MÁRQUEZ SCORES MOMENTOUS PODIUM IN ASSEN

Marc Márquez took a crucial third place at TT Assen that, along with Viñales’s DNF today, reduced his gap from the top of an incredibly close Championship classification to just 11 points, despite currently being in fourth place behind Dovizioso, Viñales and Rossi.

Changing weather played a tricky role again today, when a light rain started to fall seven laps from the end of the race. Marc managed the situation prudently and, having fought within the top three from the start of the race, in the final two laps held off all the attacks from fellow Honda rider Cal Crutchlow, who was charging from the back.

The 94th podium of Marc’s career is also the 400th for the Repsol Honda Team.

MotoGP Championship now move to the Sachsenring for round 9 of the Championship next Sunday.

Marc Márquez: “I’m very happy with the podium and with our race, as we were competitive enough in the dry at this track, which isn’t one of the best for us. Of course conditions were quite tricky and in this kind of situation you can lose or gain many points. I opted for the ‘safe’ option, more or less. Maybe I would have been able to try and fight for the victory, but honestly I had some warnings and thought it too dangerous for the Championship, so I decided to be consistent in the race and to push hard at the end. I paid close attention as it was hard to understand where the limit was, but in the end I was able to manage well. We’re just 11 points down on the lead and that’s important, no matter the fourth position. Now we go to some circuits that could be better for us, so let’s keep working hard and see what happens.”