The Borneo Post (Sabah)

Marquez master of crash marred Spanish GP

-

JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA: Spaniard Marc Marquez (Honda) flew past the chequered flag way ahead of his rivals in the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez de la Frontera on Sunday, climbing atop the MotoGp championsh­ip standings in the process.

Frenchman Johann Zarco on his Yamaha Tech3 finished over five seconds adrift of the world champion in second while Andrea Iannone of Suzuki was third at 8.214sec.

Zarco climbed to second in the standings with 58 points behind Marquez on 70 while Italian Iannone gained a second consecutiv­e podium spot 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 the Italian Andrea Dovizioso who had led the championsh­ip going into the 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 trio.

“I really never believed I could win this race from the second row. But I was clever and pushed it. It’s a long race with many different things to bear in mind,” Marquez said.

Zarco thanked his lucky stars after the race.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Malaysia