MotoGP Marc Marquez also wins the San Marino GP

Roberto Magni By Foto ReD Photographic Agency - Last lap brilliance in Misano moves Marquez ahead of Hailwood with 77 victories
A 77th career victory makes Marquez the fourth most successful rider in Grand Prix history, bringing fans to their feet on his way to winning a thrilling San Marino GP

Marc Marquez made a flying start to the race and moved to fourth by the first corner, quickly progressing up to third just a few corners later. Muscling past Viñales on lap four, the World Championship leader set about closing down the almost one-second lead of Fabio Quartararo. The Frenchman´s advantage was soon reduced to just two tenths, Marquez electing to wait for his moment to attack. As the laps ticked down, the reigning champion began to edge closer and put increasing pressure on the young French rider. The start of the last lap saw Marquez´s RC213V roar past Quartararo heading into Turn 1, the pair briefly sparring before Marquez made the move stick later in the lap. Crossing the line 0.903s ahead of Quartararo, Marquez returned to the top step of the podium after back-to-back second place finishes. The win moves him 93 points clear of title rival Andrea Dovizioso in the MotoGP World Championship standings with six races remaining. Taking the 77th win of his career, Marquez also moves ahead of Mike Hailwood to cement himself as the fourth most successful rider in Grand Prix history. Honda leave Misano extending their advantage in the Manufacturer Championship to 60 points over closest rivals Ducati while the Repsol Honda Team close the deficit to the Ducati Team in the Team Championship to just 25 points. With Round 14, the Gran Premio Michelin® de Aragon, taking place on September 22 the Repsol Honda Team are keen to carry their momentum forward as they return to Spanish soil.

PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team rider Fabio Quartararo has taken his fourth podium finish of the 2019 MotoGP season at the Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, just missing out on victory in a last-lap duel. Leading from the third lap until the final one, Quartararo gained even more valuable experience in his rookie season as he maintained the gap from Marquez for most of the race. Not quite able to outfox the World Champion on the final lap, Quartararo was nonetheless delighted to take home his second runner-up spot of the year and move up the ladder to seventh in the championship, as well as extending his lead in the rookie of the year battle and moving to the top of independent riders table.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP´s Maverick Viñales was on the hunt during the GP di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. He spent almost the entire race positioned in third place, stalking the front runners, but came just short to enter the challenge. The stakes were high for Valentino Rossi at his home race at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. He had to make his way through the rider field, starting from P7, and pushed to the fullest to take fourth position. Viñales stuck to his plan at the start of the San Marino GP. Starting from P1, the Spaniard had said yesterday that his strategy was not to leave any door open on the first corners on the opening lap. He did just that but didn´t manage to break away. On lap 3 he had to relinquish the lead to fellow Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo, and one lap later also Marc Marquez came past. The Factory Yamaha rider couldn´t match the early pace as he didn´t have a good feeling with the front, but he wasn´t out for the count. He waited for the race to come to him and started to make up some ground after lap 14. He was inching closer but struggled to reduce the gap to under 2s until the final five laps. With the two leading men occupied with their own battle, the number-12 rider was riding on the limit. He came under 0.8s behind Quartararo but wasn´t able to put in a move. Viñales took the chequered flag in third place, 1.636s from the front. Today's third place sees Viñales stay fifth in the championship standings, one place ahead of Rossi, with five points between them. Yamaha remains third in the constructor standings, and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP also stays in third place in the team classification.

Marc Marquez 1st “Honestly speaking, I knew it wasn´t necessary to win because I saw that Rins was out and Dovizioso was far from us but I had some extra motivation. I just tried to stay with Fabio as close as I could and in the end I was weighing up whether to try or not. On the last lap I decided to go. I knew Fabio was very fast in Sector 3, so I made my move before that and closed the corner as much as I could. Fabio rode a very strong race today. I raced as smart as I could and in the end it is nice to win in Italy, but even nicer to have 93 points of advantage.“

Fabio Quartararo 2 “I can only be happy about the result. We led the race until almost the end, but I knew Marc would try something on the last lap because he´s been fast all weekend. I was able to pass him back when he did, but I just went a little bit wide when he overtook me for a second time. I was faster than him in turn 11 and I fought until the end, but we had to settle for second. He had better grip at the end in one side of his tyres but I had an advantage on the right side, which is something to be proud of because it means I´m learning how to manage them. I gave it my all, but Marc has more experience in last lap battles and today he was able to use it all. It´s the first time I´ve even able to fight with him, and to be able to have battled with a seven-time World Champion is the best moment of my career so far.“

Maverick Viñales 3 “I´m really happy because it was just about 1.5s to the top. We´re getting closer at every race and we´re trying to understand how we can be better, faster, and more consistent. This was a race in which the tarmac was very slippery, and I was there fighting for a top position. We need to keep working. We´re starting to understand many things, but it´s not enough yet. I have to improve, but I´m gaining confidence in the races. Up next is Aragon, which is a track I really love and where I always feel like I can go fast. Yamaha is going in the right direction. In Silverstone Yamaha was also pretty strong. If Fabio hadn´t crashed, for sure we would both have been close to getting the victory there. So, we´re getting better every race. Especially on my side, I have to make another step, but we´re going to make it. We´re on our way and I really feel like we have the potential to fight for the victory.“

GP of San Marino - Race Classification:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 42'25.163
2. Fabio QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT +0.903
3. Maverick VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +1.636
4. Valentino ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +12.660
5. Franco MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT +12.774
6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team +13.744
7. Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +20.050
8. Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +22.512
9. Jack MILLER Pramac Racing +26.554
10. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati Team +31.456
11. Johann ZARCO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +32.388
12. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +34.477
13. Tito RABAT Reale Avintia Racing +35.325
14. Jorge LORENZO Repsol Honda Team +47.247
15. Hafizh SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +1'02.280
16. Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +1'07.831
17. Karel ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing +1'24.666
18. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1 Lap
Not Classified
35 Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL
51 Michele PIRRO Ducati Team
42 Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR
63 Francesco BAGNAIA Pramac Racing

MotoGP World Championship Standings:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda 275
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 182
3. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 151
4. Alex RINS Suzuki 149
5. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 134
6. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 129
7. Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 112
8. Jack MILLER Ducati 101
9. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 88
10. Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 80
11. Pol ESPARGARO KTM 77
12. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 62
13. Joan MIR Suzuki 47
14. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 37
15. Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 29
16. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia 27
17. Johann ZARCO KTM 27
18. Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 26
19. Jorge LORENZO Honda 23
20. Tito RABAT Ducati 17
21. Stefan BRADL Honda 16
22. Michele PIRRO Ducati 9
23. Sylvain GUINTOLI Suzuki 7
24. Hafizh SYAHRIN KTM 7
25. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati 5
26. Bradley SMITH Aprilia