Marc Márquez and Pol Espargaró conclude the Spanish Grand Prix in ninth and tenth place, respectively.
In his second race of the season, Marc Márquez scored further points, finishing within the Top 10 and moving up from his grid position.
The Repsol Honda Team rider crossed the line in ninth place, ten seconds behind the winner, after starting from fourteenth. He took seven hard-earned points as he continues his return to peak fitness and top form.
Pol Espargaró achieved his second best result since joining the Repsol Honda Team. He began the Spanish Grand Prix in thirteenth place, and was able to climb three positions to finish tenth and pick up six points.
Espargaró has scored points in the three races that he has finished so far this campaign – at the Portuguese Grand Prix he had to retire due to a mechanical failure – and he is making progress both with his race pace and his adaptation to the RC213V.
Espargaró occupies fourteenth in the overall standings with 17 points, followed by Márquez in fifteenth with 16 points. The next MotoGP round takes place at Le Mans on the weekend of May 14, 15 and 16th.
MARC MÁRQUEZ – 9th
“Of course today we would have liked to be further ahead but we should be happy. In Portimao we finished 13 seconds behind the leader and here only ten, this is the main target. Like in Portimao I felt strong in the middle of the race, but I lost some time at the start and the end of the race and overall I felt like we have made a big step compared to our last race. I can now understand more about the bike. Tonight we will decide if I will test tomorrow, it is important to do some laps if we can to keep understanding everything with the team. It hasn’t been the best weekend in Jerez, but an important step and I want to say a big thank you to Honda and my team this weekend for their incredible work.”
POL ESPARGARÓ – 10th
“It wasn’t a good race for us speaking honestly, we had much better pace in FP4 and in Warm Up where I was feeling a lot good. The traction on the circuit was less than in the morning and I never really felt comfortable in my race pace, I was pushing and on the limit a lot. I finished just behind Marc, but it isn’t where I want to be. We get some points for tenth but 11 seconds away from first is too much. We have a full day of testing tomorrow which is going to be super important for us and allows us to try some different options for the future.”
