Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez ended his title-winning 2016 campaign on the podium in Valencia after taking the chequered flag in a fine second, though could have fought for the victory had it not been for a poor start.
Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo looked in imperious form this weekend, but Marquez did look as if he would be be able to challenge his compatriot on Sunday. However, a terrible launch due to an issue with his clutch dropped the Honda rider back to fifth on the opening lap and this pretty much spelled the end for his hopes of victory.
The Ricardo Tormo Circuit is difficult to overtake on, and the acceleration issues with the RC213V meant Marquez couldn’t easily carve his way through the riders ahead. It took him six laps to muscle his way past Suzuki’s Maverick Vinales for fourth, it wasn’t until lap 19 that he made a move for third stick.
Once clear of Ducati’s Andrea Iannone for second, Marquez got the hammer down and began to close down leader Lorenzo over the final 10 laps. Marquez had opted for the hard front tyre, and this was paying dividends as those on the medium hit serious grip issues in the latter stages.
Despite his best efforts, reducing his deficit to Lorenzo to under two seconds when it was at five on lap 20, Marquez just ran out of time and had to settle for second. This result was Marquez’ 12th podium of the season and was good enough to secure HRC the manufacturers’ title for 2016.
“We’re happy because we’ve managed to get on the podium and we’ve finished the season strongly. This is the most important thing. In the race, the start penalized us a lot as I had an issue with the clutch and lost several positions,” the 2016 MotoGP World Champion said.
“Afterwards I wasted a lot of time behind Rossi and Iannone. As Valentino said yesterday, overtaking is difficult on this track, so even if I was able to get close, to pass them was another story because I was losing under acceleration and was a bit on the limit under braking. I waited behind as the tyres began to affect performance, and step-by-step I continued improving until I found the opportunity to pass them. From then on I was able to improve my speed, and maybe if the race had lasted a little longer I might have reached Lorenzo. Anyway, he had an incredible race and I was not able to catch him. Congrats to him for this result.
“It hasn’t been an easy season but we were able to win the title in Japan and secure the Constructors Championship this weekend, which is great. Now we’ll work hard starting from the next test to try and improve our bike even more.”
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