A weekend complicated by falls ends with a pair of safe and consistent race for Marc Marquez.
Morning Warm Up did not go to plan for the Repsol Honda Team as race day at the Gran Premio Red Bull de España began. Marc Marquez was victim to another fast fall, this time at Turn 4. Marc again walked away unharmed from their respective incidents.
Putting his fall behind him, the Repsol Honda Team rider lined up on row five of the grid for the 25 lap race. Although not at his physical best after the falls, Marquez was determined to make forward progress in the race. A calm approach saw the #93 steadily make up ground, entering the top ten on lap 11 after passing his team-mate. Marquez then set his sights on Zarco and the group ahead, catching them with a handful of laps to go. Taking ninth at the flag, Marquez finished 10 seconds behind the winner – importantly, three seconds closer than he was in Portimao. Although the position was lower, Marquez and his team are pleased with the progress made from one race to another.
Monday offers the MotoGP World Championship the opportunity to head back out on track at Jerez for a one-day test.
Marc Márquez, 9th: “Of course today we would have liked to be further ahead but we should be happy. In Portimao we finished 13 seconds behind the leader and here only ten, this is the main target. Like in Portimao I felt strong in the middle of the race, but I lost some time at the start and the end of the race and overall I felt like we have made a big step compared to our last race. I can now understand more about the bike. Tonight we will decide if I will test tomorrow, it is important to do some laps if we can to keep understanding everything with the team. It hasn’t been the best weekend in Jerez, but an important step and I want to say a big thank you to Honda and my team this weekend for their incredible work.”
