Crash deprives Marquez of victory whilst leading comfortably. Dani Pedrosa retires on sixth lap after contact from rival rider.
The Repsol Honda riders had a tough Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix, as neither rider was able to complete the race. Dani Pedrosa was first to retire after being hit from behind by a rival rider, then Marc Marquez made an early exit from a race won by Valentino Rossi.
Starting from pole, Marquez was overtaken by Jorge Lorenzo off the line but was able to pass him on the opening lap and start to pull away. Pedrosa, fourth into the first corner, rapidly dropped down positions and found himself in ninth place two laps in. On the sixth lap, Andrea Iannone rammed him from behind, damaging his rear tyre and rim and forcing the Repsol Honda rider to return to the pits.
Marquez, led the race until Lap 18 and was more than two seconds ahead, but his day reached a sudden conclusion when his front wheel locked up under braking at Turn 10.
Within a week both riders will have the opportunity to make amends, at the penultimate event of the season: The Malaysian Grand Prix.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
Not classified
“Today, because I had no pressure on me, I tried a different approach pushing hard from the start to try to open the largest gap possible. We were having a good race, right up until the crash. It was a pity that I went down at a time that I was not riding on the limit or faster than the lap before. It was a race where there were many crashes, and almost all happened the same way: the front wheel locking up. The temperatures were down a lot, something that was also a factor today. It is better that this happened now, so that I gain experience for next year. You don’t always have the opportunity to try things out.”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
Not classified
“We had no luck today. I didn’t get a good start, I lost a lot on the opening two laps and I ended up in a position in which I was left exposed to what happened afterwards. When you are riding amongst so many riders in this part of the field there are always incidents, and today it happened to me. Fortunately I didn’t crash, but the bike was damaged and I couldn’t continue.”
