Lack of perfect setup almost leads to crash at Mugello. Repsol rider still leads overall standings by 34 points.
Today was not a day for taking risks on an unattainable victory. That was clear to Marc Márquez, who decided after a close call with a crash that playing for points was the safest option at the Italian Grand Prix. The Spaniard picked up 11 points courtesy of a fifth place finish, taken with a bike setup that had not provided him with sufficient stability to think about a win.
The race started well for the Repsol rider, who took the holeshot and held onto the lead at the end of lap one. Behind him, Iannone, Luthi, Nakagami and Espargaró joined in the fun and the quintet broke free from the pack. After the initial laps, positions changed frequently and it looked like being a classic fight between the usual Moto2 suspects.
With 8 laps to go Espargaró took the lead and upped the pace, leaving the trailing pack over a second behind. One lap later, Márquez had a scare which nearly brought his race to a close. He thus decided to settle for fifth.
Iannone won with Espargaró in second and Luthi third. Márquez continues to lead the way in the overall standings, with an advantage of 34 points over his fellow Spaniard and today’s race winner, and 40 over Luthi.
Marc Márquez >> Audio
5th at 3.796 sec
“We aren’t satisfied. The best that we can say is that we have eleven more points, because at one point I thought that I was going to crash. We suffered a lot, to be honest. We have been making saves for the entire weekend. I noted excessive chattering on the opening lap and tried to ride more smoothly, more aggressively… any way I could. After almost crashing twice, I though about the title and decided that 11 points are better than none.”
