Marquez’ latest victory extends advantage in overall standings. Rins, sent down the order by a first corner mistake by another rider, finishes in a creditable tenth position after recovering 11 places.
The Repsol Moto3 riders enjoyed mixed fortunes on raceday at Motegi. Whilst Alex Marquez won the race and extended his lead in the overall standings to 25 points, teammate Alex Rins finished in a creditable but disappointing tenth place after some early drama. The latter was run off track by Jakub Kornfeil in the opening stages of the race and had to fight back from 21st.
Whilst Marquez fought for victory at the front, Rins calmly moved his way up through the field until reaching the second group. There he became embroiled in a tussle with Bastianini, Fenati and Antonelli ‒finally placing fourth in that pack.
On a thrilling final lap, Marquez was the smartest rider in the group, managing to use his own line on the hard braking corner right before the tunnel. Miller and Kent, fighting for victory, went wide as the Spaniard went through cleanly.
With this latest victory, fifth for Miller and tenth for Rins, Marquez increases his lead in the Moto3 World Championship with 231 points, followed by the Australian 25 points behind and his teammate 37 back.
The next race meeting will be held next weekend at Philip Island, Australia.
Alex Rins >> Audio
10th to 6.686 sec.
“It was a pretty tough race, because on the first corner we lost all chance of victory. Another rider touched me and knocked me off-track. I tried to get back and recover positions, until I reached the second group. But from there it was very hard to escape, because whenever I got ahead and we cut the gap to those ahead of us, the other riders began to get in the way. They braked late and exited the corners very fast, but did not have enough pace and it was not possible to fight for places higher up the order.”
Alex Marquez >> Audio
1st, 39’26.830 sec.
“Our approach during the weekend was difficult, because we never really found our way, but in the qualifying session ‒and especially the warmup‒ we took a step forward. I felt very comfortable on the bike in the race. I knew it would be hard and I began well, making my best start of the year. From then I tried to stay focused. When I was behind Miller and Kent I had a little more than them, but when I passed them they overtook me on the next corner. I stayed behind them and kept calm, and when I saw that they were going wide I kept my line when braking. I’m very happy to win again here. I have to thank Honda because we had a very fast bike.”
