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·@marcmarquez93: “It was a nice race with Valentino” #GPCatalunya
Raceday at the Catalan GP began with an emotional minute’s silence in memory of Luis Salom and culminated in an exciting MotoGP race, in which Marc Márquez and Dani Pedrosa finished second and third, respectively. The two Repsol Honda Team riders, alongside racewinner Valentino Rossi, paid tribute to Salom -who died on Friday following an accident in practice- on the podium.
Overtaking moves were exchanged at the start of the race, before Rossi and Marquez settled in at the front with Pedrosa close behind. Three laps from the end, Marquez pushed for victory, but after several changes of position with the Italian, a mistake on the penultimate lap led to him settling for a positive second position. With this result, Marquez returns to the top of the World Championship standings with 125 points, 10 more than Jorge Lorenzo –who failed to finish after a collision with another rider. Pedrosa is fourth with 82 points.
The positive end to a difficult weekend for the MotoGP paddock was a handshake between Marquez and Rossi at the conclusion of the race.
Marc Márquez
“It has been a hard weekend for all the riders, but in the end I think that together we paid tribute to Luis Salom with the Sunday that he deserved. It was a nice race with Valentino. I was suffering a little with the increase in temperature and was never completely comfortable, so I was unable to try overtaking at the right time. I had a couple of scares and started doing the math for the standings in my head, knowing that Jorge Lorenzo was out of the race, and I think that in the end, a podium finish is a very positive result for the Championship. Another thing that’s important for motorcycle racing is that Valentino and I shook hands; it was probably the weekend and the right situation to do so.”
Dani Pedrosa
“This has been a positive race. We opted for the intermediate rear tyre because I felt more comfortable with it. On the first few laps I tried not to wear it down too much so as to keep it in good condition for the final stretch of the race. In the fight with Maverick Viñales I lost contact with the front group, but I managed to set a good pace and push a little more. In the final laps, the rear tyre had degraded quite a lot and there was nothing more that I could do. I’m happy to get back at the front and return to the podium, and to do so at home but on the other hand it’s been a difficult weekend for what has happened. Luis’s family wanted us to continue, and we gave our all for him and for them. The minute’s silence, with all the riders and the whole MotoGP family, was really emotional.”