Run of four wins from six races takes Repsol rider to 9 points behind Luis Salom. Alex Marquez places third and Maria Herrera 29th after first lap crash.
After a competitive weekend, Alex Rins rode a smart race which allowed him to take a great victory –his fifth of the season. The Spaniard sliced another 12 points from the distance between him and Luis Salom in the overall standings, leaving him just 9 points behind the Moto3 World Championship leader. His teammate, Alex Marquez, scored 16 points with a third place that allowed him to maintain fourth position overall in Moto3. Maria Herrera did not have an easy race, after crashing at Turn 5 of the first lap. She picked her bike back up to complete the race in 29th.
Rins came out ready to break away from the start and escape the attentions of Salom, who had started further back on the grid. Within two laps Rins had already distanced himself from the rest of the pack took Maverick Viñales and teammate Marquez with him. They were the only two capable of following his pace, and Viñales had spells at the front alongside Rins whilst each rider studied the other’s lines. With seven laps remaining, Marquez was left behind due to excessive tyre wear and settled for third.
Rins took the last lap with a surprising serenity. He overtook Viñales at the end of the straight, under braking, and focused on setting a fast pace and shutting the door. Viñales had no chance to pass, and a gearbox issue with his KTM lost him half a second and ensured the win for Rins.
Rins has also overtaken Viñales in the overall standings and now lies second, 9 points off Salom.
Alex Rins >> Audio
1st – 40:04.214
“I am very happy with the result, mostly because it was an unexpected victory. We knew that today Maverick [Viñales] was much stronger than us, and I did not feel entirely comfortable with the wind that was blowing around the circuit. I knew that if I took the last lap ahead of him, I had a chance to win –and that’s how it turned out. I tried to push hard to get ahead of him on the first corner and then he dropped back. My team tell me that he missed a gear. That’s something we have to improve too, as it happened to me at this race and Misano.”
Alex Marquez >> Audio
3rd at 12.377 sec
“After the problems we’ve had this weekend, third place is very positive. From the beginning of the race I rode to the limit and did not feel entirely comfortable, and that meant that I could not keep up. At the end of the race, when Maverick [Viñales] gave his final push, I was on the edge too much and decided to settle for third. I think it’s a good result. Now we have to improve our performance on the final laps for Malaysia, Australia and Japan, to try to keep up until the end and gain experience for next year.”
Maria Herrera >> Audio
29th at 1:54.722
“In the warmup I was much more focused than yesterday and this helped me to improve my times and setup. In the race I started well and even passed a few riders on the first corner. Unfortunately I crashed just as I was overtaking someone round the outside. As I hit the gas I ran onto the rumble strip and had to go even wider to avoid contact with another rider. I went onto the grass with the bike leaned over and, although I kept hold of the bars, I wasn’t able to prevent the crash. I got back up and finished the race, treating it as another practice session in which to gain experience.”
