Marini recovers to fifth with podium pace in fiery Indonesian GP
Pertamina Mandalika International CircuitA star of the most exciting Grand Prix of the year, Luca Marini left nothing on track as he battled across 27-laps for a debut Honda podium – recovering to fifth place in a fantastic recovery after being sent wide.
Sunday’s race started in almost identical fashion to Saturday as Luca Marini and the Honda RC213V shot forward from sixth to lead the MotoGP field into Turn 1. As drama unfolded behind, Marini settled into his race strategy – confident in his pace for the podium as he tussled with Pedro Acosta early on. Launching several moves, Marini was unable to make a move stick and bided his time for a cleaner opportunity. Unfortunately, an optimistic move from Raul Fernandez would drop Marini from the top three to barely inside the top ten.
Determination fueled Marini as lap after lap he displayed the pace for the podium, battling in the heart of a ferocious ten-rider group. Fighting right until the end to pass Brad Binder for fourth place, Marini earned fifth right at the line. The result puts him just 20 points shy of fellow Honda HRC rider Johann Zarco in the fight for a top ten championship finish. Content with his undeniable potential despite the lack of final reward, Marini’s podium desires are bound to be answered in MotoGP’s final four races.
Joan Mir made a similarly strong start from 12th on the grid, immediately thrusting himself into the fight for the top ten. Progressing well and with Saturday’s recover still fresh in his mind, Mir forged ahead and began an intense battle with Alex Marquez. Up to eighth, Mir would suffer a fall on lap and retire soon after. Disappointed but unharmed, the #36 will be ready to fight once again next time out in Phillip Island – one of his favourite circuits.
Now a week of rest and recovery await for the Honda HRC Castrol team before another double-header, the Australian and Malaysian GPs the final stop in the MotoGP World Championship’s tour.
The race started very well, going more or less to plan with another really good start – it’s one of the strong points of the Honda RC213V and myself. I had a really good fight with Acosta at the start, he was protecting his line well and I was managing everything. My pace was there for P2 but then it looks like Fernandez tried to force a move even though both his pace and my pace was better than everyone else. It’s a pity for myself and for his team because we were both out of contention after his move where I lost five positions. After that I was really determined to recover as much as possible, and I pushed Binder right until the end. For sure we had the pace for more, but this is racing. Although the final reward still wasn’t there, we showed our potential – the bike is improving and also myself and it will arrive.
The race started very well, going more or less to plan with another really good start – it’s one of the strong points of the Honda RC213V and myself. I had a really good fight with Acosta at the start, he was protecting his line well and I was managing everything. My pace was there for P2 but then it looks like Fernandez tried to force a move even though both his pace and my pace was better than everyone else. It’s a pity for myself and for his team because we were both out of contention after his move where I lost five positions. After that I was really determined to recover as much as possible, and I pushed Binder right until the end. For sure we had the pace for more, but this is racing. Although the final reward still wasn’t there, we showed our potential – the bike is improving and also myself and it will arrive.
As you can imagine, I am angry because we lost a really good opportunity today to fight for a podium. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. We need to understand what happened with the medium rear tyre because it was not what we were expecting, and I wasn’t able to ride in the way I needed to. The pace today was quite slow and that’s why I really think we could have had a nice race; we had been doing well throughout the weekend. It’s important to understand what happened and avoid it happening again. Now when we fall, we miss out on more than in the past which is in some ways a positive, because it means we have improved. A bit of rest and move onto the next set of races.
As you can imagine, I am angry because we lost a really good opportunity today to fight for a podium. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. We need to understand what happened with the medium rear tyre because it was not what we were expecting, and I wasn’t able to ride in the way I needed to. The pace today was quite slow and that’s why I really think we could have had a nice race; we had been doing well throughout the weekend. It’s important to understand what happened and avoid it happening again. Now when we fall, we miss out on more than in the past which is in some ways a positive, because it means we have improved. A bit of rest and move onto the next set of races.
