Movistar Yamaha MotoGP présente la YZR-M1 2016

Le team officiel de Yamaha s’est réuni lundi à Barcelone afin de lancer sa saison 2016.

              

Le team Movistar Yamaha MotoGP a lancé sa saison 2016 lundi à Barcelone, où Jorge Lorenzo, le Champion du Monde en titre, et son coéquipier Valentino Rossi ont dévoilé la nouvelle livrée que la YZR-M1 revêtira cette année. 

  

Après avoir remporté les titres de Champions du Monde Pilote, Team et Constructeur en 2015 mais aussi connu quelques moments de tension entre ses deux pilotes, le team Movistar Yamaha MotoGP ne connaîtra pas de changement majeur cette année, comme l’explique le directeur général de Yamaha Motor Racing, Lin Jarvis : “Il n’y a aucun raison de mettre un mur dans le garage. L’une de nos forces est le fait que le team travaille très bien dans l’ensemble, les pilotes sont des coureurs individuels mais l’équipe de mécaniciens et d’ingénieurs est un collectif qui travaille bien. Si nous mettions une barrière, ce serait aux dépens du team, des pilotes et de l’électronique. C’est maintenant dans le passé et comme je l’avais dit l’an dernier, nous comprenons que nos deux pilotes se battent l’un contre l’autre. Comme Jorge l’a dit, si Valentino reste son principal adversaire pour le championnat, ce sera une bonne chose parce que Yamaha sera devant. C’est notre principal objectif : battre nos adversaires.

                     

L’arrivée d’un nouveau fournisseur de pneus, Michelin, et les changements appliqués au règlement technique représentent d’autre part de nouveaux défis à relever pour la marque aux trois diapasons. Kouichi Tsuji, leader du groupe Yamaha MotoGP™, a ajouté : “Notre travail de développement a toujours pour but de nous permettre de gagner. Nous travaillons actuellement sur la moto pour en tirer le maximum. Cela signifie que notre plus gros challenge sera de travailler avec le logiciel unique et les nouveaux pneus. Il s’agit de voir comment régler notre moto pour tirer les meilleures performances des deux parties, c’est un nouveau challenge pour nous.”

     

Titré pour la troisième fois en MotoGP™ l’an dernier au terme d’une saison riche en suspense, Jorge Lorenzo conservera le numéro 99 cette année pour défendre sa couronne et se veut optimiste mais prudent : “J’ai eu la chance de faire ma première année en MotoGP sur Michelin en 2008 mais je ne me rappelle plus vraiment des sensations. Je sais cependant que ces pneus s’utilisent d’une façon différente des Bridgestone. Il faut anticiper le freinage, relâcher les freins un peu plus tôt. Théoriquement ça pourrait être quelque chose de mieux pour moi mais nous ne le saurons pas avant d’avoir roulé sur différents circuits et d’avoir passé plus de temps sur ces pneus. Nous avons demandé à Yamaha d’améliorer l’électronique et à Michelin d’améliorer le pneu avant. Nous avons demandé à Yamaha de mieux comprendre l’électronique et de voir comment nous pourrions avoir une solution qui soit aussi proche que possible de celle de l’an dernier.”

                 

De son côté, Valentino Rossi visera à nouveau le dixième titre mondial dont il était passé si près en 2015 et est bien conscient du travail qui l’attend : “Les pneus Michelin sont très différents des Bridgestone, surtout en ce qui concerne les réglages. Comme nous l’avons vu par le passé lorsque nous étions passés des Michelin aux Bridgestone, nous avions dû faire beaucoup de changements pour les réglages. Nous avons besoin d’un peu de temps pour trouver le bon équilibre et je pense que le travail réalisé cet hiver sera important pour comprendre comment utiliser le pneu Michelin et essayer d’améliorer le feeling à l’avant. Nous devons évaluer notre niveau sur ces pneus face aux autres constructeurs parce que notre moto était très bonne l’an dernier avec les Bridgestone, elle était très équilibrée. Maintenant il va être dur de faire de même avec Michelin.”

Le team et les pilotes vont maintenant finir leurs préparatifs pour le premier Test Officiel de l’année qui aura lieu à Sepang, en Malaisie, début février.

             

The factory Yamaha team gathered in Barcelona to show off what their 2016 bikes will look like as they aim to repeat their 2015 success.

