Alex Marquez second and Alex Rins fifth in exciting opening Moto3 race

The first Moto3 race of the 2014 season provided plenty of surprises from start to finish. Poleman Alex Rins made a poor start when the red lights went out and crossed the line in tenth at the end of the first lap, having dropped down as low as twelfth. Teammate Alex Marquez took off better and was second behind Jack Miller, as the duo escaped from the rest of the pack.

Whilst Miller and Marquez broke free, enjoying an advantage of up to two seconds at one point, Rins became involved in a battle with Kornfeil, Vazquez and Oliveira. Lap by lap, the chasing pack cut the gap to the leaders and, on the final lap, Marquez made a mistake at the front. That set up a final tussle for victory, which was won by Miller with Marquez second and Vazquez third. Rins had been up as high as second, but a lack of space on the home straight counted against him and he finished fifth.

Alex Rins | 5th | at 0.369 sec.
“At the start I made a small mistake, because I released the clutch prematurely. Then I tried to push hard during the race to reach the front, waiting to see if the others made any errors. In the end it wasn’t to be, but we go to Austin happy with all the work we’ve done with Honda and even more eager to do well. Most of all, I have to thank the whole team and Honda, because the bike was working very well. Throughout the weekend we had a very good pace and that’s what we will draw upon when thinking ahead to Austin.”

Alex Marquez | 2nd | at 0.233 sec.
“I made a rookie mistake tonight; I hit a false neutral when cornering on the final lap. Despite that, I am pleased to have taken second place and claimed 20 points, because it is a very good result with which to start the World Championship season. I think that throughout the race I had a good pace when on my own at the front. When Jack [Miller] took the lead, however, we went slower and the chasing pack managed to close in on us. That is why I tried to push as hard as I could on every lap. We have to continue as we have been doing and I am very happy with this first race with Honda.”

Source: Repsol Media