The Repsol Honda team rider crosses the finish line in third position, whilst Joan Mir crashes out on the first lap.
The first sprint race in the history of MotoGP was held at the Autodromo International do Algarve this Saturday. The World Championship riders completed an initial 12-lap contest in which the first points of the season were awarded.
Marc Márquez, who started from pole position, made a great start, maintaining his position during the early stages. He was relegated to 5th place after the first quarter of the race and, with 2 laps to go, climbed two positions and took the checkered flag third, earning his first 7 points of the year.
Joan Mir had a somewhat difficult Saturday, failing to make the cut for Q2. The Repsol Honda team rider started the Portuguese Grand Prix sprint race from fourteenth position. After he was involved in an incident with Fabio Quartararo on the first lap, a crash brought his race to a premature end.
After this first sprint race, Márquez occupies third position in the overall standings. On Sunday, the Repsol Honda Team riders will compete in the usual Warm Up and then the 25-lap race.
MARC MÁRQUEZ – 3rd
“Well, today was really a surprising day but it was a great day, it helped to restore a lot of confidence for myself and the team. Starting with the pole, honestly, I don’t know how I was able to find this time – it was much faster than I had been before. It’s a good advantage to start from pole position and we were able to fight in the Sprint race. When I saw Oliveira and Miller go wide, I knew this was my chance and I attacked. The new format is very demanding, but I think this short race was a good show for the fans. Tomorrow is what really counts and will show where we are more I think.”
JOAN MIR – DNF
“Starting in 14th is a lottery, you have a lot of riders around you who are very eager to recover positions as quickly as possible. It was a very aggressive start to the race because of this, I think if we were starting up higher then we could show our true pace. We have good pace for the race tomorrow, so this makes me feel more confident if everything is more calm at the start. I also want to apologise to Fabio for the contact.”
