MotoGP, Marquez the strategist, solitary triumph in Brno

Remind you of the race on the Sachsenring last year? Exactly, because the script was quite similar! On a Sunday where the weather proved to be a question mark in Brno, with rain and then dry, Marc Marquez took a risk with a soft rear on the grid, the only one to make that choice. However, the track dried out sooner than expected and he once again demonstrated that he is king of the flag-to-flag, being the first to make a pit stop.

This was a move that allowed him to move into the lead within two laps, without relinquishing it again. It was a solitary win for him, with hands held up to the skies as he rode under the chequered flag: “To be honest, with the hard tyre I did not feel competitive – he commented – I was lacking confidence, so I decided to rely on the soft. However, in the race it was sliding around – he added – So I decided to change tyres, despite the fact that the first laps were quite complicated. This is a great result, but the Championship battle is still heated.”

Behind him was Dani Pedrosa, who waited one lap too long to return to pit lane: “Races like this are always difficult – the number 26 rider commented – especially choosing when to do the flag-to-flag pit stop. This time I waited too long – he added – preferring to stay in line with the group. In any case, I am happy because it was a good weekend.”

Rounding out the Brno podium was Maverick Viñales and his Yamaha, who did his flag-to-flag pit stop one lap after Pedrosa: “The first part of the race was very complicated – the Spaniard commented after an entire weekend struggling – it was hard to get the tyres to work. I think that this result is important, but we need to work harder.”

If Marquez proved once again to be infallible with his bike change, it is a different story for Valentino Rossi, who preferred waiting three laps longer than the Honda rider to go back to pit lane. After putting on the slicks, the Doctor was protagonists of a comeback ride where he moved up from thirteenth place all the way to fourth, finishing ahead of Crutchlow.

Andrea Dovizioso finished sixth, also returning to pit lane late (during the same lap as Rossi), ahead of Petrucci, Aleix and Pol Espargaró, whereas Folger finished tenth. Lorenzo was much farther back in eighteenth, struggling quite a bit after the bike change with a starter problem contributing to his problems.