Pedrosa Stars, Marquez Tumbles In Aragon
- Sep 28, 2015
- 2 min read
It was mixed day for the Repsol Honda Team in Aragon. Marc Marquez had set the track alight with blindingly fast lap of 1:46.635 to qualify on pole and had looked set to take the fight to Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo.
The Spaniard got off to a bad start, losing the lead to Lorenzo and finding himself trying to pass the Ducati of Andrea Iannone. Marquez found his way by at turn seven and began chasing down the leader. Closing quickly Marquez pushed too hard on the second lap and crashed at turn twelve, racking up his fifth retirement of the season.
Marc claims that he merely pushed too hard, but it's hard to look past this spill being just indicative of the RC213Vs lack of rear grip and aggressive and unpredictable engine braking. The Spaniard has the confidence to push hard thanks to the 2014 chassis he is now running, but he still has to put a lot of faith and energy through the front tyre to get the bike stopped and into corners.
“Today I can only apologise to the team and the fans, because we were working very well and we had a very good pace all weekend. On the second lap, when braking for turn twelve, I made a mistake and lost the front. It was my fault and I apologise. When a season is not going well for you, then nothing goes your way, and it seems that this season we are finding things hard. There are still four races to go and we will try to be at the front and fight to the end.”
Dani Pedrosa's season has been far worse that Marquez', through no fault of the rider it must be stressed. His arm pump issues really knocked his confidence, but we got a glimpse of the 'old' Dani this weekend.
The 2012 Aragon winner really got his elbows out and kept Valentino Rossi behind him, countering all of the Italian's advances with aggression not typical of the Spaniard. And this result is big trouble for Yamaha, because now they have both Honda riders to watch out for. The outcome of the 2015 MotoGP World Championship very much rests on the shoulders of both Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa.
“I'm really happy as it was a great race with Valentino! It was difficult, because I had him on my tail every lap and during the last five he tried to pass me, but I managed to stay in front of him. He is a rider who is very strong in this part of racing, and can usually beat anyone on the grid – and for me it is one of my weaker points. However, today I was able to beat him and I'm so happy because during the battle we swapped positions many times which gives me great motivation. I want to thank the entire Repsol Honda team and we will try to be stronger at the next race!”
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