MARC Marquez’s rivals are making it very hard for him to not win the 2018 title, winning his third race in a row at the French GP after Andrea Dovizioso and Johann Zarco both crashed out.
Marc Marquez leading the pack
MARC Marquez’s rivals are making it very hard for him to not win the 2018 MotoGP World Championship.
Marquez romped to his third win on the bounce in the Grand Prix de France at Le Mans ahead of Danilo Petrucci and Valentino Rossi, benefitting from both pole man Johann Zarco and title rival Andrea Dovizioso crashing out early in the race.
The results means Marquez now holds a 36 point lead just five races into the season.
“I saw that the track had a little bit less grip than yesterday and especially this morning,” said Marquez in the paddock.
Jack Miller posted one of his best results in MotoGP with a fourth placing, hounding Rossi all the way home and only just failing to snag a spot on the podium.
Zarco had the 105,000 home fans at Le Mans’ Bugatti circuit dreaming of a rare French win after his record-setting pole 24 hours earlier, but the Yamaha Tech star slid out of contention on Lap 7.
“I overdid it trying to overtake Lorenzo,” said Zarco. “The fans will understand me, I was going all out for the win,” he said.
Zarco’s premature exit left Marquez in control of a race that, after the early drama, turned into something of a procession.
At the start, Zarco was quickly displaced at the front by a fast starting Jorge Lorenzo, the Frenchman snatching back second place by lunging past Marquez at the Dunlop Curve.
Lorenzo leads Zarco, Marquez, Dovizioso and Iannone on Lap 1.Source:AFP
Marquez was forced to sit up, allowing Andrea Iannone into third – briefly. The Suzuki rider’s race ended in a crash at Turn 6.
Andrea Dovizioso’s Ducati then swept past Lorenzo but no sooner had the Italian made his move than he too crashed.
It was then hapless Zarco’s turn to exit, stage left, as the French MotoGP idol parted company with his bike with 20 laps remaining.
With the great gallic home hope out of the picture it didn’t take long for Marquez to make his decisive move as Lorenzo faded after his early charge, eventually finishing sixth, over 13 seconds ahead of Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales, who’d won the corresponding race 12 months ago.
A late charge netted Cal Crutchlow eighth, an impressive result given he’d checked himself out of hospital that morning to take part in the race, the Englishman still tender after
Vinales is Marquez’s closest pursuer on 59, one point ahead of Zarco, and seven-time world champion Rossi two points further adrift.
Miller’s fourth placing equals his best result of 2018 and continues a run of eight consecutive top 10 placings dating back to the Australian Grand Prix last October.
The Australian’s consistency has him sixth in the championship, just 10 points behind second-placed Vinales.