Marquez moves to second in championship with Assen victory

The Repsol rider Marc Márquez had a great race today where he was able to take full advantage of the really complicated conditions. The asphalt conditions in Assen made things difficult for the Moto2 riders, as the rain kept falling intermittently over the Dutch circuit and Race Direction declared it a wet race.

This time, Marc Márquez had a good start, taking the first place at the end of the straight and finishing the first lap in third position. In the first part of the race, with the track wet and a soft drizzle, the Repsol rider was in a group with Corsi, Smith, Sofuoglu, Bradl and Di Meglio, with Takahashi a little behind, steadily detaching themselves from the rest.

As laps went by and the track started to dry, some of the riders of the top group were falling out of the battle for victory, as was the case with Corsi, Takahashi, Di Meglio and the championship leader, Germany’s Bradl, who kept losing position and finished on the ground.

After mid race, only three riders were still fighting to win. Britain’s Smith, the Turkish rider Sofuoglu and the Spaniard Márquez were overtaking each other as laps went by. The Repsol rider felt comfortable and was waiting for his chance. An opportunity that arrived five laps from the end, with a light rain falling again making the track slippery. The Repsol rider changed his pace, overtaking Sofuoglu to ride alone on his way to victory, the second he achieves in his first season in Moto2.

With this result, Márquez takes the second place of the overall standings, 57 points behind Bradl.

Marc Márquez 1st – 44:30.409
“I am very happy with today’s result and I have to thank my team for the job they are doing during the whole season, because they help me a lot. The race was very complicated, especially due to the conditions we had. I had a good race, but the rain did not make things easier, although it went fairly well.

The bike was never perfect under this conditions, but I tried to move to compensate my riding style with the weight and I felt fairly comfortable during the race. The track started to dry and I got more confident, until it started to rain again in the end and the track went very slippery.

Six laps from the end I decided to get the first position and try to push, because I thought that if Sofuoglu and I arrived together to the last lap, he might win or something might happen. So i was able to get some advantage and keep it until the end. It is a very important victory for me and my team, but next week we are going to Mugello and we need to focus on working well to offer a good performance”.

Source: Repsol Media