Italy’s Andrea Dovizioso sealed back-to-back MotoGP wins by cruising to victory under searing temperatures at the Catalan GP yesterday.
Dovizioso, who won just his third MotoGP race on home soil at the Italian Grand Prix last weekend, led home Honda’s Spanish duo Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa in a time of 44min 41.518secs.
Victory also sees Dovizioso close to within seven points of championship leader Maverick Vinales as the Yamaha rider completed a disappointing weekend by finishing 10th.
With on track temperatures rising to over 50 degrees Celsius the race was unusually settled at the front for a long spell as all the riders aimed to protect their tyres.
“It was a strange weekend for everybody to manage the track, the grip, the temperature, it was very difficult,” said Dovizioso.
“It was a strange race, we couldn’t push any lap because the rear tyre drops a lot, but I had the speed so I was able to manage and stay on the front without pushing.”
The Ducati rider had been happy to sit in between the Honda riders as Pedrosa led from pole position.
However, Dovizioso made his move with nine laps to go and quickly eased out into a comfortable lead with Marquez also leaving his teammate behind in the battle for second.
Marquez leapfrogs Valentino Rossi into third in the championship standings, 21 points further back on Dovizioso, as Rossi could also only manage eighth.
“It was not an easy weekend,” said Marquez, who crashed four times in practice and qualifying on Saturday.
“I never give up. I just push, push, push all weekend and then during the race I saw first of all my target was to finish in front of Dani because I thought he was the fastest.
“But Dovi today again was one step faster than us, especially on the main straight.”
Pedrosa moves up to fourth in the world championship on the back of a fourth podium finish in the last five races.
“Basically (it was) a tough race because the tyres were suffering a lot,” said Pedrosa.
“Since the first lap I couldn’t push, I didn’t feel the grip.
“I was trying to manage the tyres to see at the end if I could stay in my rhythm, but Dovi was very fast today, catching me a lot in the straight and towards the end of the race I lost more and more grip.”
Dovizioso’s Ducati teammate Jorge Lorenzo had started from second on the grid, but the three-time world champion slipped well down the field before recovering with a flying final lap to seal fourth.

Results & Standings
MotoGP
1. Andrea Dovizioso  (ITA/Ducati) 
2. Marc Marquez  (ESP/Honda) 
3. Dani Pedrosa  (ESP/Honda) 
4. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Ducati) 
5. Johann Zarco  (FRA/Yamaha)
6. Jonas Folger  (GER/Yamaha) 
7. Alvaro Bautista  (ESP/Ducati) 
8. Valentino Rossi  (ITA/Yamaha) 
9. Hector Barbera  (ESP/Ducati) 
10. Maverick Vinales  (ESP/Yamaha) 

Standings
1. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Yamaha)  111
2. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati)  104
3. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda)  88
  
Moto2
1. Alex Marquez  (ESP/Kalex) 
2. Mattia Pasini  (ITA/Kalex) 
3. Thomas Luthi  (SUI/Kalex) 

Standings:
1. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Kalex)  123
2. Thomas Lüthi (SUI/Kalex)  116
3. Alex Marquez (ESP/Kalex)  103
  
Moto3
1. Joan Mir  (ESP/Honda) 
2. Romano Fenati  (ITA/Honda) 
3. Jorge Martin  (ESP/Honda) 
  
Standings:
1. Joan Mir (ESP/Honda)  133
2. Romano Fenati (ITA/Honda)  88
3. Aron Canet (ESP/Honda)  85

Marquez delivers Moto2 win on home soil 
Alex Marquez produced a flawless performance to win the Catalan Moto2 GP from pole position yesterday to jump back into contention for the world championship. Marquez, the brother of three-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez, is clearly inspired by a home crowd as his only previous Moto2 win came earlier this season at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Italy’s Mattia Pasini and Swiss rider Thomas Luthi completed the podium.
However, championship leader Franco Morbidelli could only manage sixth.

Mir extends Moto3 lead with Catalan GP win
Spain’s Joan Mir produced a stunning final lap to win for the fourth time in seven races this season and extend his lead in the Moto3 world championship at the Catalan Grand Prix yesterday.
Mir passed Romano Fenati and Jorge Martin, who finished second and third respectively, on his final lap around the Montmelo circuit to extend his championship lead to 45 points over Fenati.
Aron Canet slips to third in the standings after he could only manage fifth behind Enea Bastianini.