             

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP revealed their 2016 MotoGP™ World Championship machine on Monday in Barcelona. The factory Yamaha team were the first to show off their new bike as the build up to 2016 continues. It is a year of changes for MotoGP™ riders and teams as new technical regulations are introduced, including common software and a change to Michelin tyres.

After an incredible 2015 season where the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team finished a near perfect first and second in the championship, Yamaha’s Lin Jarvis remained adamant that nothing will change and the focus will remain the same: “There’s no reason to put a wall in the garage. One of our strengths is the fact that the team work really well together, the riders are individual competitors against themselves but the team of mechanics and engineers all work really well together. If we put a barrier between them it will be to the deficit of the team, the riders and the engineers. This is a thing of the past and as I said last year, we understand both riders are competing against each other. As Jorge said, if Valentino is his main competitor for the championship then it’s a good thing, it means Yamaha are at the front. That’s our main goal: to beat our competitors.”

                  

The changes in software and tyres present manufacturers in the MotoGP™ World Championship with a big challenge, factories are working tirelessly to prepare the bikes for the first race of the season in Qatar. Yamaha's MotoGP™ group leader, Kouichi Tsuji, was clear on the challenges during the factory team’s launch: “We always develop the bike to win races. Now, we work and develop the bike to make the tyre perform as well as possible. That means the biggest challenge will be the common software and the tyre, how we can setup both together to make the tyre perform as much as possible, that’s a new challenge for us.”

                       

MotoGP™ World Champion Jorge Lorenzo elected to retain his iconic number 99, ready to face the new season and defend his crown. Having completed only a handful of laps with the new tyres and electronics, Lorenzo is cautiously optimistic: “Well I’ve been lucky that in 2008 I had my first year in MotoGP on the Michelin, I don’t remember so much how the feeling was. But I understand the way of riding these tyres is quite different to riding the Bridgestone. You have to anticipate the braking, release the brake a little bit sooner. Theoretically it can be a little bit better for me, but until we practice in more tracks and pass more time we won’t know. We ask Yamaha for the electronics and for Michelin to improve the front tyre a little bit. We ask Yamaha to understand the electronics a little bit more, investigate how to create electronics that are as close as possible to last year’s.”

                     

Meanwhile, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi is still hunting for his tenth title after missing out in the final race of the year in 2015. As the most experienced rider on the MotoGP™ grid, Rossi is well aware of what needs to be done to fight for the world title in 2016: “The Michelin are very different compared to the Bridgestone, especially about setting. Like we saw in the past when we came from Michelin to Bridgestone, we modified the setting of the bike a lot. We need a bit of time to arrive at the right balance and I think during the winter this work will be important to try and understand how to use the Michelin tyre at the best and try to improve the feeling with the front. We need to understand our level with these tyres compared to other manufacturers because last year our bike was very good with the Bridgestone as it was well balanced. Now it will be hard work to make the same with Michelin.”

The team and riders now begin their final preparations for the first test of 2016, held at the Sepang International Circuit on the first of February. Tests will also be held in Philip Island and in Qatar before the season kicks off on the 20th of March under the floodlights.

               

Lorenzo remporte la grande finale de Valence / Lorenzo wins #TheGrandFinale to become champion

Le Majorquin a décroché son troisième titre MotoGP™ en s’imposant devant Marc Márquez, Dani Pedrosa et Valentino Rossi à Valence.

                

Opposé à son coéquipier Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), qui était arrivé avec sept points d’avance mais une pénalité qui le contraignait à partir en dernière position, Jorge Lorenzo a fait la maximum pour remporter son troisième titre de Champion du Monde MotoGP™ au Grand Prix Motul de Valence. 

Le Majorquin avait lancé son offensive dès le samedi après-midi et s’offrant une très précieuse pole position, qui lui a permis d’imprimer son rythme devant Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) et Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), qui partaient aussi de la première ligne, dès le début de la course.

              

Parti du fond de la grille, Rossi a lui aussi fait tout son possible dès l’extinction des feux et a réalisé un excellent départ pour gagner une dizaine de places en l’espace d’un tour et ensuite progressivement remonter jusqu’à Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) et prendre la quatrième place à son compatriote dans le douzième des trente tours de la course, lorsque les trois premiers étaient déjà trop loin devant pour espérer les rattraper.

