Hello and welcome to Speed.
Hello and welcome to Speed. To find the last non-Spanish winner of the Catalan Grand Prix, we have to go back to 2011 when Australian rider Casey Stoner took the chequered flag en route to his second world title.
Local fans looked set to celebrate yet again as Marc Márquez did enough to secure pole position but was the Honda rider able to press home the advantage on race day? Let’s take a look.
Valentino Rossi put himself back in the frame of the MotoGP World Championship with a timely win at the Barcelona GP.
With the front line of the grid featuring four Spanish riders, home fans were hoping for a local boy on top of the podium.
But it was the Italian who grabbed the initiative after Jorge Lorenzo crashed with eight laps remaining.
The reigning world champion was shunted out of the race when he was clipped by Andrea Iannone,
Rossi, looking for a 10th world title, kept his Spanish rival Mark Marquez at bay to claim his second win of the season.
His victory ensures the championship remains a three-way battle.
1. Marc Márquez (Honda), 125 points
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), 115pts
3. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), 103pts
Casey Stoner goes toe to toe with Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi is not the only one to have defied the Spanish riders on their own turf. Let’s go back in time to 2007 when Casey Stoner upset the odds to triumph here, eventually handing Ducati their first, and so far only, MotoGP World Championship.
Stoner produced an enthralling performance on his way to his maiden world title.
Valentino Ross was on pole and the hot favourite.
More than 100,000 Catalan supporters were banking on a home rider to challenge for the podium but Casey was having none of it.
The Australian went toe to toe with Rossi.
And it was the young Ducati Malboro rider who had the last word. He inched ahead to cross the line seven hundredths of a second in front of the Italian.
It was his fourth victory. Six more were to come and a world title.
World of motorsport mourns Luis Salom
The world of motorsport has been rocked by the news of the death of Luis Salom following a crash during free practice on Friday. It is the sport’s first fatal accident since Italy’s Marco Simoncelli was killed at the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2011; a tragic reminder of how dangerous this discipline can be.
Sadness enveloped the paddock at the Catalunya circuit as motorsport paid homage to the Spaniard Luis Salom.
Among the mourners were fellow riders, friends and family.
The 24 year old died following a crash during the second free practice session for Moto2. The rider fell and was struck by his own motorcycle.
He was treated track side by medics and flown to a local hospital but succumbed to his injures less than an hour later.
The Spaniard made his world championship debut in 2009 in Moto 3 where he won nine races before moving up to Moto2 last year.
French Motocross Grand Prix
Well that’s all we have time for but join us next week for another edition of Speed, where we’ll be looking at the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix. In the meantime, we leave you with some of the best images from this weekend’s French Motocross Grand Prix. See you soon.