After leading the race, Alex Rins takes podium finish in third place, just ahead of Alex Marquez in fourth.
Sunday night was a great race for the proteges of Emilio Alzamora. Alex Rins, starting from third on the grid, moved to the front of the lead group on the opening corner, whilst teammate Alex Marquez completed the opening lap in sixth. Rins ,alongside Salom, Folger and Viñales, broke away from the rest of the field early on, and only Marquez was able to catch back up.
The race would be decided between five riders, including Rins and Marquez as they set out a strategy for the final laps. All bar Folger took a turn in leading the contest on the final laps, and on the final pair of times around, the two Repsol riders battled for the win. Salom snuck in to get past the dueling competitors and take the win, with Viñales second and Rins third –just 0.006 behind. Two tenths back on Rins, just missing out on a podium, was Marquez, who placed fourth.
After this exciting start, the Moto3 World Championship returns in two weeks at Austin, for the Grand Prix of the Americas.
Alex Rins >> Audio
3rd at 0.423 sec.
“It was a very difficult race. Initially I though I was able to push in order to get away, but that did not happen. I saw that Salom latched onto me and I let him go in order to avoid wearing down both rear tyre. The end of the race was tough and very difficult. everyone was parallel on the straight and I was in the middle, which made me have to open up. At that point I lost a little time and Salom took the opportunity to leave me behind. No one expected that Alex [Marquez] would be at the front ─he had a good race. Both the team and I are very happy with the work done.”
Alex Marquez >> Audio
4th at 0.701 sec.
“Yesterday’s qualifying didn’t go all that well. I was ninth but knew that I could improve a lot in the race. In fact, I was convinced that with a good start and stuck with the front group, I could fight amongst it. I did not know if we could maintain the race pace, but we did know that the final laps would be difficult with the tyre wear suffered here. The race finish was a pity, because the last lap was so close after going at the limit the entire way. But we tried, and for me this result is like a victory. In short, we’re very happy with my first time at this circuit. Now we already have to prepare for Austin, a new circuit for everyone. We are facing the challenge with great gusto and confidence about continuing in the same way.”
