Lorenzo wins epic dry-wet race at Aragón
Jorge Lorenzo claimed his first win of 2014 in an epic dry-wet race at MotorLand Aragón after Honda riders Marc Márquez and Dani Pedrosa crashed in slippery conditions.
Sunday, September 28, 2014 (9:04 am)

The Honda pair both fell, allowing Lorenzo to take a lead he would not relinquish, while Aleix Espargaró and Cal Crutchlow both profited from the conditions to complete an unlikely podium.
The race started in cool and cloudy conditions and Andrea Iannone led a frantic first lap from Márquez, Lorenzo and Pedrosa, who initially headed the field into the first corner.
Márquez took the lead from Iannone at the start of lap two and the Pramac rider lost control through turn Turn 10, sending Iannone across the grass. He was able to stay mounted on his Pramac on the wet grass but hit a bump and slid off, with his bike taking substantial damage after flipping end-over-end.
Márquez consequently led Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi, but the Italian was caught out on the approach to Turn Seven and suffered a big high-side onto the tarmac run-off. He was stretchered away by marshals and taken to hospital for a precautionary scan but medics at the circuit deemed Rossi okay.
Lorenzo and Márquez swapped positions up front a couple of times with Pedrosa lurking in third as the white flag was shown due to light rain, indicating that riders could swap bikes.
Márquez and Lorenzo continued their scrap as Pedrosa closed the gap and created a leading trio, firstly demoting Lorenzo before taking it to team-mate Márquez. The Honda riders exchanged positions several times before Pedrosa seized the initiative as the rain came down heavier.
Márquez took the lead as lap times drastically slowed, but Pedrosa lost the front end under braking for the first corner and crashed heavily, while Lorenzo and the rest of the midfield riders stopped and changed bikes.
Márquez stayed out despite the conditions worsening to the extent that he was lapping several seconds slower than Lorenzo and having to slither around the circuit. Despite his tentative throttle movements Márquez lost control of the front end of his Honda as he accelerated through Turn Two with three laps remaining, handing the lead of the race to Lorenzo.
Márquez and Pedrosa both recovered from their falls and changed to their wet-shod bikes, emerging down in 13th and 14th positions respectively.
Lorenzo thus led, with Espargaró in second after stopping before most of his rivals, while Crutchlow narrowly led Stefan Bradl in the battle for the final podium spot.
Lorenzo pulled out a comfortable margin across the final couple of laps to take his first win of the 2014 campaign, while Espargaró narrowly fended off a charging Crutchlow across the line, with the former taking his first ever podium and the Brit claiming his first top three result of the season.
Bradl was fourth, while Tech 3 pair Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaró rode to fifth and sixth. The younger Espargaró had previously been battling with Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso for fourth place prior to the wet weather but went wide and lost time, while Dovizioso stayed out on a damp circuit and fell at Turn Nine.
Álvaro Bautista was seventh, ahead of Aspar duo Hiroshi Aoyama and Nicky Hayden, while Scott Redding rounded out the top 10.
Despite finishing in 13th place, Márquez extended his Championship lead over Pedrosa to 75 points, meaning that he could clinch the title at the next round in Japan.
The next round of the season takes place at Motegi from October 10 to 12.
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