Jorge Lorenzo dominated a crash-littered Catalan Grand Prix to secure back-to-back victories in MotoGP.
Lorenzo, fresh from his first win with Ducati in 24 attempts, led all but the first lap en route to his second win on the bounce.
Lorenzo dropped to third at the start, behind Marc Marquez and Andrea Iannone, but was gifted second when the Suzuki rider’s attempt at taking the lead into Turn 10 left him wide.
Marquez led over the line first time around but Lorenzo grasped the initiative into Turn 1 to take a lead that he never relinquished.
Marquez remained within a few tenths of Lorenzo during the opening stages but soon drifted away, allowing Lorenzo to record an ultimately comfortable win.
Marquez recorded second place to increase his title advantage to 27 points, while third place went to Valentino Rossi, after Andrea Dovizioso crashed out at Turn 5 while set for a podium position.
LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow passed Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa to take fourth position, while Maverick Vinales suffered another poor first lap, from where he recovered only to sixth.
Johann Zarco was seventh, in front of Pramac’s Danilo Petrucci and Angel Nieto rider Alvaro Bautista, while Iannone was unable to capitalise on his early position and dropped to the foot of the top 10.
Pol Espargaro, Scott Redding and Karel Abraham were the only other riders to reach the chequered flag unscathed amid a spate of crashes and other issues for half of the 26-bike field.
Wildcard riders Mika Kallio and Sylvain Guintoli, along with Tom Luthi, all fell during the early stages, while Aleix Espargaro and Xavier Simeon also hit the ground shortly after.
Alex Rins and Jack Miller both retired, ostensibly with mechanical problems, while Takaaki Nakagama collided with Bradley Smith while trying to pass the Briton into Turn 5.
Tito Rabat suffered a dramatic engine failure, and subsequent fire, along the pit straight and Hafizh Syahrin went wide at Turn 4 before crashing as he tried to re-gain the optimum line.
Franco Morbidelli was another to crash, though he salvaged points by finishing a thrice-lapped 14th overall.
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