Points for Zarco, Marini and Moreira in Brazil
Autódromo Internacional de Goiânia – Ayrton SennaZarco takes ninth, Marini 11th and Moreira 13th at the Brazilian Grand Prix as Mir falls from seventh
Reduced to 23-laps due to track condition, the first Brazilian GP in over 20 years did not disappoint the record-breaking crowd. Castrol Honda LCR's Johann Zarco finished seventh, just ahead of Honda HRC Castrol's Luca Marini who once again battled through the field to 11th, just ahead of Pro Honda LCR's Diogo Moreira. Honda HRC Castrol's Joan Mir suffered an unfortunate fall while in a strong seventh place.
A full house at the Autodromo Internacional de Goiania – Ayrton Senna was met with ideal conditions as morning clouds quickly parted to reveal sunshine as the grid formed. With a last-minute decision to reduce the race distance from 31 to 23 laps, the teams reacted quickly to put the four Honda riders in the best situation possible when the lights went out.
Once again starting well from 19th, Marini immediately put himself into contention for the points-paying positions and fought hard to overtake around the tight and technical 3.84-kilometre-long circuit. Jousting with Quartararo and chasing down Raul Fernandez gave Marini important insights into his rivals and their machines. Crossing the line in 11th place earned five points, made sweeter given the unfortunate start he had to the weekend.
Starting from 10th on the grid, Zarco had a strong start and positioned himself among the top six, battling rivals to stay in the front group. As the laps went by, tyre degradation made it challenging to maintain his momentum but the Frenchman crossed the line 9th, securing valuable points and finishing as the top Honda rider in the standings.
Joan Mir was able to make another inspiring start to the race, propelling himself well into the top ten and sitting comfortably on the rear of Alex Marquez. In prime position to progress further and challenge for the top five, the #36 suffered an unexpected front-end crash which took him out of contention. A second disappointing result, Mir took solace in his undeniable speed and is targeting an Austin comeback.
Starting from 14th on the grid, in front of his home crowd, Diogo Moreira had a challenging start and had to recover positions to get back into the fight. Also experiencing tyre degradation amid the high temperatures which defined the race, Moreira crossed the line 13th, scoring points for the second Grand Prix in a row in only his second ever MotoGP race.
The MotoGP World Championship will now travel some 7,300 kilometres north-west to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, a traditionally happy hunting ground for the Honda RC213V.
"I’m happy; today’s result is positive. I tried to manage everything as the temperatures were tough. I battled a bit and focused on keeping my pace. I was able to stay with the group and maximise our potential. Overall, it’s been a positive weekend, and we leave Brazil with high motivation for the next race in seven days, in Texas."
"I’m happy; today’s result is positive. I tried to manage everything as the temperatures were tough. I battled a bit and focused on keeping my pace. I was able to stay with the group and maximise our potential. Overall, it’s been a positive weekend, and we leave Brazil with high motivation for the next race in seven days, in Texas."
“When we look at the whole weekend, especially the difficulties on Friday and Saturday morning that we had, 11th place after starting 19th is a more positive result than maybe it seems. I made a good start today, but the others started better than yesterday so we could not gain these early positions to put us higher. Reducing the race distance did not change so much for us. My pace was similar to that of sixth place, and I had an enjoyable race battling with other riders. We still need to keep working, we are faster but still need more to improve over the course of a weekend and stay with the other riders.”
“When we look at the whole weekend, especially the difficulties on Friday and Saturday morning that we had, 11th place after starting 19th is a more positive result than maybe it seems. I made a good start today, but the others started better than yesterday so we could not gain these early positions to put us higher. Reducing the race distance did not change so much for us. My pace was similar to that of sixth place, and I had an enjoyable race battling with other riders. We still need to keep working, we are faster but still need more to improve over the course of a weekend and stay with the other riders.”
"We enjoyed the weekend; it was super busy, but everything went well! Today, the start was difficult as I lost many positions, that was the main challenge, and I had to make a bit of a comeback, which was tough. We had a good pace, and that’s important. The key thing is that we scored points and learned a lot. Thanks to everyone supporting me!"
"We enjoyed the weekend; it was super busy, but everything went well! Today, the start was difficult as I lost many positions, that was the main challenge, and I had to make a bit of a comeback, which was tough. We had a good pace, and that’s important. The key thing is that we scored points and learned a lot. Thanks to everyone supporting me!"
“I made a strong start and was already able to make up three or four positions, putting myself in the top ten and settling into seventh place quite early. Our pace was good and the group ahead was not escaping, saving my tyres behind Alex Marquez. At this track the front is quite critical and after ten laps, we were struggling with the right side. I lost the front without any warning, very strange and unexcepted this feeling. We were being conservative, not really pushing, but racing can be like this and now we put a hard weekend in Brazil behind us. The good point is that we showed our speed and my physical condition is improving already for Austin.”
“I made a strong start and was already able to make up three or four positions, putting myself in the top ten and settling into seventh place quite early. Our pace was good and the group ahead was not escaping, saving my tyres behind Alex Marquez. At this track the front is quite critical and after ten laps, we were struggling with the right side. I lost the front without any warning, very strange and unexcepted this feeling. We were being conservative, not really pushing, but racing can be like this and now we put a hard weekend in Brazil behind us. The good point is that we showed our speed and my physical condition is improving already for Austin.”
