MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 10 / JUNE 28-30, 2019
TT CIRCUIT ASSEN / ASSEN, NETHERLANDS
P64
But maybe the biggest winner of the weekend was Marc Mar-
quez (Repsol Honda), who had missed the front row of the grid
for the first time all season, but rode a calculated race to take
second, comfortably ahead of his main championship rivals.
Marquez said "I knew I couldn't win today because we always
struggle here with the direction changes, and because the
Yamahas were very, very fast." But he chose a soft rear tire, the
only front-runner to do so, to make
sure he could be well-placed in the
early laps, and in a position to hang
on to the finish.
After Vinales took the lead on lap
16, it looked as though the Honda
rider was trying to fight back, but
he denied it. "I was just using his
slipstream to make a gap, so I didn't
have to fight with Quartararo at the
end."
He probably wouldn't have had to
anyway. The 20-year-old Frenchman
had been woken by pain on the night
before from his right arm, where
less than three weeks before he'd
undergone surgery for arm-pump
problems. "I wasn't sure I could finish
the race," he said. But painkillers had
helped, even though "when Vinales
came past me, I was finished." In
park ferme, his arm was visibly swol-
len, as he applied an ice-pack, and
Just like when
they were
juniors racing
in the Spanish
championship,
Marquez (93)
and Vinales went
head to head.
Quartararo was in the mix early
but faded for a safe third.
