A bad end to a weekend that did not start well. The hopes of the four Repsol riders in 125cc served for nothing from the very start of the race in Assen. When the red lights went out at the legendary Dutch track the 125cc riders started the day`s racing, on a Saturday as is the tradition in this town in the Netherlands.
Marc Márquez was the best of the four Repsol riders. At the end of the first lap the Spanish KTM rider was 9th, with Rabat 14th and Redding 19th. The young Cameron Beaubier, Márquez`s teammate in the KTM team, could not even finish his first lap as he fell after clashing with another bike on one of the first few corners.
After the first few laps Márquez and Rabat were in the chasing group, fighting for 6th position, because at the front Simón, Terol, Gadea, Iannone and Smith had got away very quickly and had an advantage of several seconds. He was in a group together with Márquez and Rabat, Espargaró, Folger, Corsi and Bradl, all of whom would be alongside each other for the 22 laps of the Dutch GP.
In spite of being harmed by several manouevres made by his rivals in the group which made him drop down the field, and at one point to lose contact with the chasing group, the young Repsol rider made a great effort to make up the lost ground and get back in touch with the group containing Folger, Espargaró, Rabat and company. And whilst Márquez eventually got back in contact with this group, behind him Redding had to retire before finishing the end of the second lap, and Rabat who fell on corner 9, bid an early farewell to the race on lap 12.
On the final laps the chasing group fought hard for 6th place, a position that in the end ended up in Bradl´s hands, followed by Folger and Corsi. Márquez, who had once again fallen behind and had been forced off the track by another rider`s mistake – in this case on the chicane before the home straight and on the final lap – finished in 10th position, a result with a bitter-sweet flavour taking into consideration the young Repsol rider`s performance. With this result Márquez stays 6th in the overall classification.
Marc Márquez, 10th at 21.941 secs. >> Audio
“The race was a little short for me, becuase I was getting better, but I had a few grazes with other riders, just like on the final lap, and I was not able to finish any higher. The chassis worked perfectly, but on the other hand the engine lacked a little power today. We will be working to finish higher up in the next few races. I made a good start but the bike did not have all the acceleration I wanted. The same thing always happened in the battles, on the back straight I was overtaken, and when braking I overtook them. We were in a group and on the final braking I went towards the inside and a rider touched me. We went onto the grass and I could not do any more. Finishing 10th is not a good position, but with what we have we did the best we could.”
Esteve Rabat, fell >> Audio
“I got off to a bad start for the first time this season and on the first few laps I tried to make up the lost ground. I reached the chasing group, fighting for 6th position and I found myself in a tough battle. We were constantly ovetaking each other and I tried to take a break behind Bradl, doing gentler laps, but as soon as I braked hard the steering locked and I fell. I am really disappointed, but I think that in both Barcelona two weeks ago, and here, we have made some positive progress, both in practice as well as in the race. The motorbike is very competitive, the teamwork is very good, and in the next race we will try to fight for a good result.”
Scott Redding, retired
“This is a weekend to forget. We began badly, with a problem on the Thursday that almost meant we could not ride, yesterday the clutch broke and today in the race everything went badly. I started badly and when I tried to make up the lost ground on the second lap, the revs just did not stop rising and I had to retire. The best thing I can say is that it has finished and that we have three weeks to prepare for the race in Germany.”
Cameron Beaubier, fell >> Audio
“I made a good start, and on the first few corners things went well, but when we took a slow left-hander I hit Dani Webb. I braked sooner than normal, but Rabat was on my outside and I did not want to push him off so I braked harder and then the front wheel blocked, so I fell. I tried to continue and I did five more laps but the bike had too much damage and I had to stop.”
