For 12 laps Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez were able to shadow Jorge Lorenzo and keep his pace but then on the 13th lap Lorenzo suddenly pushed the NOS button on his M1 and speed away leaving the two Repsol Honda riders almost a eight tenths behind in one single lap and to fight over the second spot on the podium.
With rear grip issues slowing him – the new Bridgestone tire for the race forced him to change his setup – Pedrosa had to contend with the unwanted attentions of his team mate who was much faster than him and with five laps to go Marquez put in a simple pass and ran away for exactly two laps but got caught out at the Savelli and crashed out for the fourth time this weekend and giving Pedrosa 20 points.
Here’s what Pedrosa said about his Mugello race: “I didn’t feel fully comfortable in the race today, but I’m happy because I was able to gain a large number of points.
In general, this was a difficult weekend.
The back tyre was giving me a lot of problems with grip but taking 20 points from this race and maintaining the lead the World Championship is something positive.
”Marc Marquez may have been battered and bruised, but up until the time of his race crash he certainly did not show any wear or tear, but his fall at the Savelli saw him off the podium for the first time after four rounds which is nothing short of spectacular for a rookie rider.
Despite his crash in the race, which he doesn’t understand how it happened, Marquez said he learned a lot following Pedrosa and Lorenzo and now will use that knowledge in the upcoming rounds.
“Today we finished with our first DNF of the season, but after three difficult days of setbacks and hard work, I finally felt good during the race.
I don’t fully understand why I crashed, as I lost both the front and the back at the same time and was unable to save it.
It’s clear that we made a mistake, but we can’t go looking for excuses.
We’ve looked at the telemetry and it shows that I was going at the same speed and on the same line as before but, anyway, you learn from these mistakes.
”“We can’t forget that this is my first year in the class and I am here to learn how things are in MotoGP.
In spite of everything we were still fighting for second place, which is a reason to be happy.
I want to apologise to Honda and to the team, as they always support me and work so hard.
Now we are turning our focus to Montmelo, and I can’t wait to race there.
”
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