Repsol Honda Team riders stay safe in dramatic Catalan GP
Circuit de Barcelona-CatalunyaA challenging day in Barcelona saw Marc Marquez and Joan Mir avoid a number of incidents on track, Marquez leaving with another point-scoring finish.
Sunday proved to be a dramatic day at the Catalan GP as chaos unfolded over the opening few corners, both Repsol Honda Team riders avoiding issues. With the Red Flag immediately coming out Marc Marquez and Joan Mir returned to the Repsol Honda Team garage and awaited the restart. Race distance was reduced to 23 laps as a result of the restart.
Marquez, starting 11th due to a grid penalty for Bastianini, launched well to quickly move inside the top ten. As in the Sprint on Saturday, the Repsol Honda Team rider held his own in the opening half of the race before settling into his rhythm for the remainder of the race. Quartararo would pressure the #93 for multiple laps, eventually getting past after a spirited defense from the Honda rider. Taking 13th at the line, Marquez was able to collect more points and complete another Grand Prix weekend without major incident.
Joan Mir made solid starts to both races and challenged for points in the early laps. The traction issues which he and the team have been looking to solve all weekend again prevented him from showing his potential, the #36 able to bring the RC213V back to the garage. Crossing the line in 17th place, Mir is aiming to reset and go again in Misano.
The Repsol Honda Team now head directly to Misano for the penultimate European race of the season and the last in-season test before the frenetic end of season marathon begins.
First of all, I am very glad that Pecco and all of the other riders avoided any serious injury. I saw Pecco crash on the opening lap and I immediately did everything I could to make sure I could avoid him. In the race restart I was able to gain a few positions. Then, like yesterday I was very strong at the start but then had to go into a more conservative mode in the second half of the race. In the final races I was focusing on getting the bike home. Now we start thinking about Misano.
Honestly, I made a good start to the first race and I made up a fair few positions. But unfortunately, the rest of our race was similar to the day before and we struggled for grip. After six or seven laps the tyre dropped a lot and I was worked to finish the race and stay on the bike. I used the time to try some different maps on the bike with this time to see if it changed anything. Avoiding a crash was important and we finished the last laps carefully to head to Misano in as positive a way as possible.
