Another day, another podium finish. Although Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) didn’t quite get onto the rostrum in Austria, the ‘Ant’ came back with another podium finish amongst the chaos of the Czech GP to grow his championship lead once again as his closest rival before the race – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorezno – failed to score any points. Brno saw Lorenzo’s teammate Valentino Rossi narrowly take over in P2 to lead the chase behind Marquez, but the points leader still made yet another net gain – standing 53 points clear as the paddock heads to Silverstone.
Calm and steady in the initial stages, Marquez ramped it up near the end as those in front of him began to suffer with grip – crossing the line only one place behind new closest rival Rossi to lock out the podium.
Marc Marquez (P3): “Today we didn’t have the best strategy and the best tyre choice, and it was completely my decision because I completely expected a flag-to-flag race. I would think here that the track would dry really fast but maybe the humidity kept it wet because it was impossible to go to slicks. When I realised with around ten laps to go that it was going to stay on wets, I tried to manage the tyres and was looking for the wet parts on the track. When I saw Crutchlow and Rossi go past I saw the line on the tyre and that they had the hard – so I said ok, forget them because they have more grip. So I concentrated on the two Ducatis to try and control them, and then with 4 laps to go attacked for the podium. So today, given the tyre choice, it’s a good result. The most important thing for me is that I feel strong in the dry and the wet – in all conditions – and that’s good for the championship.”