Marc Marquez made a tactical masterstroke in the flag to flag race at Automotodrom Brno, taking the chequered flag with a humongous lead. Teammate Dani Pedrosa also rode a rather perfect race, grabbing P2 for a Honda 1-2. Fellow Spaniard and Movistar Yamaha rider Maverick Viñales completed the podium with a P3 finish. "The Doctor" Valentino Rossi finished the race at P4 after a wonderful ride from P13 at one point of time. After a soaking wet restarted Moto2 race, it was time for the big boys to get into action. MotoGP was announced as a wet race and the whole lot of riders were on Michelin wet rubbers. As the lights went off, Jorge Lorenzo quickly got the lead and lead the race on the Ducati equipped with new aerodynamic fairing. The track dried very quickly and a completely dry racing line was evident on the entire track. On lap 2, Marc Marquez made a gamble to pit for a bike with slick tyres which became a tactical masterstroke at the end.
Every other rider in the leading group didn't know about Marc pitting, and continued on wet rubber. It was only at the end of lap 6 that leading riders Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso came for a swap. Meanwhile Marquez began to fly on the slicks, leading the race by a huge margin. Lorenzo on the other hand went to the pits when the bike was not even ready, which resulted in a very poor result at the end. At the end of the lap, Rossi, Viñales and Dovizioso were all seen below P10.
It was job to be done for most of the top riders at the back. Aleix Espargaro was seen fighting for a podium position, though he was penalised with a 3 place penalty due to an incident with Andrea Iannone in the pit lane. Danilo Petrucci and Cal Crutchlow were also inside the top 5 looking for a podium contention. Maverick Viñales started to attack and was seen overtaking the pack. With around 10 laps remaining Valentino Rossi and Desmo Dovi started to hammer down and came inside the top 8 position. Valentino Rossi started to lap faster than the fighting pack and was soon seen battling with Cal Crutchlow.
*** Podium winners showing respect to Late Angel Nieto
At the end Marquez won the race by 13 seconds, followed by Pedrosa and Viñales completing the podium. Valentino Rossi passed Crutchlow for a P4, adding those vital points to the championship standings. Cal Crutchlow came home at P5 followed by Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Peteucci. The top 10 of the standings was completed by Aleix Espargaro, Pol Espargaro and Jonas Folger. Jorge Lorenzo dropped below like a stone in water and ended up at P15, scoring just 1 point with the new aerodynamic fairing.
The grid now moves to Austria at the Red Bull Ring, Spielberg in a weeks time. The Austrian track has many long straights and is a clear favorite for the Ducati, which was evident last year. Meanwhile stay tuned to BikesMedia for further updates on the 2017 MotoGP World Championship.
By: Aravind Rb