MOTOGP
MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 7/JUNE 14, 2015
CIRCUIT OF CATALUNYA/BARCELONA, SPAIN
P112
nobody else in it, as the gap
see-sawed between 1.5 and two
seconds.
Aleix Espargaro recovered
strongly from his bad start; pass-
ing Smith and then brother Pol
by lap three. Smith followed him
past, and a lap later Pol slipped
off trying to get back at his reli-
ably and irritatingly faster team-
mate.
At the same time, Pedrosa,
who had finished lap one down
in 10th from sixth on the grid,
was moving forward cautiously
("With so many crashes I could
see the track was delicate"), but
steadily. He took third off Es-
pargaro's Suzuki on lap seven,
just riding past on a wave of
horsepower, and continued to a
solitary but delighted third.
Smith couldn't quite stay with
Espargaro; meanwhile Andrea
Iannone on the second Ducati
had jumped from 12th on the grid
to ninth on lap one. He too was
gaining places, with E-G Marc
VDS Honda's Scott Redding
tagging on until losing touch on
lap nine.
By now Iannone had caught
Smith, and found him very hard
to pass. It took almost 10 laps;
whereafter he was able to es-
cape for fourth.
Smith was unmolested in
fifth, top satellite rider again. But
Redding had trouble coming from
behind in the shape of Vinales's
Suzuki. Vinales caught up with 10
laps to go, and had outstripped
the Englishman by the finish for a
career-best sixth.
Athina Yamaha's Stefan Bradl
had finally defeated Danilo Pe-
trucci's Pramac Ducati by half
distance, and was first Open bike
in eighth.
Lorenzo (99) was
untouchable, leading from
start to finish once again.
