The Repsol rider moved up 12 positions to fight for victory until the last corner in an intense race; Alex Rins crossed the line in fifth.
The return of the World Championship to Argentina saw Alex Marquez put on an electrifying performance in the Moto3 race. After a poor start, the Repsol rider soared from fourteenth position at the end of the first lap to pass under the chequered flag in second place. Teammate Alex Rins bounced back from a difficult weekend to contest among the riders in the lead group to finally finish in fifth.
The start for both riders from the third and fourth row was not spectacular, with Rins remaining in eighth position at the first corner, while Marquez lost three positions to rank in fourteenth at the end of the first lap. From there both riders began to recover positions which included Marquez setting the fastest lap of the race, even faster than the pole position time from yesterday. Marquez caught up a group of three riders that included Jack Miller, Romano Fenati and Efren Vazquez.
During the final laps of the race, Rins’ pace slowed and he settled back to fight for fifth with Vazquez. Up ahead, in an exciting finale ensued that included riders touching in the penultimate corner, Marquez repeated the second place he had in Qatar, this time behind Fenati and ahead of Miller in third.
With this result, the World Championship heads to Jerez next week with Miller in the lead with 66 points, Marquez in fourth with 40 and Rins fifth with 35.
Alex Rins >> Audio
5th at 5.530 sec.
“In the end it was a fairly successful result. After how it went for the whole Grand Prix, we’re happy with this fifth place. This weekend has been the most I’ve learned in all the races that I’ve been in. In the race today, at first it was difficult to overtake other riders to get ahead, but little by little I was able to reach the lead group. It was a shame because Efren [Vazquez] was a little wide in a turn and I lost contact with them, which ended my opportunity for a better result. The important thing is that we have not stopped working, the whole team is working hard and we have to focus on Jerez.”
Alex Marquez >> Audio
2nd at 0.099 sec.
“It was a very difficult weekend and I think we worked very well all three days. Yesterday we had a hard time in the qualifying, I made a mistake, but in today’s warm-up we found the solution for the race. I knew I had to concentrate, but I didn’t start well and in the first corner I went wide and many riders overtook me, which made it hard to get back ahead later. I tried to concentrate again and continue in my line, and gradually we made it to the front group. The last lap was fun, we were in front many times and I really enjoyed it. This result gives us good motivation for Jerez.”