En tête depuis le début, Lorenzo a bien tenu devant Márquez et n’a pas commis la moindre erreur lorsque la tension est montée en fin de course et que Pedrosa s’est joint au duo de tête. Le Catalan a tenté de dépasser Márquez mais a tout de suite été repris par ce dernier et a dû se contenter d’une troisième place qui marquait cependant son 100e podium en catégorie reine.

Vainqueur pour la septième fois de la saison, Lorenzo remportait son troisième titre MotoGP™ avec cinq points d’avance sur Rossi et un palmarès comprenant 40 victoires, 87 podiums et 35 pole positions depuis son arrivée dans la catégorie en 2008.

              

Derrière Rossi, qui a fini à 19 secondes du podium, Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Teh3) et son coéquipier Bradley Smith ont respectivement pris les cinquième et sixième places, devant Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) et Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing). 

              

Le titre de la catégorie Open est revenu à Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing), seizième de la course, alors que son principal rival, et futur coéquipier, Loris Baz (Forward Racing) a terminé dix-neuvième et donc lui aussi hors des points. Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) n’a de son côté par rallié l’arrivée, à l’instar d’Andrea Iannone (Ducati), tombé en début de course.

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats.

               

Lorenzo wins an incredible race to lift his fifth world title with Marquez and Pedrosa on the podium and Rossi fourth after an amazing ride.

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo led from flag to flag to become the 2015 MotoGP™ World Champion in one of the most dramatic races of the year at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana. In the process Lorenzo became only the third rider in the premier class to overturn a points deficit in the last GP to become champion and the first since Giacomo Agostini in 1966 to win the final race to clinch the title.

His teammate and title rival Valentino Rossi, who started from 25th on the grid after Cal Crutchlow was forced to start from the back of the grid, rode one of the races of his life to cross the line in fourth, but despite his best efforts, the ‘Doctor’ could do nothing to stop Lorenzo becoming champion in the end. Lorenzo eventually took the race win by just 0.263s from Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez, with his teammate Dani Pedrosa in third after thrilling finish that could have seen a very different outcome to the title battle.

#TheGrandFinale certainly lived up to the hype as 110,000 fans at a sold out Comunitat Valenciana – Ricardo Tormo circuit bore witness to one of the most tense and thrilling conclusions to a MotoGP™ season ever.

When the lights went out it was pole man Lorenzo who led into the first corner, a lead he would not relinquish for the duration of the race. Immediately he set off at the front, closely followed by the two Hondas of Marquez and Pedrosa plus Andrea Iannone on the Ducati Team GP15. Rossi enjoyed an amazing start, making up 7 places off the line, and the Italian was up to 16th by after the very first corner.

                

Rossi was a man on a mission and while the four riders at the front started to open up a gap, he carved his way through the field. The ‘Doctor’ was into 15th by the by the end of the first lap and 12th after lap 2. He then passed Stefan Bradl (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) for 11th on the third lap, before swiftly disposing of wildcard Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) to move into 10th. 

Still on lap three, Iannone lost the front at turn 12 and crashed out of the race, meaning Rossi was now into ninth and the crowd was going wild as they could not believe what they were seeing. At the front, Lorenzo was riding brilliantly, managing the gap to Marquez at around the 0.4s mark. Pedrosa had started to fall back from his teammate, but the front three had now opened up a 3.5s gap to the fourth placed Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team).

Rossi continued his charge, and by lap five he was embroiled in a battle for sixth with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo of Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro along with Danilo Petrucci on the Octo Pramac Racing Ducati. On lap six he overtook Smith for 8th, a lap later Petrucci ran wide and Rossi was up into seventh, but by this point Pol Espargaro had escaped 1.2s further up the road. Rossi set off in hot pursuit.

             

By lap nine he had closed down Pol Espargaro, and there was contact as he passed the Spaniard on lap 10 for sixth, but nothing was going to slow Rossi’s progress. On lap 12 Rossi made his move on Aleix Espargaro on the Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR in to turn 1, but Espargaro fought back, with Rossi having to wait until turn 5 to make it stick. Unbelievably he was now into fifth and a few corners later he took Dovizioso for fourth, but by this point he was 11 seconds behind Pedrosa in third.

