Czech GP Pole Position
Marquez takes pole position in the Czech Republic GP, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Iannone.
Outstanding lap from @marcmarquez93
All the more impressive considering the final sector #VR46 overtake!😳#CzechGP https://t.co/np7AkCie4t
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 20, 2016
Leads Free Practice
After coming sixth in the first session, Marquez recovers from nearly crashing on Turn 13 to finish the session leading the field.
Today wasn’t an easy day, especially in the morning when we started and the feeling wasn’t so good. Then for the afternoon we changed and we made some changes in the electronics and the setup and it was working slightly better. We still have to improve. Ok, we were first and have the fastest time but with the used tyre we must improve a lot. It looks like both Yamaha riders are strong here, which is what we already expected – and we’ll see if we can improve our rhythm because especially Iannone on the Ducati is fast, too.
Austrian GP: Fifth place on grid
Despite his shoulder injury, Marquez comes fifth in qualifying for the Austrian GP, 0.333s behind Andrea Iannone, who takes the pole.
FP3 crash
Marquez crashes in FP3 for the Austrian GP. He dislocates his shoulder and is taken to hospital by helicopter.
A huge crash for @marcmarquez93 in FP3 leaves the #MotoGP championship leader holding his collarbone… #AustrianGP https://t.co/ZshwsNvlVX
— MotoGP on BT Sport (@btsportmotogp) August 13, 2016
Wins German GP
Marquez wins the German GP, with a 20 second lead over Cal Crutchlow in second place. After a poor start, Marquez settles in 7th place. As the track dries out, on Lap 17 he is the first rider to change types to slicks, giving him the advantage over the rest of the field, who delay changing tyres until closer to the end of the race.
At a certain point today, I thought my run at this circuit was going to come to an end. But in the end we succeeded and earned a very good result, especially considering how Valentino and Jorge finished the race. It’s always very difficult to decide when to change bikes, and perhaps we made our switch very early…but I decided to take a chance and it went well.
German GP: Pole position
Marquez takes pole position on the grid for the German GP, leading Hector Barbera and Valentino Rossi.
I’m happy to have set the fastest time today, because we’re better here than at other circuits. I have a fairly good pace and am riding comfortably. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, because the weather forecast is for conditions to be quite unstable. In any case, we’ll try to finish on the podium, which is our goal. It seems that Valentino [Rossi] is very strong, and we’ll also have to keep Dani [Pedrosa] in mind; I don’t know what happened to him in qualifying, but his pace is very close to ours and he’s very strong here.
Assen: Friday Practice
Marquez places third in Friday Free Practice at Assen, for the Netherlands GP.
The 2014 chassis is the one that last year I came back to in this race and still I’m using this one. It gives me a lot of confidence with the front tyre. Confidence and warning, which is important. For example, when I tried the new chassis in Montmelo [test] it was in some parts better, but in other parts – like corner entry – it was worse. So we are trying to find the best compromise to adjust the back of the new chassis to this 2014 chassis, because I think it can be a good solution.
Takes Catalunya pole
Marquez takes pole position in the Catalunya GP. He is followed on the grid by Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa.
Extends Honda contract
Marquez signs a two-year contract extension with Honda Racing.
I’m very happy to announce this renewal with HRC, especially coinciding with Grand Prix of Catalunya, my home GP, where I have some really good memories. HRC and I have a very strong relationship, and I’ve always wanted to continue being a part of the Repsol Honda Team. In three and a half years together, we’ve enjoyed some unbelievable moments, with great victories and two world titles, as well as a few challenging moments that I believe are making us stronger. We’re working very hard this year to regain the title. It’s a great honour to be a part of the Honda family, and I’m glad to remain with this special group of people for another two seasons.
HRC’s Nakamoto:
We’re honoured to have reached an agreement with Marc for two more years. There’s no doubt that he is the present and future of MotoGP! We know him well and he knows us well, and we both wanted to continue together; for this reason, we felt no rush for this renewal. Marc has grown a lot during almost four years with HRC, and now he’s an even more complete rider than in 2014, when he won 10 races in a row. Although he’s still very young, we already have a long relationship together, and we know that Marc’s experience is very important for helping our engineers to develop our bike.
Italian GP: Fourth on pole
Marquez takes fourth place on the grid for the Italian GP at Mugello, 0.255s behind Valentino Rossi, who takes pole. Maverick Viñales comes second, and Andrea Iannone is third. Marquez’s fastest lap was hindered somewhat but a small mistake towards the end. For the first time since the Catalan GP in 2015, Marquez will start off the front row of the grid.
French GP: Crashes, finishes 13th
Marquez crashes in the Le Mans GP, at the same time as Dovizioso crashes on the same corner. He continues the race to finish 13th (taking three points).
