Marquez wins slippery San Marino MotoGP

WORLD champion Marc Marquez of Spain won the San Marino MotoGP in slippery conditions on Sunday to join Italy’s Andrea Dovizioso at the top of the world championship standings.

Marquez, on a Honda, finished ahead of Italy’s Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci on a wet track with Dovizioso, also on a Ducati, finishing third.

Both Marquez and Dovizioso have 199 poi nt s i n t he world cha mpionship sta ndings wit h f ive races lef t in t he season.

“I tried to control my pace throughout the race and in these conditions I had to be patient, but in the end I had to go for it,” said Marquez after claiming his fourth win of the season.

“It’s a ver y i mportant v ictor y. We have to keep pushi ng, we have a good level,” added the Spaniard, with the next race at home in Aragon on September 24.

It was a 59th career win for Marquez, who started from third on the grid and took the lead from Petrucci on the final lap to secure his 33rd win the MotoGP category.

The top three in the title race lined up on the front row, but it was Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo who got the best start from the second row.

But Lorenzo was one of sev- eral riders to come off his bike in the slipper y conditions along with fellow Spaniard Hector Barbera.

Petrucci battled with the reigning champion and Marquez finally pounced on the last lap to notch up a 25-point haul.

Earlier Swiss rider Dominique Agerter (Suter) won the San Moto2 Grand Prix ahead of Kalex duo Thomas Luthi of Switzerland and Malaysia’s Hafizh Syahrin, to claim his second career win.

Italy’s Romano Fenati of Honda defied driving rain to claim his eighth career win in Moto3.

I n a r ac e ha mpered by numerous fa lls and sk ids off t he t r ack, Fenat i f i n i shed a he a d of Spa n i s h wor ld cha mpion leader Joa n Mir and Italy’s Fabio Di Giannanton io, bot h a l so r id i ng for Honda.