               

It would turn out to be as good as it got for Rossi, as he didn’t have the pace to run with the front three as by this point he was lapping 0.3s slower than the men in front of him. Rossi, in fourth, needed Lorenzo to finish third if he was to become champion and only Marquez or Pedrosa could stop Lorenzo winning his fifth World Championship now.

At this point Lorenzo was still managing the gap at the front beautifully, and every time Marquez appeared to close him down, he opened up a 0.4s lead once more and the duo were starting to pull away from Pedrosa. It was not over yet though, not by a long way.

                 

With 8 laps to go Pedrosa, in third, started to close down his teammate, reducing the gap to the second placed Marquez to under 2 seconds. Suddenly Pedrosa was the fastest rider on track by far. While Marquez put Lorenzo under constant pressure at the front, it was Pedrosa who had the momentum and amazingly with three laps to go, only half a second separated the front three.

Rossi was now 18 seconds behind the trio and hoping for a miracle. With two laps to go, Pedrosa made a move on Marquez into second, but Marquez fought back immediately. This swapping of places allowed Lorenzo to open up the tiniest of gaps at the front and as he crossed the line to start the last lap, he had a 0.347s lead over Marquez.

The tensions was unbearable, but Lorenzo kept his cool to ride smoothly through the last set of corners and despite Marquez throwing everything at him on the last lap, Lorenzo held on to take the race win by less than three-tenths of a second from Marquez. It was the 28-year-old Mallorcan’s seventh win of the season, 40th in MotoGP™ and 61st of his illustrious career.

               

It was in incredible finish to one of the most epic seasons in the history of the World Championship and it meant that Lorenzo (330pts) had overturned Rossi’s (325pts) seven-point lead to lift the title by a slender five-point margin, in the process lifting his fifth World Championship title (250cc – 2006, 250cc – 2007, MotoGP™ - 2010, MotoGP™ - 2012, MotoGP™-2015).

With Marquez and Pedrosa completing the podium, Rossi crossed the line 19 seconds behind Lorenzo in fourth, and despite a simply astounding ride, Rossi will have to wait to lift that elusive tenth title.

                   

Pol Espargaro was fifth as the leading Satellite rider, 2.8s ahead of his teammate Bradley Smith in sixth, with the British rider securing sixth in the championship standings in the process and the honour of top Satellite rider in 2015.

                   

Dovizioso finished in seventh as the leading Ducati, ahead of Aleix Espargaro in eight. LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow was forced to start from the back of the grid after experiencing issues with his bike before the race started. The British rider pulled off a great race to ride form 26th through to 9th, with Petrucci completing the top ten.

EG 0,0 Marc VDS Scott Redding took the last points scoring spot in 15th, with Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera in 16th as the leading Open Class rider, with the Spaniard securing the Open title in the process as his rival Loris Baz (Forward Racing) could only finish in 19th.

                    

Nicky Hayden (Aspar MotoGP Team) bowed out of the MotoGP™ class by finishing as the leading Open Honda in 17th with Australian Jack Miller (LCR Honda) crossing the line in 21st. There were DNF’s for Broc Parkes, Mike De Meglio and Eugene Laverty.

The riders and team return to the Valencia track on Tuesday & Wednesday to kick off the 2016 season with the first official test.

Check out the full MotoGP™ race results and the final 2015 MotoGP™ World Championship standings.

Lorenzo signe le meilleur temps du vendredi à Sepang / Lorenzo strikes first in Sepang

Le Majorquin est parvenu à passer devant les pilotes Repsol Honda lors d’une chaude après-midi en Malaisie.

                

Suite à ce que Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) ait dominé la première séance d’essais du Grand Prix Shell de Malaisie vendredi matin à Sepang, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a été le pilote le plus rapide l’après-midi et a surtout réussi à battre le chrono de son compatriote de près de deux dixièmes de seconde pour finir la journée en tête. 

                    

Pedrosa était cependant lui aussi en progrès et finissait à seulement à 0.047s du Majorquin tandis que Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) se maintenait dans le Top 3, à 0.226s du leader. 

Andrea Iannone (Ducati) a profité de l’après-midi pour se rapprocher des premières places et finir quatrième, à un rien de Márquez et malgré une chute dans le virage 8. Son compatriote Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a de son côté été l’un des quelques pilotes qui n’ont pas amélioré leurs meilleurs temps personnels l’après-midi et a terminé la journée à plus de six dixièmes de son coéquipier, qu’il devance de onze points au classement général avant l’avant-dernière manche de la saison.

