10 Apr 2017 ID: 106112
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Crutchlow Battles for Brilliant Podium, Marquez & Pedrosa Crash Out

Crutchlow Battles for Brilliant Podium, Marquez & Pedrosa Crash Out

Today was a mixed day for Honda’s MotoGP men at Argentina’s notoriously tricky Termas de Rio Hondo circuit. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda RC213V) battled to a superb podium finish, after Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team RC213V) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC213V) slid out of the second round of the 2017 MotoGP series.

 

Crutchlow rode a strong, measured race to finish a close third, his 13th MotoGP podium. Starting from the front row of the grid, the Briton spent the first few laps ahead of winner Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) and the rest of the race with runner-up Valentino Rossi (Yamaha).

Marquez had set a stunning pace to lead the first few laps, pulling away from his pursuers, only to lose the front at turn two on lap four. The reigning MotoGP World Champion walked away from the tumble unhurt.

Vinales took over the lead, Crutchlow working hard to stay with the youngster, who eventually pulled ahead, leaving Crutchlow to fight resolutely with veteran Rossi for the remainder of the 25 laps. At the finish line he was just 0.8 seconds down on Rossi and 3.7 seconds behind the winner. The result gave the 31-year-old his fifth podium from the past 12 races, a fine record for an independent-team rider.

Marquez was frustrated by the crash that cost him a shot at victory. The 24-year-old chose the hard-option front tire and was looking good to claim his first success since Japan last October, where he secured his third MotoGP title in four years.

Although disappointed with his first DNF of the year, Marquez was at least happy with the overall progress made during the weekend. The Spaniard and his crew worked well to claim their first pole position of the year, their fourth in succession in Argentina, and he had a good race pace. These are reasons to be positive going into the next race, the Grand Prix of the Americas, in which Marquez is unbeaten.

Pedrosa fell ten laps after his team-mate, also at turn two. Starting well from the second row, the three-time World Champion spent the early part of the race trying to fight his way past Danilo Petrucci (Ducati). He had got into fourth place and was setting a great pace when he went down. Despite his exit the 31-year-old Spaniard is confident of improvements in the coming weeks and feels he will be competitive once again in Texas.

Young Australian Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda RC213V) rode another mature race to claim his second successive top-ten finish. The former Moto3 race-winner struggled with a full fuel load during the opening laps and took his time to climb through the order. Working to gradually bring his hard front tire up to temperature, Miller had a few near misses and was determined to collect points.

By lap 15, the 22-year old had moved inside the top ten and was engaged in a tight battle with Scott Redding (Ducati) for eighth. Although he moved past the Briton three laps from the flag he was unable to hold the place and had to settle for ninth. Miller now sits seventh in the championship standings.
Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda RC213V) picked up his best result so far this year with a 12th-place finish. The 2014 Moto2 World Champion is still not fully recovered from the knee injury he sustained during preseason testing.

 

The MotoGP circus now has a week-long break before the Americas race at COTA, outside Austin, on April 23.

 

Cal Crutchlow

“It was nice to take a podium place for the LCR Honda team after what happened in Qatar, I’m very happy to take a third place to be honest. I had to manage the race right from the very start as I had a warning light on the dash, but I didn’t panic and when Maverick came past I just decided to follow and see if I could control the situation – which I did. Once Vale came onto me I decided to try and push again, but the light came back on so I had to slow down and try to manage the rest of the race as best I could. Vale came past me as he seemed to have a bit more grip than me, but we know the Honda bike is quite difficult to ride at the moment. I think we did a good job to manage things and bring the bike home in a podium position. Qatar was a disaster for me and the team as I felt strong there and believed I could get a good result, but to get a podium in the first two races is good. I’m really pleased for the team.”

 

Marc Marquez

“I was feeling really good on the bike. I was able to ride strong, as we made a great improvement to the setup in the warm-up, which made me feel pretty comfortable on my bike. The crash was unexpected; I must have made a small mistake, and it cost me a lot. Luckily I’m okay, but these kinds of mistakes disappoint me, as everything was going well. Anyway, we must put this behind us and think of the next race in Austin.”

 

Dani Pedrosa

“I got a decent start, but then I lost time in the first part of the race dueling with Petrucci and Zarco. I started pushing hard after I passed him because I was feeling good on the bike and wanted to try and close the gap on the others to fight for the podium, but unfortunately I crashed in the second corner. There are a lot of bumps in that turn, and they create a tricky situation, as the grip is kind of ‘on-off.’ When you’re pushing really hard, the limit becomes quite narrow. Of course it’s a shame about the crash, but on another hand I’m happy I felt good enough to try and chase down the front group. We’ll keep this motivation for the next race in Austin.”

 

Jack Miller

“The race was the best I felt all weekend and finally I was able to put together the speed I knew we had when it meant something. I made a good start and was sitting with a fast group although I wasn’t comfortable with a full fuel tank in the opening laps and made a couple of small mistakes and lost some time. But there were some positives from the weekend and some solid points for the championship. My goal is to be always top ten this season and so far I’m doing that so hopefully we can keep the momentum going at the next race in Texas.”

 

Tito Rabat

“Before the race it had been a difficult weekend with rain in qualifying, but I felt good in the race with a strong rhythm and I’m very happy with this result. I had a great fight for 12th with a group of four riders and was able to finish ahead of them. This is good for my confidence and I'm confident that with some more improvements to my riding style and a better set up for acceleration we can get the results we know we're capable of.”

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