Marquez Pulls Out A Podium Finish At Qatar
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez started his 2016 campaign in a positive way, climbing the third step of the podium at the MotoGP season opener, with teammate Dani Pedrosa completing the top five.
Marc didn’t get a great start from the front row and found himself fifth at the end of the first lap, behind Iannone, Lorenzo, Dovizioso and Rossi. The Repsol Honda rider overtook Rossi on lap three for fourth and advanced to third a few laps later, when Iannone crashed out. A close battle among the top four riders ensued, with Marquez and Dovizioso tussling over second in the final laps. In the end, Marc was pleased to take a solid and well-earned third-place finish.
Dani, who contrary to his teammate had chosen a soft rear tyre, had started well from row three and then controlled Maverick Viñales from start to finish for fifth position. Like Marquez, Pedrosa was content to bring home decent points at a circuit that had proved challenging for him. Both riders look forward to round two in Argentina in two weeks.
This is the 40th time Marc has stood on the podium since he entered the MotoGP class (an impressive 72,7% of the 55 races he has campaigned thus MotoGP), equalling the number of premier-class podium results achieved by two-time 500cc World Champion Barry Sheene.
Marc Marquez
Dani Pedrosa
Race Results
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LORENZO Jorge | 99 | SPA | 25 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 42’28.452 |
| 2 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | 4 | ITA | 20 | Ducati Team | 2.019 |
| 3 | MARQUEZ Marc | 93 | SPA | 16 | Repsol Honda Team | 2.287 |
| 4 | ROSSI Valentino | 46 | ITA | 13 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 2.387 |
| 5 | PEDROSA Dani | 26 | SPA | 11 | Repsol Honda Team | 14.083 |
| 6 | VINALES Maverick | 25 | SPA | 10 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | 15.423 |
| 7 | ESPARGARO Pol | 44 | SPA | 9 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 18.629 |
| 8 | SMITH Bradley | 38 | GBR | 8 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 18.652 |
| 9 | BARBERA Hector | 8 | SPA | 7 | Avintia Racing | 21.160 |
| 10 | REDDING Scott | 45 | GBR | 6 | Octo Pramac Racing | 24.435 |
| 11 | ESPARGARO Aleix | 41 | SPA | 5 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | 35.847 |
| 12 | LAVERTY Eugene | 50 | IRE | 4 | Aspar MotoGP Team | 41.756 |
| 13 | BAUTISTA Alvaro | 19 | SPA | 3 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 41.932 |
| 14 | MILLER Jack | 43 | AUS | 2 | Marc VDS Racing Team | 41.982 |
| 15 | RABAT Tito | 53 | SPA | 1 | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | 54.953 |
| 16 | BRADL Stefan | 6 | GER | 0 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 11 laps |
| 17 | BAZ Loris | 76 | FRA | 0 | Avintia Racing | 14 laps |
| 18 | CRUTCHLOW Cal | 35 | GBR | 0 | LCR Honda | 16 laps |
| 19 | IANNONE Andrea | 29 | ITA | 0 | Ducati Team | 17 laps |
| 20 | HERNANDEZ Yonny | 68 |
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