MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 12 / OCTOBER 25, 2020
MOTORL AND ARAGON / TERUEL, SPAIN
P102
and these three races in a row
overall."
Three KTM's made it into the
top 10, with Pol Espargaro (Red
Bull KTM Factory Racing) fourth,
Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM
Tech 3) sixth and Iker Lecuona
(Red Bull KTM Tech 3) ninth.
Johann Zarco was aboard the
top Ducati in fifth, and Maverick
Vinales piloted the top Yamaha
in seventh, saying afterward he
struggled with grip on his soft
compound tires.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM
Factory Racing) and Jack Miller
(Pramac Racing) were early
casualties of the race. Right
after the start, entering turn two,
Binder and Miller tumbled into
race. I was able to fight and
defend my position."
And what about one of last
week's standout riders Alex
Marquez? The Repsol Honda
rider was again threatening for
his third podium in a row when
he made a "rookie mistake" on
lap 13 with Mir in his sights.
"It was completely my mis-
take," Marquez admitted. "Mir
was escaping, and I was prob-
ably pushing too hard to catch
him. I was thinking about the
podium a bit too much today
because I really think we had the
pace, but we need to remem-
ber to always be patient. It was
another rookie mistake, but we
should be proud of the weekend
we are just 25 points from being
at the top of the championship
standings, which means that it is
time to go super aggressive into
the final three races of this year."
Despite finishing third, Mir
gained ground on championship
runner-up and Morbidelli's team-
mate Fabio Quartararo, who
again struggled with setup and
finished a distant eighth.
"I wanted a bit more from the
race today, as we found some-
thing this morning that improved
the bike, but it didn't help as
much as we thought it would in
the race," Quartararo said. "The
feeling was not great, but we
scored some points today and
we actually had a fairly good
Alex Marquez could smell another podium but a "rookie mistake" prevented that from happening.
