Repsol Honda Team rider takes important podium finish, placing second just a week after surgery. Mid-race crash knocks Hiroshi Aoyama out of Spanish GP.
Marc Marquez took a valuable podium finish at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. The reigning MotoGP World Champion placed second in front of his home fans, just a week after fracturing the little finger of his left hand. His teammate, Hiroshi Aoyama, could not complete the race after crashing in the second half of the race –when riding in fifteenth.
Starting from second on the grid, Marquez made a good start and kept up with race leader Jorge Lorenzo, who had taken off from pole position. Both began to open up an advantage over the rest of the pack, but the Repsol Honda rider was unable to match his rival’s pace for the duration. With 6 laps remaining, Valentino Rossi came up to within just over a second of Marquez, but the reigning MotoGP World Champion managed to increase the pace again and reopened a gap –crossing the line with a lead of over six seconds.
With this result, Marquez cuts 4 points off Rossi’s lead in the MotoGP World Championship. Rossi has 82 points, Andrea Dovizioso 67, Lorenzo 62 and Marquez 56. The next round of the World Championship will be the French Grand Prix, held in two weeks’ time at Le Mans.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
2nd, at 5.576 sec.
“This is a track where we’ve always struggled a little because of my riding style –and this year also because of my injury, but today we achieved what we set out to do. On the opening laps I followed Jorge, but by lap five I could tell that although my finger was not a problem, I was unconsciously working more with my right arm and it began to stiffen up. From then on, I decided to just try and finish the race strong. Then I saw that Valentino was closing in on me and I thought “it’s going to be Argentina all over again” but I gathered strength and this time I was able to maintain the gap between us. We leave Jerez a little closer to the World Championship leader, but Jorge has extended his advantage.”
Hiroshi Aoyama >> Audio >> Audio JAP
No clasificado
“No ha sido una carrera fácil. Esperábamos que hiciera mucha más calor, pero desafortunadamente las condiciones han cambiado. He mantenido mi elección del compuesto más duro para el neumático de la carrera y al principio he sufrido un poco con el agarre, pero a media carrera he empezado a sentirme mejor. Sabíamos que este compuesto nos permitiría llegar fuertes al final de carrera y nos permitiría pelear con los otros pilotos, pero desgraciadamente, antes de poder capitalizarlo, he cometido un error y me he caído. Ha sido una carrera dura y terminar así es muy decepcionante. Quiero dar las gracias a todo el equipo, me han ayudado mucho y ha sido una gran experiencia”.
