Today, at the French circuit of Le Mans, Marc Márquez has achieved the best result he could expect, considering that he is not yet fully fit. The Repsol rider, who fell in Jerez during the first lap of the Spanish Grand Prix – dislocating his right shoulder -, has finished third in an extremely hard-fought race with clashes included.
Márquez, who started fourth, did not get off to a good start, although by the end of the first lap, he had managed to climb a few places and finish the first lap in fifth. Out in front, Nico Terol set a fast pace from the start, allowing him and Pol Espargaró to open a gap after the first few laps. Victory was going to be between these two riders, so the rest had to make do with fighting for the third step of the podium. The battle in which Marc Márquez was involved was extremely hard-fought and tight.
The Repsol rider fought with Rabat, Smith and Vázquez for third place the entire race, with Koyama and Cortese a little further behind. This group of six spent almost the entire race switching positions and waiting for the last few laps to then battle for the third step of the podium. Koyama and Cortese were always at the back of the pack and were less active, whereas Smith led these riders until the last lap and Rabat stayed in the middle.
With six laps to go, Márquez overtook Vázquez and went after Smith, who was in third. However, Vázquez did not want to give in and the following laps became a demonstration of one overtaking the other. In the end, the young Repsol rider managed to shake off his fellow Spaniard and during the last lap, when he was pressuring Britain’s Smith, Smith made a mistake that allowed Márquez to overtake him and climb into third. In the last lap, the British rider tried to retake third place, even bumping Márquez hard but Márquez finally secured third place on the podium, as well as clocking up the fastest lap of the race in the penultimate lap and achieving a new circuit record. An excellent result, considering his physical condition, which allowed him to climb positions in the overall standings to fifth.
Marc Márquez, 3rd 4.428 sec. behind >> Audio
“It was a very hard race and in the end, Bradley Smith and I had a tense but fun last lap; although it feels good because in the end, I took the podium. I had a bad start and Nico [Terol] and Pol [Espargaró] opened a gap but in the last few laps, I felt more comfortable and was able to fight back. I think that third is a very good result, considering that my shoulder is not perfect. I suffered a lot at the end of the race because I didn’t have enough strength, but after the back luck I had in Jerez, scoring points is important. In Mugello, we’ll try to improve a bit more and be out in front in all the championship races because they are quite a few points clear in the championship and it’s important to be consistent. There is still a lot of season ahead”.
