The Repsol Honda Team rider comes close to scoring points in tenth place, while Joan Mir is twelfth
The Spielberg Red Bull Ring hosted the first MotoGP sprint race in its history under clear skies on Saturday.
Marc Márquez, who started eighteenth on the grid after failing to get through to Q2, had a positive race after climbing up to ninth position and riding, for several laps, in the points.
Despite the difficulties he is experiencing this year, the Repsol Honda Team rider was able to maintain a similar pace during the 14-lap race and finish in tenth position.
Joan Mir also made progress in Austria. In the morning, the Repsol Honda Team rider qualified 16th after missing the cutoff to gain access to Q2 and, starting from the sixth row on the grid, he climbed four positions and crossed the finish line 12th.
On Sunday at 2pm (CEST), the Austrian Grand Prix race -the tenth round of the season- will take place in Spielberg.
MARC MÁRQUEZ – 10th
“It was an interesting Sprint, when I tried the new aero yesterday I knew more or less what would happen in the Sprint – and it did happen. So it was good in a way to understand this new aero more. We’ve been working with a lot of different setups over the weekend, but we have a clear idea for what to do tomorrow. We benefitted a lot from the falls of others, we have to be honest. Without this we would have been in 15th position more or less. We keep on working and see what we can achieve in tomorrow’s main race.”
JOAN MIR – 12th
“I think today we were able to make a step over what we have had. I had a bit of trouble in the first corner with the problems in front so I lost all the positions I made at the start. After this I settled into my race and I was able to recover many positions, keeping a similar pace for the riders fighting for fifth to tenth. This shows we have had some improvements and I was able to be faster, let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
