Marquez secures second premier class win at Sachsenring

Marc Marquez stormed into the lead of the 2013 MotoGP World Championship after the Repsol Honda rider steered his RC213V machine to his second ever win in the premier class with Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow securing another podium finish while Assen TT winner Valentino Rossi added another podium to his records with the Yamaha Factory racing man taking third position.

With Marquez’ teammate Dani Pedrosa pulling out of the race with a fractured left collarbone sustained yesterday, and Rossi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo also ruled out of the race after damaging an already injured left collarbone, the race shaped up to be a battle between the newcomer and the seasoned campaigner. That’s exactly what happened with Rossi taking the holeshot while Marquez settled into 4th place behind a surging Aleix Espargaro on the Power Electronics Aspar CRT machine with LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl leaping into second while Crutchlow got swallowed up at the start.

Rossi’s lead didn’t last for long with Bradl jumping into the lead by the end of the first lap and the German rider set off in search of his first MotoGP win. Bradl’s challenge was also short-lived when he failed to break away from Rossi who was hounded for the first few laps by Espargaro while Marquez was just waiting for a way passed and that came on the third lap with Espargaro then passed in quick succession by Crutchlow and Go&Fun Honda Gresini rider Alvaro Bautista. Marquez quickly closed up on Rossi who nearly fell from his machine while trying to match the early pace of the Repsol Honda rider.

Marquez was the man on the move early on with the Spaniard passing Rossi and then Bradl for the lead on the sixth lap and he immediately started in his attempt to stretch out a gap at the front. There was anguish for Paul Bird Motorsport rider Yonny Hernandez who crashed out of the race early on while Bradley Smith was next to pass Espargaro with Rossi now one second behind Marquez. Crutchlow had begun to pick up his pace nearing the middle of the 30 lap race and was looking increasingly likely to pass Rossi who was struggling to catch Marquez despite being able to match the Spaniard on lap times.

Crutchlow’s move on Rossi came shortly after the British rider had overtaken Bradl who was keeping a steady pace in 5th. Marquez had improved his advantage over Rossi by 2s entering into the final third of the race before the Italian was passed Crutchlow who immediately shortened the gap to Marquez for a short time giving the Repsol Honda team something to worry about but Marquez wasn’t going to be denied his second MotoGP win with the Spaniard digging deep to stay in front in crossing the line he now leads the world championship by 2 points ahead of teammate Pedrosa (136) and third place man Lorenzo (127). The final race of the first half of the MotoGP championship takes place next Sunday at the Red Bull US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.

Marquez was delighted after the race and is looking forward to the next race. He said, “I am very happy with this victory. It was important to have a good race under the circumstances this weekend, without Dani and Jorge on track. I wish them a speedy recovery, because winning is important but without them the triumph isn't quite the same. Even so, it is a good result, since we have taken the maximum points available and ridden a completely different race to those that we've had before.

We led the race and maintained the gap to second place. It was good experience, although I perhaps prefer races that are a little more of a battle! We should be happy, and we have also held up well physically at a circuit where there is no time to rest on the bike. We'll see how it goes in Laguna Seca, which will be a hard GP for me because I've never ridden there. We'll take it step-by-step and remain calm whilst we get up to speed,” Marquez added.

Two crashes ahead of today’s race made it all the tougher for Crutchlow to keep up with the factory riders with the British rider saying, “I am really happy to be on the podium again because it was a hard race in my physical condition. The two crashes in practice took a lot out of me but I dug deep and it is great to get another podium for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. I actually made a really good start but I had to roll off the throttle when Marc came towards me and that cost me a few places. The bike worked really well in the first few laps and I was able to fight my way through and I really enjoyed it. In the second half of the race the bike felt great and I was fast.

I came on strong and pulled away from Valentino and I did absolutely everything I could to close down Marc. I couldn’t have done anything more but credit to him because he didn’t make a mistake, he controlled the gap to me very well and he deserved to win. I just kept on pushing and at the end second is another fantastic result. It is my fourth podium and I am not so far back in the Championship, so I can’t really ask for anything more. Now we go to Laguna trying to fight for another podium and hopefully that first win,” Crutchlow added.

Rossi was happy to be on the podium but was a little disappointed he couldn’t bridge the gap to Marquez. He said, “It's a good result, to stay on the podium is always a good result but I expected something more and to do a better race. During the weekend we made some choices, yesterday we decided to set up the bike in one way and today after some laps I started to suffer too much. The first ten laps were not so bad but after I started to have problems and it was too difficult to turn the bike, especially on the left I was sliding too much. We have to work to try and make another step to stay with the top guys.

Next we will have Laguna, a very special track, and we will try to have better results there. We are five very fast riders and we are closer now because unfortunately Dani and Jorge are injured and we have another race next week. If I want to fight for the Championship I have to go faster and I have to be constantly faster so I have to make another step,” Rossi added.