Marquez master of crash-marred race
SPANIARD Marc Marquez flew past the chequered flag on his Honda way ahead of his rivals in the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez de la Frontera yesterday, climbing atop the MotoGP championship standings in the process.
Frenchman Johann Zarco, on his Yamaha Tech3, finished more than five seconds adrift of the world champion in second place, while Andrea Iannone of Suzuki was third.
Zarco climbed to second in the standings with 58 points, behind Marquez on 70, while Italian Iannone gained a second consecutive podium place that took him to fourth, on 48.
The race was marked by crashes that took out several of the chief contenders, including British pole sitter Cal Crutchlow, of Honda, Spaniards Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo and Italian Andrea Dovizioso, who had led the championship going into yesterday’s race.
Lorenzo, Dovizioso and Pedrosa looked destined to fight for the win, but all fell in a turn six collision just as Marquez, who started from the second row, had pulled slightly ahead with seven laps still remaining.
Race commissioners decided there had been no infringement as Marquez tore away and Zarco swept past the stricken and fallen trio.
“I really never believed I could win this race from the second row,” Marquez said.
“But I was clever and pushed it. It’s a long race with many different things to bear in mind.”
Zarco thanked his lucky stars after the race.
“Sometimes you need a little luck – and today I had some,” the Frenchman said.
“When the three of them fell, I could hardly believe it.”
“I said to myself, ‘keep calm there’s only seven laps left’ – and these 20 points are great for the championship,” he said.
Danilo Petrucci was fourth and veteran Italian star Valentino Rossi was fifth, right on Petrucci’s tail. – AFP