Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) takes second win in a week.

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Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) has taken an incredible second win of the season in the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, making him the first Ducati rider to take back-to-back wins for the Borgo Panigale factory since two-time MotoGP™ World Champion Casey Stoner achieved the feat in 2010. Reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) left a spate of crashes in practice behind to take second, with his teammate – polesitter Dani Pedrosa – completing the rostrum.

There was drama off the line as Pedrosa got a good start from pole, but a wheelie from Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) saw the ‘Spartan’ almost clash with fellow front row starter Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) – with Petrucci then making contact Marquez. The Italian dropped back, with the reigning Champion pulling clear as Lorenzo attacked for the lead and took over at the front.

Championship leader Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) found himself heading through the run off area at Turn 1 off the start and dropping back, with the Spaniard then facing a fight back from outside the points after a tough weekend – and teammate Valentino Rossi unable to make big progress from P13 on the grid either.

Lorenzo led Marquez and Pedrosa, with Dovizioso on the hunt in fourth and Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) a big winner off the line to move up into fifth. Next it was Marquez who struck for the lead, with Pedrosa needing no invitation to follow him through. The ‘Spartan’ then lost out to his teammate ‘DesmoDovi’ as he began to struggle after the lightning start; Folger and Petrucci the next to get through.

‘Baby Samurai’ Pedrosa then chose his moment to attack for P1, able to keep it as Dovizioso struck on Marquez – but the top three couldn’t quite yet begin to pull away from Folger in fourth, or ‘Petrux’ just behind. After a handful of laps playing high-speed chess, Dovizioso then went around the outside of Pedrosa to take the lead – pulling a small gap before Marquez followed the Italian through.

A three-way fight then broke out between Alvaro Bautista (Pull&Bear Aspar Team), Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Lorenzo for P6, with the squabble providing some spectacular wheel-to-wheel action and the Frenchman initially coming out on top. The drama wasn’t over, however, with some running out of rubber and some making big gains as the final laps approached – with Lorenzo on a charge back through and Folger one to lose out.

As ‘DesmoDovi’ arrived at the final lap clear in the lead, it became apparent the dream of Mugello wasn’t something the Italian yet had to wake from – crossing the line for his fourth career win to become the first Ducati rider since Casey Stoner in 2010 to win back-to-back.

Marquez kept it calm to take second and get back on the podium after a tough Italian GP, with Pedrosa crossing the line in third to join his teammate on the bounce back from the Italian GP.

Lorenzo sliced back through to take fourth at the flag, ahead of Zarco getting the better of Folger in a last minute duel between the Tech 3 machines. Bautista, after a late run off, came home in P7.

Valentino Rossi came home in eighth, Hector Barbera (Reale Avintia Racing) took P9, and Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) made it to the flag in tenth – taking a big hit on his points lead in the Championship.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), Loris Baz (Reale Avintia Racing), Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Racing), Karel Abraham (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) and home hero Tito Rabat (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) completed the top fifteen. EG 0,0 Marc VDS rider Jack Miller crashed out of top ten contention, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) also failing to see the flag after retiring with a problem. Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) sadly was another crasher late in the race, after some impressive pace once again.

GRAN PREMI MONSTER ENERGY DE CATALUNYA

MotoGP Race Classification 2017.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	156.2	44’41.518
2	20	93	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	156.0	+3.544
3	16	26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	155.8	+6.774
4	13	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Ducati Team	Ducati	155.6	+9.608
5	11	5	Johann ZARCO	FRA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	155.4	+13.838
6	10	94	Jonas FOLGER	GER	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	155.4	+13.921
7	9	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Pull&Bear Aspar Team	Ducati	155.2	+16.763
8	8	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	155.0	+20.821
9	7	8	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	154.8	+23.952
10	6	25	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	154.8	+24.189
11	5	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	LCR Honda	Honda	154.6	+28.329
12	4	76	Loris BAZ	FRA	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	154.3	+33.281
13	3	45	Scott REDDING	GBR	OCTO Pramac Racing	Ducati	154.2	+35.200
14	2	17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Pull&Bear Aspar Team	Ducati	153.9	+39.436
15	1	53	Tito RABAT	SPA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	153.8	+40.872
16		29	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	153.7	+43.221
17		50	Sylvain GUINTOLI	FRA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	153.6	+44.655
18		44	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	153.4	+48.993
19		22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	153.0	+55.492
Not Classified
		9	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	OCTO Pramac Racing	Ducati	155.6	2 Laps
		43	Jack MILLER	AUS	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	155.7	12 Laps
		41	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	155.5	18 Laps

MotoGP World Standing 2017.

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Maverick VIÑALES	Yamaha	SPA	111
2	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati	ITA	104
3	Marc MARQUEZ	Honda	SPA	88
4	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	SPA	84
5	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	ITA	83
6	Johann ZARCO	Yamaha	FRA	75
7	Jorge LORENZO	Ducati	SPA	59
8	Jonas FOLGER	Yamaha	GER	51
9	Cal CRUTCHLOW	Honda	GBR	45
10	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	ITA	42
11	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Ducati	SPA	34
12	Scott REDDING	Ducati	GBR	33
13	Jack MILLER	Honda	AUS	30
14	Loris BAZ	Ducati	FRA	23
15	Andrea IANNONE	Suzuki	ITA	21
16	Hector BARBERA	Ducati	SPA	21
17	Tito RABAT	Honda	SPA	19
18	Aleix ESPARGARO	Aprilia	SPA	17
19	Karel ABRAHAM	Ducati	CZE	11
20	Michele PIRRO	Ducati	ITA	7
21	Alex RINS	Suzuki	SPA	7
22	Pol ESPARGARO	KTM	SPA	6
23	Bradley SMITH	KTM	GBR	6
24	Sam LOWES	Aprilia	GBR	2
25	Sylvain GUINTOLI	Suzuki	FRA	1
26	Takuya TSUDA	Suzuki	JPN

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) takes second win in a week.

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GRAN PREMI MONSTER ENERGY DE CATALUNYA

MotoGP World Standing 2017.

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