Weekend round-up (May 4-6): MotoGP and WEC
Formula 1 star Fernando Alonso won on his WEC debut at Spa, while fellow Spaniard Marc Marquez claimed an easy win in MotoGP’s Jerez round. Weekend round up..
Marquez moved atop the MotoGP standings following his victory at Jerez yesterday.
Although the Honda rider qualified only fifth for the race, a quick opening lap propelled him to second in the order, just behind early leader Jorge Lorenzo.
On lap eight, Marquez made a textbook move over the two-time champion and then ran away with the race - eventually winning it with a margin of 5.241s.
However, there was drama behind as Lorenzo, Ducati teammate Andrea Dovizioso and Honda’s Dani Pedrosa were involved in a crash that led to all three riders retiring on the spot.
Dovizioso attempted a lunge on the inside of Lorenzo but both ran wide, giving Pedrosa a chance to sneak inside the Ducati duo.
However, as Lorenzo moved to the right to return to the racing line, he was caught by an unsighted Pedrosa, leading the two to make contact.
Worse still, Lorrenzo’s now-uncontrolled bike tagged with that of Dovizioso, putting the former championship leader out of the race as well.
With the trio suffering DNFs, Tech 3’s Johann Zarco finished as the top Yamaha rider in second, while Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone secured his second consecutive podium finish with third.
Alonso and former F1 drivers Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima claimed victory in the opening round of the WEC season at Belgium’s Spa Francorchamps circuit.
The trio managed to take top honours despite an extra pitstop due to incorrectly fastened seatbelts and a late safety car appearance that eradicated a near one-minute lead.
The sister #7 car finished just 1.4s behind in second after recovering from a one-lap penalty at the start of the race.
Conway, who shares the #7 car with Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez, was faster than Alonso in the final stint, but was told not to overtake the Spaniard as part of a pre-race arrangement.
The agreement allows the two Toyota cars to freely race each until the final pitstops, after which they are supposed to hold station.
Akhil Rabindra secured a best finish of fourth in the second round of GT4 European series at Brands Hatch.
Rabindra, who shares a BMW M4 GT4 with Stephane Lemeret, started only 14th on the grid, but a pitstop under safety car conditions allowed him to jump up the order.
He eventually crossed the line in fourth, before securing a 13th place finish in Race 2.
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