Sepang crash keeps Marquez two points away from Moto2 crown

The monsoon that fell today at the Sepang circuit dampened proceedings for Marc Márquez, who had his first opportunity to win the Moto2 World Championship. He was unable to finish the race after a crash three laps from the end, despite approaching the race with caution. His next ‘match ball’ comes next weekend in Australia.

An intense and short downpour just after the Moto3 race left the track completely wet for the Moto2 contest, which Marc Márquez began from third on the grid. The Repsol rider took the start with much caution, riding tenth for the opening laps in order to assess the situation with so much surface water.

The rain reappeared just as Márquez passed Andrea Iannone to move up into seventh. On one of the hard braking points he lost the front and had a sudden crash. Despite an attempt to resume the race, he was unable to do so and will have to wait until the Australian GP in seven days time to mount another title assault.

Marc Márquez
“I was very comfortable on the bike and it was very calm, because I knew Pol [Espargaró] was far back. I didn’t want to lower the pace, because it’s easy to lose focus in the wet. Then it started to rain more. I tried to slow down, because in these conditions the track was slippery. I knew that Iannone was close, but I let him pass when he pulled up behind me, because today wasn’t about fighting that battle.
At the end of the straight he went very wide and I was able to go back past him, but soon after I crashed out. I didn’t expect it, because I hit the brakes at more or less the same point as on the previous lap and I lost the front when I was going in a straight line. It is a shame, but that’s riding in the rain for you. The good thing is that I didn’t hurt myself and that I have a big gap in the standings. Now it is time to move on to the next race.”

Source: Repsol Media