Reigning World Champion crashes out of the lead at Termas de Río Hondo. Pedrosa falls when in fourth place.
· Marc Márquez started from pole position and opened a gap of more than two seconds in three laps.
· Dani Pedrosa rode between fifth and sixth position, until moving up to fourth on Lap 12.
· Both riders crashed at Turn 2 due to a lack of front tyre grip. Márquez’s crash came on Lap 4, Pedrosa’s on Lap 14.
Marc Márquez – DNF
“I was feeling really good on the bike. I was able to ride strong, as we made a great improvement to the setup in the warm-up, which made me feel pretty comfortable on my bike. The crash was unexpected; I must have made a small mistake, and it cost me a lot. Luckily I’m okay, but these kinds of mistakes disappoint me, as everything was going well. Anyway, we must put this behind us and think of the next race in Austin.”
Dani Pedrosa – DNF
“I got a decent start, but then I lost time in the first part of the race duelling with Petrucci and Zarco. I started pushing hard after I passed him because I was feeling good on the bike and wanted to try and close the gap on the others to fight for the podium, but unfortunately I crashed in the second corner. There are a lot of bumps in that turn, and they create a tricky situation, as the grip is kind of ‘on-off.’ When you’re pushing really hard, the limit becomes quite narrow. Of course it’s a shame about the crash, but on another hand I’m happy I felt good enough to try and chase down the front group. We’ll keep this motivation for the next race in Austin.”
