“Last year, the tarmac improved a lot but its layout is different to that of other circuits”.
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The Repsol Honda driver is now at 3rd in the MotoGP riders’ standings, which are led by 6-time world champion Valentino Rossi of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP.
“At the beginning I was able to follow him. So I decided to stay behind him and wait to attack at the end”.
Of the 27 podium places available from those nine rounds, 21 were taken by the triumvirate of Marquez, Rossi and Lorenzo.
Marquez exploded into MotoGP with the factory Honda team in 2013 and promptly won the championship his first two years in the top category, streaking to the 2014 title in record fashion. And Marc has never been beaten in America!
When he noticed Jorge Lorenzo’s tires started wearing down, Marquez made the ideal move.
Marquez showed no ill effects from a spill earlier Sunday, when he fell going into Turn 10 during a practice run.
Notes: Ten riders in the three series either crashed or fell off their bikes Friday, but nobody was seriously injured. And he hasn’t started worse than second in an Indy race since 2009 when he was still competing in what is now called Moto3. Aprilia’s Bautista was 18th, while Stefan Bradl was 20th in his first race at the helm of the RS-GP bike.
Lorenzo rued the physical demands of fighting off Marquez for so many laps: “When he attacked I really didn’t have enough energy and I wasn’t fresh enough to make an attack on him”, he told reporters.
Jorge Lorenzo, right, of Spain, leads Marc Marquez, also of Spain, during the Indianapolis Grand Pri … “I expect a good race (tomorrow)”.
Marquez trails Rossi by 59 points.
He heads to next week’s race in the Czech Republic with back-to-back wins and a second-place finish in his past three starts.
“We will see tomorrow because the tire conditions, it’s an important thing here, and it will be a key to the race, ” Marquez said.
Marquez has won five straight at the Brickyard and seven straight on American soil.
A semi-damp track saw the Moto3 race descend into absolute chaos as riders pitted to swap from wets to slicks after the first lap – well all apart from John McPhee and Loi. Loi started 26th in the 34-motorcycle field. On current form Lorenzo looks the most likely victor, but the second half of this intriguing season promises to be fascinating.
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Valentino Rossi, undoubtedly the world’s best-known MotoGP rider, said on Thursday that he has spoken with Hamilton in the past. Ducati’s young gun sits in an honorable fourth position overall, carrying great hopes for Borgo Panigale. Moto2 qualifying capped Saturday’s action, with another Spaniard winning the pole.