It was a pity about the crash today. I was having a good race, but these things can happen when you’re at the limit on every lap. I could have opted for a more conservative race, but here you can end up far back if you do that, so today I had to take risks. In the race I saw that I was losing ground under acceleration, and I had to make that back with my braking. Finally I lost the front and crashed. The positive is that I managed to get three points and I’m only five off Jorge Lorenzo in the standings, which isn’t a lot. Now we have a run of tracks that we found a little tough last year, but they’re quite different to Jerez and Le Mans, so I hope to be fast and have some good races.
2nd on grid
Marquez places second on the grid at Le Mans. After starting slowly in Q2, he sets his fastest time, 1’32.416, on his penultimate lap, which secured his front row position, and his 16th consecutive front row start. He is 0.441s behind Jorge Lorenzo, who takes pole.
I was able to set a good lap today, but it wasn’t perfect. At first with the new tyre I found it hard to get the same feeling I had with used tyres and the bike moved about a lot when I tried to push more. At the end I changed my riding style a little and set two pretty good laps that helped me to fulfil my main objective, which was to get on the front row. I think the pace that I have isn’t bad, and in the last free practice I felt comfortable, although I’m still not quite as fast as Jorge [Lorenzo]. We’ll see what weather we have tomorrow and what the track temperature is for the race, and try to manage things as best we can.
First in Warm Up
0 0 Mark Devlin Mark Devlin2016-04-24 05:09:302016-04-24 05:09:30First in Warm UpThird place on grid
Marquez takes third place on the grid at Jerez, behind Jorge Lorenzo, and Valentino Rossi, who takes pole.
I’m satisfied because before the qualifying session, we knew it would be difficult to get pole position, and the goal was to achieve a place on the front row. I think we did a great job; I rode well and I felt comfortable on the bike. Thanks to the work of the whole team, we tested three different setups that ultimately allowed me to be consistent in qualifying, which isn’t usually something I’m able to do. All I can say is that today Jorge [Lorenzo] and Valentino [Rossi] were faster than me. We’ll see if we can stay with them during the race tomorrow, because it seems that they have a very good pace.
Spain Friday Free Practice: 5th, 2nd place
Marquez is fifth in the first free practice session for the Spanish GP, 0.568 seconds behind leader, Jorge Lorenzo. The session is marred when Marquez’s bike cuts out during a practice start and forces him to return to the pits on the scooter. In the second session, Marquez, with winglets fitted, completes the circuit in 1’39.900 to set the first sub 1’40 lap. However, he ends the day 0.345s, in second place, behind leader Lorenzo. Marquez drops almost a full second off his time between sessions.
Wins Americas GP
Marquez wins the Americas GP, at the Circuit of The Americas course in Austin, Texas. It is his fourth win in a row. Marquez leads from the front throughout the race. Jorge Lorenzo is second. Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso all crash out of the race.
I’m really happy. I feel really great on this circuit.
Fourth pole position in four years
Marquez claims his 60th pole of his career and takes the pole position in the Americas GP for the fourth year in a row. His time of 2’03.188, is 0.069s faster than Jorge Lorenzo. Valentino Rossi places third.
Wins Argentinian GP
Marquez wins the Argentinian GP. Marquez came under pressure from Rossi in the first half of the 20-lap race, but after the pit stop Rossi fell seven seconds behind Marquez. Rossi was then overtaken by Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone of Ducati. However, on the final lap, the Ducati riders crashed, leaving Rossi in second.
Takes pole position
After qualifying, Marquez takes pole position, with a time of 1h39.411. He is unable to improve on his fastest lap time due to a late crash at Turn 1, a heavy fall resulting in no serious injuries. Due to a failure on Scott Redding’s tire, Michelin has decided to withdraw both rear tyres on safety grounds, and introduce the extra “special” rear compound brought for such an occasion. Each rider will have four of these rear tyres for Sunday.
I’m happy with how the bike is going and with the pace we have. We know what my crashes today were due to; the first was down to changing the setup but the second was because we pushed too hard. That is what happens in the qualifying session. Tomorrow we’ll give everything we have in the race…After this decision from Michelin, I think that tomorrow will be a bit of an unknown because everyone will have a different tyre spec from what we’ve used for the whole weekend. We’ll wait and see how it works. We’ll have two warm-up sessions, one of 30 minutes and the other 20, to gather information, and we’ll have to see if everything goes well. Let’s hope there won’t be too many differences from the tyres we’ve been using so far.
Argentina Friday practice: First place
Marquez is fastest in Friday Practice a the Termas de Rio Hondo Circuit in Argentina.
Today was a bit of a strange day, but the feeling was good in the end and we finished first on the timesheets. I think that the conditions will change a lot during the weekend, even from the first to the second session we saw the surface improve, although not as much as we had expected. So far track conditions are worse than last season so it seems that the times will be a long way off those from last year, but it will be the same for everyone and we are trying to manage it in the best way possible and adapt the bike as best we can.