MotoGP Catalunya Grand Prix 2015 Results: Winner, Standings and Reaction

Jorge Lorenzo won his fourth consecutive race of the 2015 MotoGP season, beating team-mate Valentino Rossi at the Catalunya Grand Prix to strengthen Yamaha's lead at the top of the standings.

Crash.net MotoGP shared this shot of the finish:

Defending world champion Marc Marquez suffered another early crash that saw him unable to finish the race, yet another setback in what has been a disappointing season. Andrea Dovizioso suffered the same fate, to the delight of Lorenzo and Rossi, who now look destined to go head-to-head for the world title.

The results from Sunday's race.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
DNF
1	25	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	173.7	41'39.173
2	20	29	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	173.3	+5.563
3	16	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	173.3	+6.661
4	13	26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	173.0	+9.978
5	11	38	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	172.7	+15.284
6	10	44	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	172.6	+15.665
7	9	25	Maverick VINALES	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	172.1	+23.805
8	8	51	Michele PIRRO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	171.7	+29.152
9	7	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Octo Pramac Racing	Ducati	171.5	+32.008
10	6	68	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Octo Pramac Racing	Ducati	171.4	+34.571
11	5	45	Scott REDDING	GBR	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	171.1	+38.553
12	4	76	Loris BAZ	FRA	Athinà Forward Racing	Yamaha Forward	170.8	+42.158
13	3	8	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	170.7	+44.801
14	2	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	170.3	+50.435
15	1	50	Eugene LAVERTY	IRL	Aspar MotoGP Team	Honda	170.1	+53.060
16		63	Mike DI MEGLIO	FRA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	168.6	+1'15.265
17		17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	AB Motoracing	Honda	168.6	+1'15.381
18		33	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	166.9	+1'41.840
35			Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	CWM LCR Honda	Honda	172.7	3 Lap
93			Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	173.1	6 Laps
4			Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	172.7	10 Laps
6			Stefan BRADL	GER	Athinà Forward Racing	Yamaha Forward	168.2	20 Laps
69			Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Aspar MotoGP Team	Honda	168.1	20 Laps
41			Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	167.1	21 Laps
43			Jack MILLER	AUS	CWM LCR Honda	Honda	165.5	21 Laps
15			Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	E-Motion IodaRacing Team	ART	162.1	21 Laps

Lorenzo had a fantastic start, jumping to the top of the pack to lead in Lap 1, while Marquez did well to move up the grid and keep up with his compatriot. In the background, Cal Crutchlow crashed in Turn 4, ending his chances of getting a result, per MotoGP's official Twitter account:

Marquez easily kept pace with Lorenzo and cruised past Dovizioso, but he too got a little too familiar with the Catalan asphalt, per Crash.net MotoGP:

The reigning world champion isn't having the best of seasons, and Sunday's tumble marked the second time in a row he crashed out of the race.

The Spaniard made no excuses for his crash:

It opened the door for veteran Rossi to move up in the race, slotting into second place behind an unleashed Lorenzo. The Spaniard was significantly faster than his opponents in the first few laps, opening up a wide gap with the pack.

Behind him, the hot conditions had a devastating impact, with several more riders suffering crashes. Pol Espargaro suffered a slide in Turn 3, before Dovizioso lost the front of his bike chasing Rossi.

The Italian was able to get his bike back on track, but he was forced to return to the pits:

Once the dust had settled, the remaining riders actually had the chance to do some racing. Lorenzo's pace was impressive, quickly opening up a two-second gap over Rossi, and the rest of the top 10 started spreading as well.

But at the midway point of the race, Rossi started to nibble at the lead, and suddenly, Lorenzo's lap times started dropping as well. Crash.net MotoGP wondered whether the race leader had rolled the throttle:

The Italian closed the gap to 1.3 seconds before Lorenzo started finding his rhythm again, matching the veteran's lap times and preserving the lead.

In the background, Aleix Espargaro crashed out of fourth place just as the battle between Maverick Vinales and Scott Redding started heating up, via MotoGP:

It was a tough end to the race for Espargaro after impressing in during qualification, but he never managed to keep pace with the top two and was unlikely to feature on the podium, either.

With four laps to go, Rossi could almost smell team-mate Lorenzo, but just as the fans started getting ready for an epic final battle, the latter opened up the throttle and pushed the lead over a second again. As it turned out, he was saving his tyres, while Rossi had to battle to close the gap, allowing the Spaniard to cruise to the finish in the final laps.

Here's a look at the current standings after the Catalunya Grand Prix:

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	ITA	138
2	Jorge LORENZO	Yamaha	SPA	137
3	Andrea IANNONE	Ducati	ITA	94
4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati	ITA	83
5	Marc MARQUEZ	Honda	SPA	69
6	Bradley SMITH	Yamaha	GBR	68
7	Cal CRUTCHLOW	Honda	GBR	47
8	Maverick VINALES	Suzuki	SPA	46
9	Pol ESPARGARO	Yamaha	SPA	45
10	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	SPA	39
11	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	ITA	39
12	Aleix ESPARGARO	Suzuki	SPA	31
13	Scott REDDING	Honda	GBR	27
14	Yonny HERNANDEZ	Ducati	COL	26
15	Hector BARBERA	Ducati	SPA	16
16	Loris BAZ	Yamaha Forward	FRA	13
17	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Aprilia	SPA	11
18	Jack MILLER	Honda	AUS	11
19	Stefan BRADL	Yamaha Forward	GER	9
20	Michele PIRRO	Ducati	ITA	8
21	Nicky HAYDEN	Honda	USA	8
22	Eugene LAVERTY	Honda	IRL	7
23	Hiroshi AOYAMA	Honda	JPN	5
24	Mike DI MEGLIO	Ducati	FRA	2
25	Alex DE ANGELIS	ART	RSM	1

Yamaha are the big winners of the race weekend, and with four consecutive wins, it's clear Lorenzo is the man in form. The two-time world champion is simply unstoppable at the moment, and Rossi had no problems acknowledging that after the race:

The veteran Italian should never be overlooked, but as things stand, it's hard to envision a scenario in which Lorenzo doesn't win the world title. Marquez should bounce back with a strong second half of the season, but he's miles behind his compatriot in the standings and will need more than just a little luck to bridge the gap.

Lorenzo will attempt to win his fifth consecutive race at the GP in Assen, the Netherlands, in two weeks. 

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