Marc Marquez wins Czech Grand Prix to increase overall lead

Defending MotoGP champion Marc Marquez won the Czech Grand Prix on Sunday to increase his overall lead with a third victory of the season.

Starting on a wet track that was quickly drying out, riders were allowed to swap their bikes for ones with tires suitable for dry conditions.

Marquez was the first to do so, a strategy that paid off for him and secured his second straight victory.

Starting from pole, Marquez had the best start but was overtaken by Jorge Lorenzo on the opening lap and then dropped further down the field.

After the swap, the Spaniard used the speed of his Honda to take the lead with 18 laps to go and cruised unchallenged to victory in 44 minutes and 15.974 seconds on the 5.403-kilometer (3.357-mile) Brno circuit.

"I went in very very early, it was still wet, it was still very difficult," the three-time MotoGP champion said. "I'm very very happy. This kind of races are very very difficult. This championship will be long, will be hard. But we took these 25 points, very important."

It was the 32nd victory for Marquez in MotoGP.

His Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa was second, 12.438 seconds behind to become only the third rider to reach the podium 150 times in all categories after Italians Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi.

Maverick Vinales was third on a Yamaha, 18.135 back while his teammate, six-time MotoGP champion Rossi placed fourth. Rossi was leading with 19 laps to go but waited too long to make the swap.

With eight races to go, Marquez leads the overall standings with 154 points from Vinales on 140 in second. Rossi is fourth with 132, trailing Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso by one point.

The next race is the Austrian Grand Prix next week.

Earlier, Joan Mir won his sixth Moto3 race of the season to stretch his overall lead in wet conditions.

In Moto2, Thomas Luthi took the first win of the season in a race that started on a dry track but had to be interrupted due to rain after seven laps and

Results and Standings after Race 10 of 18

Results from yesterday’s Czech Republic MotoGP at Brno 1. Marc Marquez, ESP, Repsol Honda (RC213V), 44m 15.974s 2. Dani Pedrosa, ESP, Repsol Honda (RC213V), 44m 28.412s 3. Maverick Viñales, ESP, Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1), 44m 34.109s 4. Valen no Rossi, ITA, Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1), 44m 36.440s 5. Cal Crutchlow, GBR, LCR Honda (RC213V), 44m 36.866s 6. Andrea Dovizioso, ITA, Duca Team (Desmosedici GP17), 44m 39.233s 7. Danilo Petrucci, ITA, Octo Pramac (Desmosedici GP17), 44m 40.053s 8. Aleix Espargaro, ESP, Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP), 44m 46.533s 9. Pol Espargaro, ESP, Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16), 44m 46.728s 10. Jonas Folger, GER, Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1), 44m 49.210s 11. Alex Rins, ESP, Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR), 44m 49.264s 12. Johann Zarco, FRA, Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1), 44m 50.569s 13. Karel Abraham, CZE, Pull&Bear Aspar (Desmosedici GP15), 44m 50.671s 14. Jack Miller, AUS, EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V), 44m 54.036s 15. Jorge Lorenzo, ESP, Duca Team (Desmosedici GP17), 44m 56.074s 16. Sco Redding, GBR, Octo Pramac (Desmosedici GP16), 45m 0.350s 17. Tito Rabat, ESP, EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V), 45m 1.428s 18. Sam Lowes, GBR, Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP), 45m 9.950s 19. Andrea Iannone, ITA, Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR), 45m 39.320s 20. Hector Barbera, ESP, Reale Avin a (Desmosedici GP16), +1 lap Not Classified - Re red Bradley Smith, GBR, Red Bull, KTM Factory (RC16), DNF Loris Baz, FRA, Reale Avin a (Desmosedici GP15), DNF Alvaro Bau sta, ESP, Pull&Bear Aspar (Desmosedici GP16), DNF restarted.

'It’s really important to be back on the podium, especially for all my team to recover the confidence, the motivation' Maverick Vinales.

Maverick Vinales sealed his first podium since Mugello as the Movistar Yamaha rider completed an all-Spanish rostrum in third place at Brno. Drivers' championship 1. Marc Marquez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 2. Maverick Vinales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 3. Andrea Dovizioso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 4. Valentino Rossi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 5. Dani Pedrosa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 6. Johann Zarco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 7. Jonas Folger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 8. Danilo Petrucci . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 9. Jorge Lorenzo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 10. Cal Crutchlow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 11. Alvaro Bautista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 12. Jack Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 13. Scott Redding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 14. Aleix Espargaro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 15. Loris Baz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 16. Andrea Iannone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Constructors' championship 1. Yamaha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 2. Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 3. Ducati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 4. Suzuki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 5. Aprilia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 6. KTM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2