It took 12 laps for Vinales to join an epic vic-
tory fight that included Marquez, Jorge Martin
(Pramac Ducati), Pedro Acosta (Tech3 Gas-
Gas) Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) and Enea
Bastianini (Lenovo Ducati). There were no holds
barred between the quintet until then, with the
podium places changing hands almost by the
corner. The way he cut through all of them after
Marquez's surprise crash took the breath away,
and dispelled some of the long-held doubts
about whether he possesses the temperament
needed in such exchanges. This success saw
him enter the history books as just the fifth rider
(Left) Jorge Martin (89) leads Pedro Acosta
(31) during Sunday's GP. Acosta was in the
mix all weekend, especially in the GP, where
he took second. (Below) Sunday's racing was
spectacular right to the end, with Vinales,
Acosta and Enea Bastianini going 1-2-3.
VOLUME ISSUE APRIL , P93
10 LUCA MARINI
17TH/16TH MOTOGP
Luca Marini was Honda's best finisher
in 16th. "I tried my best and fought for
the last point hard," he said. "It was
good to finish the race to get more
data to the engineers. At this mo-
ment, we are not in the correct place,
and I think this is an important week-
end for us. Now we can compare
the data to this weekend and before,
and I hope that it can help us to keep
improving. I think the direction is quite
clear; we just need time."
36 JOAN MIR
DNF/DNF MOTOGP
Honda's woes continued when Joan
Mir crashed out. "A tough end to a
tough weekend," he said. "We didn't
start the race itself super well, so we
were quite far behind, but then I found
my pace, and I was able to get ahead
of the other Honda riders. I started
closing in on the group ahead but
unfortunately, I lost the rear at turn six
and crashed. Not much more to add."
MYOWNRACE
