Repsol Honda Team rider rides masterfully for victory at the Czech Republic Grand Prix. Marquez’s winning streak ends as he finishes fourth.
Dani Pedrosa was the star of the Czech Republic Grand Prix on race day, winning the eleventh round of the year. Starting from fifth position, he gradually made his way up through the field on the opening laps, in a performance that prevented Marc Marquez from continuing his winning streak. The reigning MotoGP World Champion finished fourth at Brno.
The race saw its most exciting moments on the opening laps. A bad start for Marquez led to him completing the first lap in sixth. In the early going there was overtaking amongst the riders, but meanwhile Jorge Lorenzo and Pedrosa managed to gain ground and quickly overtake initial leaders Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso. Marquez found it more difficult to get past Valentino Rossi.
On Lap 6 Pedrosa had gone into the lead and he set about escaping for his 26th win in MotoGP. Behind him, Lorenzo remained second. Although Marquez was able to move into third, as the laps went by Rossi proved to be too strong for him and relegated the MotoGP World Championship leader to fourth. Without the good feeling of previous races, Marquez nevertheless claimed a further 13 points for his tally ‒which rises to 263. He leads the series by 77 points from Pedrosa, who lies in second overall.
The next round on the calendar will be the British Grand Prix, held in two weeks’ time at Silverstone.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
4th at 10.454 sec.
“Today was one of those Sundays in which I neither felt completely comfortable, nor had found the best setup for the bike. It wasn’t down to a mistake by me or by the team, it was simply that we didn’t have the same feeling as on other Sundays. In a way it’s taken a weight off my shoulders, as now people won’t be asking me if I can win every race anymore. It was also important that we were able to focus on staying in fourth, even though it was tough not to be fighting for the win; we took 13 points that are important for the World Championship and we have a big advantage. What matters is who wins the title -not who wins the most races”.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
1st – 42:47.800
“I am very happy to have won this race! This year it has been a tough road to victory, but today everybody in the team is very happy. Seeing their smiling faces makes me happy as well, because you always try to get the best results but don’t always manage to do so. This year we have an amazing rival in Marc, who has had great performances at every round so far. Maybe today wasn’t his best day, but I think that we also worked very well this weekend; bringing home the win for the team feels fantastic”.
