Mixed fortunes for Repsol Honda Team riders at Mugello, with Pedrosa fourth and Marquez crashing out with five laps to go.
The sixth round of the MotoGP season was held today at Mugello. The Italian Grand Prix finished with a bittersweet taste in the mouths of the Repsol Honda riders, as Dani Pedrosa battled for the podium and finished fourth whilst Marc Marquez crashed out late on. The reigning World Champion fell five laps from the finish, when battling for second place with Andrea Iannone.
After making an excellent start, the Marquez moved up from thirteenth on the grid to sixth in the first sector. He completed the opening lap fourth, then also overtook Ducati riders Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone over the course of the next two laps. However, he was unable to catch eventual racewinner Jorge Lorenzo. The Repsol Honda rider continued his battle with the two Italians until, with five laps to go, he lost the front end at Turn 3 and crashed out.
Teammate Dani Pedrosa experienced a situation that was almost the reverse. On the first lap he dropped down one place, but managed to avoid losing ground with the group of Marquez, Iannone and Dovizioso –which he latched onto on lap eight after overtaking two riders. Pedrosa overtook Dovizioso on lap 12, but was passed by Rossi on the same lap that his teammate fell. He finally crossed the finish line in fourth place, 3 seconds behind the local hero — who leads the World Championship with 118 points. Mugello racewinner Jorge Lorenzo is second with 112 points, with Marquez fifth with 69 points and Pedrosa and thirteenth with 23.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
Not classified
“It was a shame about the crash today, because I had already done the hardest part! I’m happy because I was able to carry out our plan, which was to try to recover positions on the first five laps. We were up into second place after four laps, but when the tyre grip went down we had a similar problem to before, with the tyre sliding on corner entry. I was on the limit and when you are pushing at the maximum sometimes things happen like they did today. We have dropped quite far behind in the standings, but Honda are working hard and together we will keep pushing to improve the feeling with the bike for the second half of the season.”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
4th at 9.978 sec.
“I’m happy overall, especially because my forearm is getting better all the time. Today I had a fairly good race, right through to the end. I was able to fight with some other riders and confirm that every week I’m getting better. It has been positive. Now we have to work on the bike to try to develop it and get better results at the coming races!”
