Marc Marquez makes second-place finish in Catalunya MotoGP

Catalunya [Spain], June 18 (ANI): Four-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez made a second-place finish in Catalunya Grand Prix, which enabled him to extend his championship lead to 27 points over runner-up Valentino Rossi.

With a great start, Marc got into and through the first turn ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, who passed him on the following lap.

Marc who, outside of two non-point-scoring finishes, has so far never finished worse than second this season, stuck to the countryman for the first 9 laps of the race, looking for a chance to fight for the win.

After realizing that it was too risky maintaining Lorenzo's pace, he settled for the 20 points and a second-place position.

After a good start from the fourth row, Dani Pedrosa was able to maintain a decent pace despite struggling with a lack of grip, defending fifth position over Maverick Vinales on the final lap.

Reflecting on his performance, Marc Marquez said, "Today was a race where we had to manage as best as possible and I tried to be smart. Of course in the first laps I pushed hard because it was important to follow Jorge and to open a gap on the chasers. When we built a comfortable advantage I just managed the pace. I even slowed down a bit in the final part of the race as it was impossible to catch Lorenzo. I saw many crashes, which made me think more than I did in other races. Sometimes the tyre choice you make doesn't result in the exact feeling you were hoping for, but I think that second is very good for the Championship because we arrived here with a 23-point lead and go to Assen with 27."

"It's time to understand how the situation is and try and manage it as best as possible. We made a mistake in Mugello and that had me thinking a lot. Of course, when you don't win the feeling that you were missing something remains, but a podium is a good result! Maybe other challenging races will arrive but the good thing for us is that so far in every race we have been in good shape," Marquez concluded.

The next MotoGP is slated to be held at TE Assen, the Netherlands on July 1.(ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI