2013 Mugello MotoGP Race Result: A Lesson In Wire-To-Wire Winning

By Mike Lewis | Sun, 02/06/2013 - 11:40

Results and summary of the MotoGP race at Mugello:

Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo, in a desperate bid to keep the championship close, did exactly what he does best: Get out front immediately and run a consistent series of punishing laps to break his rivals. That’s the Lorenzo way and that’s exactly what he did at the Mugello circuit Sunday to claim his second win of the year in the fifth round of the MotoGP world championship.

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa finished second but only after teammate Marc Marquez crashed out of the number two place with three laps to go. Tech 3's Cal Crutchlow rode to an impressive a third place-finish, his second podium in a row.

But for many of the partisan fans at Mugello, the race ended on fourth comer of the first lap. With the riders still bunched from the start, Alvaro Bautista drifted wide and collided with local hero Valentino Rossi taking both riders out of the race. Race direction said it would investigate the incident.

For much of the race after the incident, Lorenzo led Pedrosa and Marquez in a tight cluster well clear of the pack. Then with 10 laps to go, Lorenzo ticked up the pace and Pedrosa began to fade. Marquez closed on his teammate and followed for a handful of laps. He pounced with five laps to go slicing inside Pedrosa on the Savelli curveand immediately opening a small gap.

Then Marquez, who had crashed three times in practice throughout the weekend, did it again for the fourth and final time at Mugello at the same corner where he had passed Pedrosa minutes earlier, just when he seemingly had second place locked up.

As it stands, Pedrosa still leads the championship with 103 points but now sits only 12 points clear of his primary rival, Jorge Lorenzo with 91 points. Marc Marquez remains third with 77 points.

Results:

Pos. No. Rider Bike Time Diff
1 99 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 41'45.133  
2 26 Dani Pedrosa Honda 41'45.133 5.400
3 35 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha 41'46.145 6.412
4 6 Stefan Bradl Honda 41'59.054 19.321
5 4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 41'59.273 19.540
6 69 Nicky Hayden Ducati 42'06.054 26.321
7 51 Michele Pirro Ducati 42'17.877 38.144
8 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia ART 42'19.535 39.802
9 38 Bradley Smith Yamaha 42'19.976 40.243
10 8 Hector Barbera FTR Kawasaki 42'28.125 48.392
11 14 Randy de Puniet Aprilia ART 42'28.213 48.480
12 9 Danilo Petrucci Suter BMW 42'53.441 1'13.708
13 29 Andrea Iannone Ducati 42'54.334 1'14.601
14 5 Colin Edwards FTR Kawasaki 43'00.982 1'21.249
15 17 Karel Abraham Aprilia ART 43'05.471 1'25.738
16 68 Yonny Hernandez Aprilia ART 43'07.072 1'27.339
17 70 Michael Laverty PBM 43'07.491 1'27.758
18 67 Bryan Staring FTR Honda 43'24.157 1'44.424
19 52 Lukas Pesek Suter BMW 43'24.960 1'45.227
NOT CLASSIFIED
  93 Marc Marquez Honda 36'16.625 3 laps
  71 Claudio Corti FTR Kawasaki 31'57.481 6 laps
  7 Hiroshi Aoyama FTR Kawasaki 30'15.606 7 laps
  46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha    
  19 Alvaro Bautista Honda    

 

2013
5
MotoGP
Mugello, Italy
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Comments

Well, on Friday I was suggesting that MM might back down a bit after the big crash...

What a load of s***. This kid is amazing! Had even better pace than Pedrosa, clearly. Pity he fell... I'm afraid we may be in for a very boring season in 2014 ;)

Other than that, great race for JL, great pity for Vale. ("Woulda-shoulda-coulda alert": I believe #46 had podium pace today, a bit faster than Cal, but we'll never know...) Overall, not the most exciting race ever, Ducatis 20 sec off the pace, as usual. Hope after Barcelona test we see an improvement from the reds. Good 4th for Bradl, but also 20 sec off the pace. It would be nice if that second group can pick their pace up a bit and make for closer racing.

Barcelona could be epic with these Spaniards on top!

and sadly Valentino can't match them now both in performance and luck which is sad a bit as Mugello would be nice to meet its fellow on podium. I can't get used to see 46 like that with M1. Somehow Yamaha management did right choice putting Lorenzo as 1st rider years ago but seems to be little strange setting out Crutchlow. Cal seems to be faster than his current M1 can offer him and with full factory spec M1 could fight with Pedrosa and Lorenzo many times. Factory spec M1 + people from Tech3 and we have two Yamaha teams able to win.

Marquez was really impressive. Likely he'll be the new Rossi (or Doohan, ...ecc) and unless someone else comes out at the horizon or something weird happen he looks unstoppable. He managed to climb up to second in a weekend where he should suffer crash, the toughest circuit and so on. Unlucky for him and Vale but the former has plenty of time ahead.

Moto2 and Moto3 have been really entertaining and the good weather helped (not the Ducati of course).

Cal a lucky podium, but again even with no one falling 5th at Mugello would have been good, it's the most difficult one on the calendar if you are not experienced as the others. Go Cal, raise it another notch!

Cannot wait for Barcelona :)

After 'stepping off' at 170+, you climb back on board and have 2nd locked up, not only in the race, but the WC & ....... You fall off! I know your learning, but if you'd only backed it off a smidge, but I guess that's why we 'luv ya'.....you are a RACER!

Cal: take your hats off and buy him a beer! Has anyone come close to his performance on a sat bike? No! And Herve is thinking of replacing him? I guess, speed and podiums don't count in racing!

Val: I'm a big MX fan and starts are critical, so your not in mid pack and taken out by.....qual & start better and you won't be back there with.....

Congrats to Jorge for a masterful race!

I am sorry for Marc that he crashed, but it was inevitable at some point. I'm sure he will come back strong.

But - does he really deserve the gushing praise for crashing out? He might be a 'racer', but surely the desire of a racer is to win, not crash out unnecessarily? Therefore, Jorge was the superior racer on the day.

The day that Marquez good enough to clear off at the front and leave the rest in his dust, I will be very interested to see the comments after the first few occurrences. Will it be a boring race because the lead is decided after the first few laps, or will we see more Marc-love excitement being expressed?

Would someone tell 3B43 that in 2006 a satellite Honda rider and a rookie to the class qualified fastest for his second race and led it until his tyres started going away. He also got on the podium in his third start in MotoGP - on a satellite bike. Cal has had just a tad longer to learn the ropes...

Interesting that the Ducati pair were matching Dani's pace in the second half.

Go, go Jorge! What a class act.

Marc Marquez has had a few, Vale had a few (ask Sete about one), and now Vale comes off second best in a contest for track space. Could this be a sign of the beginning of the end?

Marquez was always going to have a few accidents before he learns the ropes, 4 this weekend and I'm sure there are a few more to come. He's had an amazing start to his MotoGP career but to ride at alien pace you need to know precisely where the limit is. Pedrosa knew he had arrived at the limit, Marquez didn't and hence he crashed. Marquez has done very well to come out of this weekend without any major broken bones.

During his BBC parc ferme interview Cal seemed to suggest that Jorge Lorenzo, Herve and the boss of Monster think HE (Cal)....

...and I dont know how to end that sentence. I was only half paying attention but seemed to underline the point that Lorenzo and Crutchlow were 'consistently' the best for Yamaha. Could he get the second year of Rossi's factory contract? I'd guess he was angling for it but..?

.....I guess you missed my point. It's 2013, not '06.... MGP has changed quite a bit! Yes, I remember '06....I've only been following 'GP' since '68.

Shame about Rossi.
It would have been great to see him move up the field, but he would have to take big risks to do so. Going outside of Bautista to line up for the following right was always going to be a little risky.
Dani showed great maturity. MM could have left that pass for the last few laps. No way he was going to run down JLO.
What more can you say about JLO.
He didn't exactly put the hammer down, just kept up the excruciating pace. 1:47.9 on lap 13 while Dani did a 1:48.7. then Dani went into the 1m49s while JLO kept in the 48s.
Too bad Espagaro doesn't get more ink written about him. What business does a CRT bike have placing 8th, between a works Ducati and a near works Yamaha (good enough for 3rd) and 10s ahead of his highly rated teammate?

And B@lls - continual astonished by his talent, lack of fear, and Demenor (Like a tititum fist in a sable glove).

I am at once gutted for Rossi - I can just barely accept that it's a racing incident. seems like Bautista has had far more "racing incidents" than should be allowed... Is he channeling Alex DeAngelis or something?

Finally, one thing that truly amazes me about these bloakes one and all is that the can have a nasty off at 170+ miles and hour and get right back on ... not just MM but everyone..... I know, they must do it... but damn it would a might scary to get back on a bike after a nasty crash... and they do it.. Hat's off.. I shall remain in awe and critical in the Peanut Gallery...