Repsol Honda Team reach 300 Grands Prix milestone with another podium for Marquez. Pedrosa increases lead in World Championship.
90,000 spectators were in attendance at the historic Assen circuit to enjoy the 65th Dutch TT. It was Repsol and Honda’s 300th race together since joining forces in 1995. The event saw Valentino Rossi return to the top step of the podium, flanked by Marc Marquez and Cal Crutchlow. Behind them in fourth was Dani Pedrosa, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, whom Pedrosa leads by 9 points in the overall standings.
In a spectacular start, Dani Pedrosa took the lead at the first corner of the race, followed by Marc Marquez in second. Both Repsol Honda riders tried to break away early on, until on Lap 5 Valentino Rossi gave chase, passing first Marquez and then Pedrosa. As the laps went by, Pedrosa began to lose ground as his tyres quickly went off. At the end of the race he was overtaken by his teammate Marquez and by Cal Crutchlow, who fought for the second step of the podium through to the last lap. Marquez eventually emerged victorious after defending Crutchlow’s advances for three intense laps, achieving a creditable second position after his heavy crash yesterday morning.
With this result, Pedrosa remains championship leader with 136 points, followed by Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez on 127 and 113, respectively. The next event is the German Grand Prix in a fortnight’s time at the Sachsenring.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
4th at 7.832 sec.
“Today I started well, saving a crash at the very beginning with cold tyres and I was able to continue and put in some good laps. Then I had problems with the tyres, both in the front and the rear. Still, I tried to hold on for as long as possible, because I don’t want it to be an excuse. I sat behind Rossi for several laps, then as the race progressed it was more and more difficult to keep up, especially when Marc [Marquez] and Crutchlow caught me. I guess everyone was sliding around behind us, but I found that I could not control the bike on entry to some corners and that made me lose touch, especially in the closing laps. Overall this weekend we had very negative feelings and in the end we managed an ok race. Now it’s time to move on, relax and get ready for the next round. Finally, congratulations to Jorge [Lorenzo], because what he did today and how he did it was very impressive! I take my hat off to him.”
Marc Marquez >> Audio
2nd at 2.170 sec.
“Overall the pace was faster than I had expected. At the start and throughout the race both Dani [Pedrosa] and Valentino [Rossi] were very strong. In fact, Valentino was simply faster than us today. I could only pass Dani towards the end, because at first I had a lot of trouble. Once I passed Dani, I tried to catch Valentino, but my arm began to affect me and I couldn’t brake in my normal way due to my injured finger. In the end we took 20 points after a good battle with Cal [Crutchlow] and think I defended pretty well against him. In general, we can say we’ve done a good job all weekend. I have a lot of respect for Jorge today, he showed real strength and he did a great job. I would also like to congratulate Valentino, as it’s always good for motorcycle racing when he’s up at the front!.”
