Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich

MotoGP 2016   Round 10

Marquez scores precious points, Pedrosa improves his speed

Marc Marquez took very important points with a fifth-place finish in today’s Austrian GP. At the line, he trailed his main rivals for the title chase, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, who ended third and fourth, respectively, behind the two Ducatisti who topped the podium. Dani Pedrosa was able to keep a good pace for the entire GP and recovered from 12^th on the grid to seventh at the chequered flag.

Marc, who was nursing a bruised shoulder after suffering a heavy crash in yesterday’s FP3, got a good start and entered the first turn in third but ran wide and found himself in fifth at the end of the first lap. He closely trailed the front group for over half the race, controlling Maverick Viñales behind him, but after a couple of small mistakes, he progressively lost ground and wisely settled for a top-five position.

Dani entered the first corner in 10^th and overtook Scott Redding for ninth before the end of the first lap. He then kept a good rhythm until the end of the race, not so far from the front riders. Along the way, he recovered several more positions and improved his feeling with the bike.

Heading to the next race in Brno in one week’s time, Marc leads the championship with 181 points, 43 over Lorenzo and 57 ahead of Rossi. Dani is fourth with 105 points, 33 behind the runner-up position in the standings.

Marc Marquez

5th

“After how yesterday went, I’m happy with today’s race. My shoulder didn’t hurt at any time during the race, so no excuses there. I would have taken fifth position if it were offered to me before starting the race. I knew the Ducatis and Yamahas were fast, so this was the best possible outcome and it’s positive that we’ve only lost five points compared to Lorenzo. Given the difficulties we’ve had, it was clear that our objective was to think of the fight for the Championship. I started aggressively, as it was the only way of trying to fight with the front group, but after making a couple of mistakes I lost the slipstream and it was very difficult to recover from that.”

Dani Pedrosa

7th

“We went better in the race compared to the practice sessions, as we were putting in similar times to the riders at the front. We had been a little farther away from them beforehand this weekend, but today we took a step forward and that’s a positive. Now we must carry on working to continue to progress at the next race, which will be next weekend in the Czech Republic.”

Results Session

Rider Standings

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Location Information

The Red Bull Ring in Spielberg is located beautifully in the Murtal-region of Styria, Austria. The circuit was originally built in 1969, then known as the Österreichring. In 1996 it was rebuilt with the track-layout it still had when, in 2011, it was reopened as the Red Bull Ring and… read more.

Circuit Records

Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Steiermark, Austria –  View in Google Maps

www.projekt-spielberg.com/en

  Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland

MotoGP 2016   Round 9

Positive start to the weekend for Marquez; Pedrosa looks to improve

Decidedly un-summer-like temperatures (max air 16° C, ground 19°) made the opening day of the German GP quite demanding for the riders today. The Sachsenring Circuit is already tough on tyres due to majority of left-hand corners that make it difficult to keep effective operational heat in the right-side rubber, prompting Michelin to bring an asymmetrical front tyre spec for the first time this season.

Weather in the morning’s FP1 session was even colder before a light rain forced everyone back to the pit after just a couple of exits, rendering the session almost useless. In the afternoon, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa worked hard on their RC213V setups, and while Marc was quite comfortable on his bike at the end of the day, pleased with posting the third-best lap time, Dani recognizes that he needs more time to make the most of the particular conditions.

Marc Marquez

3rd 1'22.775

“Today was a good day, although the way that it began was a little strange. In the first session we were only able to do a few laps because it started to rain slightly, but it wasn’t heavy enough to put on wet tyres. The second session was more-or-less normal, although there were low temperatures and a very cold track. We had to dial things back a little, especially at turn 11, where many riders crashed. Nevertheless, I felt quite comfortable with the bike. We want to improve on some points and have to keep working, because the forecast for tomorrow is that temperatures will improve slightly. It will be an interesting Grand Prix because of the weather, and the prediction is that on Sunday we’ll have a situation like today, when rain could fall at any time.”

Dani Pedrosa

15th 1'23.740

“Today was a very tough day because the track temperature was very low. I was riding on the limit and I saw several riders crash, especially in turn 11. Riding fast wasn’t possible, so we decided against taking risks under the circumstances. Hopefully tomorrow the weather improves, and we’ll continue working to recover our pace and try to place high up on the timesheets.”

Results Session

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Location Information

Car and bike races have been held on closed public roads in the area around the town of Chemnitz, Germany since the 1920s and were still taking place until as recently as 1990. It was decided, however, that the five mile course through such a densely populated area was no… read more.