                     

Tombé le matin, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) a démontré une certaine compétitivité l’après-midi et a pris la sixième place sur le classement combiné, devant Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) et Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing).

                      

Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) a impressionné et a fini onzième, devant Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) ainsi que les pilotes du team Monster Yamaha Tech3, Pol Espargaró et Bradley Smith. L’Espagnol était de loin le premier pilote Open tandis que son coéquipier Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) et Loris Baz (Forward Racing) ont pris les 21e et 22 positions, respectivement, sur le classement combiné.

Cliquez ici pour accéder au classement.

Jorge Lorenzo ends Friday on top of the combined timesheets to lay down a marker to his title rival Rossi who finished in fifth.

               

In the hot and humid conditions (Track temp. 47˚C) at the Sepang International Circuit it was Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo who ended the day on top to send out a message to his title rival Valentino Rossi. All of the talk before the riders took to the track was about Rossi’s comments revolving around Marc Marquez from the Press Conference, but it was Rossi’s Movistar Yamaha teammate Lorenzo that stole the show amongst the haze at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Lorenzo had played second fiddle to Dani Pedrosa in the morning’s FP1 session, but after spending most of FP2 working on race pace, the Spaniard stuck in some fresh rubber to set a 2’00.246. This time was less than half a second off Marc Marquez’s 2014 Pole Record (1’59.791) as the riders hit the ground running at Sepang due to the fact all of the teams get to test at the circuit during preseason. Lorenzo’s time was 0.669s faster than his title rival Rossi as he struck an important psychological blow in the epic 2015 MotoGP™ World Championship title fight.

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa had been quickest out of the blocks in FP1 but found himself 0.047s off the pace of Lorenzo at the end of the day in second overall. The Spaniard will be keen to be involved in the fight for the race win after having missed out on all the fun of the podium battle at Phillip Island.

                  

His teammate Marc Marquez (+0.226s) responded to Rossi’s criticism on Friday by ending the day third fastest overall. The reigning MotoGP™ champion took his 50th GP victory Phillip Island last time out and won last year’s race at Sepang from pole.

                  

Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone (+0.240s) followed up his podium at Phillip Island by ending the day fourth fastest despite crashing at turn 8 in FP2. Following his crash the Italian immediately went out and set his quickest time of the day, just 0.014s further back from Marquez at the circuit where his GP15 made its debut during the preseason test.

Rossi found himself down in fifth overall after an issue with his first choice bike at the end of FP2 prevented him from setting a flying lap on fresh rubber. Rossi, who has won six times in the premier class at Sepang, failed to improve on his time from the morning session but has shown before that he can recover from a poor Friday to be competitive come the race. The ‘Doctor’ currently leads Lorenzo by 11 points in the standings and has his first chance to lift that elusive tenth title if results go his way on Sunday.

                  

LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow (+0.793s) carried on his run of good form that has seen him record three top ten finishes in a row to end the day in sixth as the leading Satellite rider. Suzuki Ecstar’s Aleix Espargaro had expected his GSX-RR to struggle at Sepang due to the two long straights and its lack of acceleration, but he finished the day in seventh overall.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) recovered from his worst finish of the season at the Australian GP to finish in 8th, with Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) completing the top ten.

                   

Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera was the leading Open class rider in 11th, while the man who finished in sixth at the Australian GP, Maverick Viñales, was over 1.5s off the pace in 12th. British rider Bradley Smith on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1 struggled on the opening day and finished down in 14th.

Irishman Eugene Laverty was 16th, 0.001s ahead of his American teammate Nicky Hayden in 17th, while Australian Jack Miller (LCR Honda) ended the session in 20th.

Check out the combined results from MotoGP™ FP1 & FP2; FP3 starts at 9:55am local time on Saturday.

Márquez remporte la course de l’année à Phillip Island / Marquez's 50th victory sets title race alight

Le Champion en titre a battu Lorenzo dans le dernier tour tandis que Iannone a devancé Rossi pour la troisième place.

           

Disqualifié en 2013 puis tombé alors qu’il était premier en 2014, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a remporté pour la première fois l’épreuve MotoGP™ de Phillip Island dimanche au Grand Prix Pramac d’Australie à l’issue d’une course sensationnelle aux avant-postes. 

En pole position, Márquez a été devancé par Andrea Iannone (Ducati), Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) et Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) dès le départ mais a rapidement pris le dessus sur son coéquipier pour revenir sur les deux autres. 

Iannone et Lorenzo se sont fermement disputés la première position dès le premier tour dans un duel qui a tourné en faveur du Majorquin lorsque Iannone a heurté du casque une mouette qui stationnait sur sa trajectoire. L’Italien et Márquez n’ont cependant pas laissé Lorenzo s’échapper et ont tous les deux eu l’occasion de repasser devant sur les premiers tours pendant que Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), septième sur la grille, s’efforçait de revenir sur le trio de tête. 

                   

Lorsque l’Italien est parvenu à recoller au groupe, Lorenzo disposait d’un peu plus d’une seconde d’avance, un écart qu’il n’a pu maintenir que pour une dizaine de tours, jusqu’à être rattrapé par Márquez dans le 16e des 27e tours de l’épreuve. À ce moment-là, Rossi et Iannone avaient une seconde de retard sur Márquez, qui passait en tête pour la première fois de la course mais voyait Lorenzo et les deux Italiens revenir derrière lui à toute vitesse. 

Le dernier tiers de la course a ainsi été l’occasion d’une splendide bataille à quatre, que Lorenzo semblait avoir remportée après avoir doublé Márquez à six tours de l’arrivée. Le Champion du Monde en titre a cependant réalisé un incroyable dernier tour qui lui a valu une opportunité de repasser en tête, qu’il a parfaitement saisie, mais aussi le meilleur tour de la course et une splendide victoire, sa cinquième de l’année et la 50e de sa carrière en Grand Prix.

               

Derrière les deux Espagnols, Iannone, qui avait momentanément réussi à passer Márquez à quelques tours de l’arrivée, s’est brillamment imposé sur Rossi pour prendre la troisième place et s’offrir son troisième podium de la saison. Deuxième en qualifications en ayant suivi de près Lorenzo, l’Italien tenait sa promesse de se racheter et retournait la faveur au Majorquin en privant Rossi du podium, permettant à Lorenzo de marquer sept points de plus que son coéquipier. 

Avant l’épreuve de Sepang qui aura lieu le 25 octobre et celle de Valence qui aura lieu le 8 novembre, Rossi et Lorenzo n'ont plus que onze points d’écart en tête du classement général.

                 

Derrière les quatre protagonistes de ce qui est pour l’instant la plus belle course de l’année tant pour son spectacle et ses dépassements que pour son enjeu, Pedrosa était trop loin derrière pour observer la bataille et a terminé à quatre secondes de Rossi, en cinquième position.

                

Sixième sur la grille, Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) a égalé son meilleur résultat en date, sa sixième place de Barcelone, en confirmant ses excellentes performances et en finissant par battre Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), qui s’était brièvement battu avec Rossi sur les premiers tours.

                 

Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) a pris la huitième place, à neuf secondes de Crutchlow, devant son frère Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) et Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing). 

                  

Bien loin des excellentes performances de son coéquipier, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) a conclu en treizième position, à six secondes de Petrucci, devant Álvaro Bautista (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) et Jack Miller (LCR Honda), qui s’offrait le point de la quinzième place mais aussi la première place du groupe Open pour sa course nationale en finissant loin devant Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing), Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing) et Loris Baz (Forward Racing), 18e tandis que Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) finissait son 200e Grand Prix à la vingtième place. 

                 

Le paddock MotoGP™ prend maintenant la direction du Circuit International de Sepang, où se déroulera la semaine prochaine l’avant-dernière manche de la saison 2015. 

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats et ici pour le classement général.

                

Marc Marquez wins one of the most dramatic MotoGP™ races of all time as Lorenzo reduces Rossi's lead in the standings to just 11 points.

             

Repsol Honda’s Marquez emerged triumphant from an incredible Pramac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix to record his 50th career GP victory and fifth of 2015. Marquez secured the race win in the end by just 0.249s from Jorge Lorenzo, with Andrea Iannone completing the podium ahead of championship leader Valentino Rossi who had to settle for fourth.

The 32,000 fans packed into the grandstands bore witness to one of the most exciting races in the history of the World Championship as Marquez was involved in a race-long scrap with Movistar Yamaha teammates and title rivals Lorenzo and Rossi, plus the Ducati GP15 of Iannone. The battle between these four was simply breath-taking, as for once the weather did not throw a spanner in the works with the sun shining and track temperatures reaching 40˚C. It really did have everything: a myriad of overtakes, lots of contact, a championship title on the line, and even a bird strike.

               

At the start it was Iannone who got the drive off the line to lead into turn 1 with Lorenzo and Marquez in hot pursuit. Lorenzo would take the lead into turn 8, and in a sign of things to come there was contact between Marquez and his teammate Dani Pedrosa at turn 10 as the former defended 3rd. Iannone re-took the lead on lap 2, only to be hit by a stray seagull on the entrance to turn 4 to allow Lorenzo to move back to the front.

               

The lead swapped hands a number of times between these three on the opening laps. All the while Rossi, who had started from seventh on the grid, had been biding his time, before starting to move through the pack by lap 3. The ‘Doctor’ overtook the Repsol Honda of Dani Pedrosa and LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow to move up to fourth on lap 4 and join in the fun at the front.

              

Lorenzo began to break away at the front, and by the end of lap 7 he had opened up a 1.4s gap, but just when it looked like he would disappear into the distance the chasing trio started to close. Unbelievably, despite constantly swapping places, the three started to reel in Lorenzo at the front. At the end of lap 13, Lorenzo’s lead was down to a second. At the end of lap 14 it was 0.5s, and fans were in for a treat as Marquez, Iannone and Rossi caught Lorenzo at the front with 10 laps to go.

From here on in it was anyone’s guess who would win, with Iannone using the incredible power of his GP15 to show some blistering pace on the straight. This meant each time once of the others passed the Italian; he was able wait until the Gardner straight to launch his Bologna missile back past.

               

Lorenzo took the lead with 7 laps to go once more, and with just two laps to go had extended this lead to one second as the others fought against each other. The best was still to come though. As the riders entered the final lap less than second separated all four, as Lorenzo led across the line from Iannone with Marquez in third and Rossi fourth.

Marquez passed Iannone in the Southern Loop to move into second and set off after Lorenzo. Rossi also came past his compatriot after contact at turn 4, before Iannone fought back into 3rd through Lukey Heights. Then at turn 10 Marquez blitzed past Lorenzo into the lead, as Rossi tried desperately to pass Iannone for the final time but failed. Marquez then managed to hold on through the final few corners to secure an amazing victory as the crowd went wild. Marquez had saved his best till last, putting in the fastest lap of the race on the final lap as he timed his move to perfection. It seemed a fitting way for the reigning MotoGP™ World Champion to break his MotoGP™ points duck at Phillip Island, as he became the youngest ever rider to reach the milestone of 50 GP wins.

Lorenzo took second, his tenth podium of the year, to close the gap in the standings to Rossi to just 11 points with two races remaining. Iannone completed the podium, his third of the year and first since Mugello, while Rossi’s fourth was only the second time he has missed out on the podium this season. To give you an idea of how close it was, just a second separated the four across the line. It was also Rossi’s 328th grand prix, which moves him level with Loris Capirossi at the top of the list of riders with the most World Championships starts.

Marquez’s teammate Pedrosa came out on top in the battle for fifth as he crossed the line 5 seconds behind Rossi. The winner at Motegi had enjoyed an excellent race long fight with Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow, who finished in sixth and seventh respectively. Sixth equalled Viñales best MotoGP™ result from the Catalan GP as he once more impressed in what is only the Spaniard's rookie season.

              

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) won the battle of the brothers as he beat Aleix (Team Suzuki Ecstar) to 8th. Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith completed the top ten, finishing less than a second ahead of his compatriot Scott Redding on the EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda in eleventh.

LCR Honda’s Jack Miller took the Open class victory at his home grand prix by finishing in fifteenth, while Irishman Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) crossed the line in 19th after announcing he will be staying with his team for 2016. Laverty’s teammate Nicky Hayden was forced to retire with a technical issue and Damien Cudlin (E-Motion IodaRacing Team), who was substituting for the injured Alex De Angelis, also had to return to the pits with an issue.

                

Check out the full MotoGP™ race results and the latest championship standings.