The Repsol rider gets to the second step of the podium for the first time in World Championship career after climbing back from tenth position
Marc Márquez finished second the Catalunya Grand Prix in a very tough race where he was able to be patient and keep an upward progression. After a bad start, Emilio Alzamora’s pupil was in eleventh position, a place from which he started a flawless second half of the race, steadily climbing his way back until reaching the second step of the rostrum.
Márquez’s start of the race was once again mediocre. From his fifth starting position the Repsol rider fell to tenth in the first laps of this Grand Prix. However, the rider from Cervera was able to be calm in the first half of the race, and despite some lack of confidence in the tyres, he climbed back progressively.
Lap after lap, Márquez felt more secure and by half race he became one of the fastest riders on the Catalunya Circuit tarmac. Nine laps from the end, he was able to contact with the top group and in two laps he jumped from sixth to second place. Márquez overtook two rivals nearly in a row at the end of the straight and the first chicane and, riding fourth, he was benefited by the incident involving Julián Simón and the Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglu.
From that moment on, and with a disadvantage of more than two seconds, Márquez decided not to push and apply the lesson he learnt in the first three races. The Repsol rider settled for the second place, the first he achieves in his World Championship career, and adds another 20 points that send him to the seventh place in the overall classification of the Motorcycling World Championship.
Marc Márquez, 2nd at 4.141 sec. >> Audio
“We are very happy with this second position. I think it is the maximum we could ask for this weekend, as we did not start it very well and we had some problems getting the right set-up because we lost 45 minutes by my mistake. This second place at home is very important, as I was able to be calm in the first laps, where I was not very comfortable, and improved steadily. This result strengthens us for Silverstone. The crashes penalized me in a way because I was climbing up and they made me lose a bit of pace. When Luthi and Takahashi touched I had to go wide and when Simón and Sofuoglu fell, whether you want it or not, an accident just in front of you makes you lose some tenths. In the end I saw Bradl was a bit far and I preferred to preserve my position. I remember too well the first three crashes and it is better to finish second than on the ground”.