Circuit Records

Lerchenstraße, 09337 Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany –  View in Google Maps

www.sachsenring-circuit.com

  Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland

MotoGP 2016   Round 9

Repsol Honda Team look forward to season’s halfway mark at Sachsenring

The ninth round of the MotoGP World Championship, scheduled for this weekend at the Sachsenring circuit, marks the midway point in the 2016 season, with Marc Marquez leading the Championship classification and teammate Dani Pedrosa lying in fourth place.

The Sachsenring is one of the slower tracks on the calendar, and also the shortest at just 3.67km (2.28 miles), but it has often played host to hard-fought, close races. The actual circuit, a mix of 10 left turns and just three rights, has hosted the German GP since 1998, and it has proven to be one of the most successful rounds for the Repsol Honda Team and its riders.

Marc has won the last six consecutive years in Germany (2015, 2014 and 2013 in MotoGP, 2012 and 2011 in Moto2, and 2010 in125cc), meaning that every time he has made the podium at the Sachsenring, he finished first. Dani can also claim six victories (four in MotoGP in 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2007, and two in 250cc in 2005 and 2004), among a total of nine podium visits.

Marc Marquez

Championship Standing: 1st – 145 points

“We’re going to the German GP aiming for a podium position and of course possibly to fight for the win. The Sachsenring is normally a very good track for me that I like very much, maybe because it has so many left-hand corners, a bit like a dirt track! On the other hand, it’s another one on the calendar where the weather has sometimes played a crucial role in the past, so we’ll see how it goes there. We’ve learned from the past and we’re approaching this season race by race, trying to be ready and make the most of what we have and what the situation requires. In any case I’m happy we’ll be back in action shortly and I’ll do my best to get another positive result before the summer break.”

Marc Marquez Statistics

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Dani Pedrosa

Championship Standing: 4th – 86 points

“I like the Sachsenring very much; it’s definitely one of my favourite tracks on the calendar. I have very good memories there, and together with my team, we’ll try to make the best use of what we’ve learned from the last races. It was a pity that we didn’t get a better result in Assen, where our strategy was perfect for the first part of the race, but the positive is that we know we’ve worked well in demanding conditions. We’ll try to do the same in Germany.”

Dani Pedrosa Statistics

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Location Information

Car and bike races have been held on closed public roads in the area around the town of Chemnitz, Germany since the 1920s and were still taking place until as recently as 1990. It was decided, however, that the five mile course through such a densely populated area was no… read more.

Circuit Records

Lerchenstraße, 09337 Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany –  View in Google Maps

www.sachsenring-circuit.com

  TT Assen

MotoGP 2016   Round 8

Momentous second place for Marquez in weather-affected Dutch TT

Marc Marquez’s brilliant and very important second-place finish in one of the trickiest races in recent years was enhanced by the amazing debut win of Honda satellite rider Jack Miller, who perfectly mastered the second part of the Dutch TT. The lottery that is a MotoGP race run in such challenging conditions ruled out a possible podium finish for Dani Pedrosa, who finished in 12^th position after crashing on the first lap of the race’s weather-prompted restart.

The Assen TT originally started approximately one hour after a strong 15-minute downpour had heavily drenched the track. Marc had chosen a hard rear rain tyre, while Dani opted for the softer version. That proved to be the better solution, so although Marc managed to keep a decent enough pace to maintain fourth position in the race’s first phase, Dani was able to steadily recover ground from the back after the rain started again. He had just overtaken his teammate when the conditions became so difficult that Race Direction decided to put out the red flag on lap 15. That meant that the new grid position for the remaining 12-lap race was determined by the classification of the previous lap—lap 14—with Marc in fifth and Dani sixth.

Race 2 got off at 3 p.m., and both Repsol Honda riders went out on the Michelin soft rear rain spec. Marquez started well, entering the first corner first, but he ran wide shortly after and dropped back to third behind Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi. After the two Italians fell ahead of him and Miller caught and then overtook him, Marc wisely settled for the 20 crucial points that come with second place, thereby extending his championship lead to 24 points over Jorge Lorenzo and 42 over Rossi.

Like many others, Dani was betrayed by the tricky conditions and crashed on the first lap after the restart. He determinedly re-joined the race and was able to finish in 12^th, and  lies 4^th in the standings 17 points down on Rossi.

Marc Marquez

2nd

“Today’s race was one of those in which you can either lose many points or gain them, and you can face it with two mentalities: either you take a risk to gain a bigger advantage, or you focus on finishing the race in order to lose the fewest points possible. The latter is the mentality that the team repeated to me about forty times between this morning and today, and it is exactly what I did. I tried to stay in the top five so as not to drop many points to Valentino [Rossi] and attempted to not make mistakes in order to finish the race. At the beginning of the first race I didn’t feel comfortable and lost touch, but then I was able to recover. I think that stopping the race was a good decision, because it was very dangerous out there. In the second race I started off thinking about pushing a bit more, but everyone was very fast and I decided not to follow Rossi and Dovizioso because they were going too quickly. However, both of them crashed later on. When I saw Jack [Miller] stalking behind me, I knew that he would be going for his first win so I preferred to let him pass and keep a couple of seconds gap between us, as well as a cushion to third place. I did that because with Jorge [Lorenzo] so far back and Rossi out of the race, second place was as good as a victory. In the end, we leave Assen with a bigger lead."

