not want to abort the lap. That was my biggest mistake. I have to apologize to the team." However, the Repsol Honda team and the Catalan fans had a happy ending, with teammate Dani Pedrosa claiming pole at 1:40.985, just a tenth slower than his pole from a year ago. Track conditions were very hot and humid; the best lap times were achieved during the morning throughout the week- end, nearly a second faster thanks to the lower temperatures. Movistar Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo was second, out-qualifying Marquez for the first time this season. The Yamaha rider complained bitterly about the new rear tire: "I made a very good lap, I risked a lot, especially in the braking. We finally found a good setting; it's hard because with the track and the temperatures it's quite difficult to make the bike stable." Valentino Rossi missed the front row again, but made the second between Stefan Bradl and another local rider, Aleix Espargaro. "I'm quite satisfied because the target was to stay in the top five and I am at last." Espargaro was first in FP1, but the latest changes to the electronics are making it difficult to harness the benefits of traction control. "Until we changed the software at Le Mans the bike was much easier to ride," he said. "Traction control works well on maximum lean, but as soon as you lift the bike many problems start to come, you never know if the bike is going to spin." Ducati riders struggled during practice and its first red rider on the grid was An- drea Dovizioso in seventh place, ahead of FP2 leader Bradley Smith and Yonny Hernández on the next-best Ducati. It was the fourth row for the next Ducati, ridden by Andrea Iannone, then the worst part for factory rider Cal Crutchlow: He couldn't even get into Q2 after spending the night with stomach problems. Iannone and Alvaro Bautista came through from Q1, but the latter's hopes were dashed in a heavy crash, from which he fortunately escaped from with no more than a painful lesson. What… no Marquez? Dani Pedrosa earned pole position for the MotoGP race. Scott Redding (45) and Nicky Hayden (69) did battle. Redding won on the track, but was docked some time for cutting the track, giving Hayden 12 th .

• Cover