The Repsol Honda Team rider suffered with his soft rear tyre late on and finished the Australian Grand Prix race in fifteenth position. Joan Mir crashed out of the race.
In an exceptional measure due to the poor weather forecast for Sunday, the 27-lap Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island was moved forward to Saturday.
Marc Márquez made progress throughout the day. The Repsol Honda Team rider was second fastest in Q1 and advanced to Q2.
The eight-time World Champion started the race from seventh position on the grid, and was fighting for the Top 5 from the beginning. However, his choice of the soft rear tyre caused him to lose a lot of grip and traction and, finally, he crossed the finish line fifteenth -earning one point.
After failing to advance to Q2, Joan Mir started the Australian Grand Prix from the fifth row on the grid, in sixteenth position.
When eleven laps had elapsed and while he was fighting to get into the points, the Repsol Honda Team rider suffered a crash caused by contact with another rider, which took him out of the race.
Weather permitting, the 13-lap MotoGP sprint race will take place on Sunday at 4.00h (CEST)
MARC MÁRQUEZ – 15th
“Last year the soft tyre brought us the podium, this year the gamble didn’t pay off. I was hoping for a slower race, but straight away Martin was pushing hard and I knew it would be a very fast race. At the start I really enjoyed the ten or so laps with Bagnaia and Zarco as we were fighting a lot. Then I needed to change my tactic and just focus on bringing the bike home as I was suffering more with tyre life. Now we wait and see what will happen with the situation tomorrow.”
JOAN MIR – DNF
“I disappointed with today, it is another hard one. I was just trying to make my race, not hurting anyone, trying to take care of the tyres because you saw what happened at the end of the race. We were working in the correct way according to the data. Then Marini tried to overtake me and hit me, and I fell after losing the front. Being in the back, the situation is more complicated as the riders are fighting a lot – I was a victim of it today. But this is racing. Let’s see tomorrow.”
