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Repsol Honda Team rider maintains lead in MotoGP standings, in a race in which Marc Marquez crashes out from second.

It was a bittersweet day for the Repsol Honda team at the Italian Grand Prix. Dani Pedrosa finished in a positive second place, with a valuable result on a day in which he could not fight for the victory. He remains the leader of the premier class thanks to his podium finish. Less fortunate was teammate Marc Marquez, who –despite the effects of a heavy Friday crash– had been riding in second before a fall left him out of contention for another rostrum.

The MotoGP race began with a strong start by Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, with Marc Marquez just behind. All three began to establish a distance from the chasing riders and it became clear that victory would go to one of the trio. The first half of the race was ridden in a tight pack, until the Yamaha rider broke away. Behind him, Marquez was more comfortable than Pedrosa and did not hesitate to overtake his teammate. It was a lead that only lasted for a few corners, as with three laps remaining Marquez lost both the front and the back at the same time and crashed out.

Pedrosa crossed the finish line 5 seconds behind Lorenzo, who he leads in the World Championship standings by 103 points to 91. With 77 points, Marc Marquez remains in third.

Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
2nd at 5.400 sec.
“I didn’t feel fully comfortable in the race today, but I’m happy because I was able to gain a large number of points. In general, this was a difficult weekend. The back tyre was giving me a lot of problems with grip but taking 20 points from this race and maintaing the lead the World Championship is something positive.”

Marc Marquez >> Audio
Fall
“Today we finished with our first DNF of the season, but after three difficult days of setbacks and hard work, I finally felt good during the race. I don’t fully understand why I crashed, as I lost both the front and the back at the same time and was unable to save it. It’s clear that we made a mistake, but we can’t go looking for excuses. We’ve looked at the telemetry and it shows that I was going at the same speed and on the same line as before but, anyway, you learn from these mistakes. We can’t forget that this is my first year in the class and I am here to learn how things are in MotoGP. In spite of everything we were still fighting for second place, which is a reason to be happy. I want to apologize to Honda and to the team, as they always support me and work so hard. Now we are turning our focus to Montmelo, and I can’t wait to race there.”

 

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