Dani Pedrosa

12th

“It's been a pretty tough weekend but races like today are a lottery. In the first race it seemed that the strategy of running the soft tyre had gone well. At first, when the track was drying, I went slowly, but when it started to rain I upped my pace very quickly while others were at a disadvantage. However, that was when the Race Direction decided to stop the race. I felt unlucky, because it turned out that thinking ahead or trying to pick a different strategy wasn’t beneficial. In the second race I crashed on the first lap, because I had a new rear tyre without too much grip. It has been a difficult Grand Prix but we will try to find better solutions for the next race and regain our feeling in order to go faster."

Race PART 2 Classification after 12 laps

Rider Standings

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Location Information

Assen is the only venue to have held a round of the Motorcycle World Championship every year since its creation in 1949. The circuit was purpose built for the Dutch TT in 1955, with previous events having been held on public roads. The track is narrow, with rapid changes in… read more.

Circuit Records

TT Circuit Assen, De Haar, Assen, The Netherlands –  View in Google Maps

www.ttcircuit.com

  Gran Premi de Catalunya

MotoGP 2016   Round 7

Marquez and Pedrosa achieve great and emotional double podium finish in home race

Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa both finished on the podium in an emotional and exciting Grand Prix de Catalunya, on a day that all of the riders and the entire MotoGP paddock treated as a heartfelt tribute to Luis Salom.

Marc, who today reversed his race number to the “39” of Salom, earned second position after a long and fair duel with Valentino Rossi, which saw the Honda rider closely chasing the Italian for 15 laps before engaging in an exciting battle for the victory five laps from the end. The pair overtook each other several times before the penultimate lap, when a small mistake by Marc allowed Rossi to pull a little gap. With the tyres put to a severe test by the higher temperature compared to yesterday, and with faultless Jorge Lorenzo out of the race after a collision with Andrea Iannone, Marc wisely settled for second and for 20 very important points, which put him in the leadership for the Championship ahead Lorenzo, Rossi and Pedrosa.

Contrary to his teammate, who raced on hard-front hard-rear Michelin tyres like most of the other riders, Dani opted for a medium-rear hard-front choice, which proved to be the right one for him. He got a brilliant start from the front row but wasn’t able to keep the advantage into the first turn, finding himself in fourth position. He soon overtook Iannone but was passed by Rossi, who was charging from the back. Dani was then involved in a tough duel for fourth with Maverick Viñales, and by the time he got the better of that and then passed Lorenzo for third, he had already lost close contact with Rossi and Marc at the front. Tough he was able to keep a very fast pace, he couldn’t close the gap with the front pair.

The Repsol Honda Team will remain in Montmeló tomorrow for a one-day post-race test.

Marc Marquez

2nd

“It has been a hard weekend for all the riders, but in the end I think that together we paid tribute to Luis Salom with the Sunday that he deserved. It was a nice race with Valentino. I was suffering a little with the increase in temperature and was never completely comfortable, so I was unable to try overtaking at the right time. I had a couple of scares and started doing the math for the standings in my head, knowing that Jorge Lorenzo was out of the race, and I think that in the end, a podium finish is a very positive result for the Championship. Another thing that’s important for motorcycle racing is that Valentino and I shook hands; it was probably the weekend and the right situation to do so.”

Dani Pedrosa

3rd

“This has been a positive race. We opted for the intermediate rear tyre because I felt more comfortable with it. On the first few laps I tried not to wear it down too much so as to keep it in good condition for the final stretch of the race. In the fight with Maverick Viñales I lost contact with the front group, but I managed to set a good pace and push a little more. In the final laps, the rear tyre had degraded quite a lot and there was nothing more that I could do. I’m happy to get back at the front and return to the podium, and to do so at home but on the other hand it’s been a difficult weekend for what has happened. Luis’s family wanted us to continue, and we gave our all for him and for them. The minute’s silence, with all the riders and the whole MotoGP family, was really emotional.”

Results Session

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Location Information

In 1989, through the joint collaboration of the Catalan Autonomous Government, the Montmeló Town Council and the Royal Automobile Club of Catalunya (RACC), work began on giving one of Europe’s most beautiful cities a state of the art race track to match. The Circuit de Catalunya opened on the doorstep… read more.

Circuit Records

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló, Catalunya, Spain –  View in Google Maps

www.circuitcat.com