The MotoGP World Champion climbs from seventh on the grid to win his 70th Grand Prix at Sepang.
The Repsol Honda team celebrated the 400th Grand Prix for an alliance that began in 1995, with a ninth win of 2018 for Marc Márquez and the clinching of the constructors title for Honda.
The MotoGP World Champion started from seventh on the grid and, within five laps, was second, 7 tenths behind Valentino Rossi.
Márquez never slowed his pace and, four laps from the end, was 6 tenths off the Italian, who crashed at Turn 1.
Marc Márquez: “It was a hard race, first of all because I was starting from seventh place. I didn’t get a perfect start, and then my first lap was good but not one of the best of my career. Step by step, I overtook some riders and got to second place. I saw that Valentino was pushing and I started to chase him, lapping at qualifying pace! But in the process, I overheated the rear tyre; the front was also warming up quickly and the feeling wasn’t good.
So for a few laps, I just tried to cool down and in so doing I began to feel better and better. I saw I was getting closer to Valentino and honestly that gave me extra motivation. At that moment, it was just a matter of instinct and pushing, something that you can do when you’ve already got the Championship.
Unfortunately, he made a little mistake in turn one, which is a shame as it would have been nice to see how the duel would have ended. Anyway, when I saw him crash, I just cooled down and focused on finishing the race.
We won, and that was the best way to seal the Constructors Championship. I would also like to congratulate Jorge Martin and “Pecco” Bagnaia for taking Championships. We’ll celebrate together in Valencia.”
