The Repsol Honda team rider crosses the finish line just outside the Top 10, while Joan Mir finishes nineteenth in the event’s first ever sprint race.
An intense Saturday at the Lusail International Circuit saw qualifying and the sprint race for the Qatar Grand Prix, with mixed fortunes for the Repsol Honda Team.
Marc Márquez, who had earned a spot in Q2 directly on Friday, was able to set a best time of 1:52.103, putting him seventh on the grid.
After a great start, the Repsol Honda team rider gained positions and reached fifth place on the opening laps. However, he ran wide on two occasions which caused him to settle for competing for the Top 10, finally crossing the finish line eleventh.
Joan Mir had a difficult day in Lusail. Unable to qualify for Q2, after setting a best time of 1:53.570 in Q1, he took 20th on the starting grid.
Mir was able to fight back at the start of the sprint race, but after suffering some problems he was eventually nineteenth.
MARC MÁRQUEZ – 11th
“We made a really good start to the race and had a strong first lap. Unfortunately, I had a race incident with Binder soon after, it happens. Then I got a bit stuck behind Zarco and I couldn’t get past him which limited us. Towards the end of the race I went wide at Turn 1 and had some contact with Raul Fernandez – sorry to him. At a track like Qatar, these things can happen because when you go off line even a little bit it is very slippery. Another one to tomorrow.”
JOAN MIR – 19th
“Today was a really tough and we obviously can’t be happy with the result. There are some things that we need to check deeply to understand our situation better for the race tomorrow. I was expecting more from today because it looked like we had found the direction to follow on Friday. There’s another chance tomorrow so let’s see what’s possible.”
