It was the 3000th premier class race and Dani Pedrosa painted the race weekend orange as the Spaniard held the pace throughout the free-practice, qualifiers and the race. Pedrosa took the chequered flag in the Gran Premio Red Bull de España, starting from pole position, leading the race from the first corner to the end. Pedrosa set the race’s fastest lap on the way to taking his 30th win in MotoGP, the 53rd in his career.
Pedrosa also earned the Repsol Honda Team’s 100th victory in the MotoGP class and became the only rider to have won at least one race for 16 consecutive years. Dani is now fourth in the Championship, with 52 points. Team mate Marc Marquez scored a brilliant second-place finish after chasing Pedrosa for 27 laps. The current World Champion is now third in the standings with 58 points, four points behind championship leader Valentino Rossi.
Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo, who had been struggling with the motorcycle since the start of 2017 season, had a good race weekend, taking the third place on the podium. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider and rookie of the year, Johann Zarco once again showed promising performance, finishing the race in fourth spot.
Meanwhile, Movistar Yamaha riders Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi struggled with grip, finishing the race in sixth and tenth place respectively. Viñales’s sixth place puts him on 60 points and second place in the rankings, two points behind championship leader Rossi, who has earned a total of 62 points.
Crashes
Cal Crutchlow, who displayed promising performance over the weekend and started the race from the first row of the grid, suffered an unfortunate lowside crash, shortly followed by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Pol Espargaro. Jack Miller and Alvaro Bautista collided and slid out of the race.
Here’s the final race result:
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Points | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
| 1 | PEDROSA Dani | 26 | 25 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 45’26.827 |
| 2 | MARQUEZ Marc | 93 | 20 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 6.136 |
| 3 | LORENZO Jorge | 99 | 16 | Ducati Team | Ducati | 14.767 |
| 4 | ZARCO Johann | 5 | 13 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 17.601 |
| 5 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | 4 | 11 | Ducati Team | Ducati | 22.913 |
| 6 | VINALES Maverick | 25 | 10 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 24.556 |
| 7 | PETRUCCI Danilo | 9 | 9 | Octo Pramac Racing | Ducati | 24.959 |
| 8 | FOLGER Jonas | 94 | 8 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 27.721 |
| 9 | ESPARGARO Aleix | 41 | 7 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 31.233 |
| 10 | ROSSI Valentino | 46 | 6 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 38.682 |
| 11 | REDDING Scott | 45 | 5 | Octo Pramac Racing | Ducati | 40.979 |
| 12 | BARBERA Hector | 8 | 4 | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 43.199 |
| 13 | BAZ Loris | 76 | 3 | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 43.211 |
| 14 | SMITH Bradley | 38 | 2 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 47.964 |
| 15 | ABRAHAM Karel | 17 | 1 | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | Ducati | 51.279 |
| 16 | LOWES Sam | 22 | 0 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 1’08.885 |
| 17 | TSUDA Takuya | 22 | 0 | Suzuki Test Team | Suzuki | 1’27.450 |
| 18 | IANNONE Andrea | 29 | 0 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki | 18 (laps) |
| 19 | RABAT Tito | 53 | 0 | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 18 (laps) |
| 20 | CRUTCHLOW Cal | 35 | 0 | LCR Honda | Honda | 22 (laps) |
| 21 | MILLER Jack | 43 | 0 | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 22 (laps) |
| 22 | BAUTISTA Alvaro | 19 | 0 | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | Ducati | 22 (laps) |
| 23 | ESPARGARO Pol | 44 | 0 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 22 (laps) |
Championship positions after the Spanish GP:
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Points | Team | Constructor |
| 1 | ROSSI Valentino | 46 | 62 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 2 | VINALES Maverick | 25 | 60 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha |
| 3 | MARQUEZ Marc | 93 | 58 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 4 | PEDROSA Dani | 26 | 52 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
| 5 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | 4 | 41 | Ducati Team | Ducati |
| 6 | ZARCO Johann | 5 | 35 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha |
| 7 | CRUTCHLOW Cal | 35 | 29 | LCR Honda | Honda |
| 8 | FOLGER Jonas | 94 | 29 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha |
| 9 | LORENZO Jorge | 99 | 28 | Ducati Team | Ducati |
| 10 | PETRUCCI Danilo | 9 | 26 | Octo Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 11 | REDDING Scott | 45 | 26 | Octo Pramac Racing | Ducati |
| 12 | MILLER Jack | 43 | 21 | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda |
| 13 | ESPARGARO Aleix | 41 | 17 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia |
| 14 | BAUTISTA Alvaro | 19 | 14 | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | Ducati |
| 15 | BAZ Loris | 76 | 12 | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati |
| 16 | BARBERA Hector | 8 | 12 | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati |
| 17 | IANNONE Andrea | 29 | 9 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki |
| 18 | ABRAHAM Karel | 17 | 9 | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | Ducati |
| 19 | RABAT Tito | 53 | 8 | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda |
| 20 | RINS Alex | 42 | 7 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki |
| 21 | SMITH Bradley | 38 | 3 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
| 22 | ESPARGARO Pol | 44 | 2 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM |
MotoGP will be back in action in two weeks’ time for the Grand Prix de France at the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit.