Repsol Honda team claim third one-two of 2013, as Marquez takes win ahead of Pedrosa at Indianapolis.
Marc Marquez concluded a spectacular weekend at Indianapolis with a race victory, capping a Grand Prix in which he had topped the timesheets in all four practice sessions, taken pole position and led the warmup. The Spaniard also set the fastest lap of the race with a new circuit record and added 25 points to his World Championship tally. Marquez has now won all three US rounds in 2013, and thanks to a third win in a row he continues as leader of the overall standings. His advantage is 21 points over teammate Dani Pedrosa and 35 over Jorge Lorenzo. Pedrosa, still struggling after fracturing his left collarbone recently, overcame pain to take a creditable second place.
The race did not begin well for the Repsol Honda riders, who saw Lorenzo break away with a fast pace off the line. The three Spanish stars were clear of the pack within a matter of laps, with Lorenzo in front and Pedrosa and Marquez bringing up the rear for half of the contest.
On lap 9, Marquez sprang into action. First he passed Pedrosa, then overtook Lorenzo four laps later at Turn 2. With ten laps remaining, the MotoGP series leader set two fastest race laps, opening a gap and taking his bike home for a third win on the bounce –his fourth this season.
Behind him, Pedrosa stuck on Lorenzo’s rear wheel awaiting his chance to attack –which came with two laps remaining. He made a clean pass with his Honda on the straight, claiming second place and adding 20 points to his tally in the fight for the title.
MotoGP returns next weekend at the Czech Republic. The World Championship heads to Brno for the second of three consecutive weekends of racing.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
2nd at 3.495 sec.
“Today I gave all I had. I struggled to keep my energy up and I was forced to ride in a different way because of the pain I was suffering. It was a difficult race, because I was fighting a lot against the bike but in the end I was able to keep up my pace and take a good second place! In other conditions I’m sure we would have done better, but we did all that we could under the circumstances today and should draw that positive from the day.”
Marc Marquez >> Audio
1st – 44:52.463
“I am very happy to have taken another 25 points! I knew before we came here that this would be a good opportunity and I was able to take advantage of it. I felt very good throughout the weekend, and I think this has been my best GP overall since coming into the premier class. I was first in every session, so I couldn’t ask for more. In the race I decided to follow Lorenzo and Pedrosa, trying to save my tyres at the start. When I saw that I was feeling good and had less fuel in the tank, I tried to attack. In the end I was able to break away and have some fun sliding the bike around and enjoying how good the ride was! Now we head back to Europe, where we will try to continue working in the same way and see how many points we can pick up.”
