Repsol Honda Team took home a single second place from the Gran Premio
d’Italia TIM, allowing Dani Pedrosa to maintain his championship lead.
There was trouble for Marc Marquez, who crashed out of a MotoGP™ race
for the first time.
Pedrosa led at the start from his first pole position of 2013, but lost
the lead to Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo by running wide at
the first corner. He stayed with his compatriot until losing ground on
the 13th lap.
"I didn't feel fully comfortable in the race today, but I'm happy because I was able to gain a large number of points," Pedrosa reported, having won the previous two Grands Prix in Spain and France. "In general, this was a difficult weekend. The back tyre was giving me a lot of problems with (a lack of) grip but taking 20 points from this race and maintaining the lead the World Championship is something positive."
rMarquez had overtaken Pedrosa in a brave move at Savelli corner, but crashed in the same place two laps later. This ended his chances of achieving five podium finishes in the first five races of a rookie’s MotoGP career, also meaning he is the rider to have crashed most so far this year – with seven falls to his name.
"Today had our first DNF of the season, but after three difficult days of setbacks and hard work, I finally felt good during the race," began the 20-year-old, who on Friday had been extremely fortunate to walk away from a major incident on the main straight. "I don't fully understand why I crashed (in the race), as I lost both the front and the back at the same time and was unable to save it. It's clear that we made a mistake, but we can't go looking for excuses.
"We've looked at the telemetry and it shows that I was going at the same speed and on the same line as before but, anyway, you learn from these mistakes. We can't forget that this is my first year in the class and I am here to learn how things are in MotoGP. In spite of everything we were still fighting for second place, which is a reason to be happy. I want to apologise to Honda and to the team, as they always support me and work so hard. Now we are turning our focus to Montmelo and I can't wait to race there."
Pedrosa continues to lead the standings, but by the reduced margin of 12 points from Lorenzo, while Marquez has fallen to 26 points in arrears of his teammate.
"I didn't feel fully comfortable in the race today, but I'm happy because I was able to gain a large number of points," Pedrosa reported, having won the previous two Grands Prix in Spain and France. "In general, this was a difficult weekend. The back tyre was giving me a lot of problems with (a lack of) grip but taking 20 points from this race and maintaining the lead the World Championship is something positive."
rMarquez had overtaken Pedrosa in a brave move at Savelli corner, but crashed in the same place two laps later. This ended his chances of achieving five podium finishes in the first five races of a rookie’s MotoGP career, also meaning he is the rider to have crashed most so far this year – with seven falls to his name.
"Today had our first DNF of the season, but after three difficult days of setbacks and hard work, I finally felt good during the race," began the 20-year-old, who on Friday had been extremely fortunate to walk away from a major incident on the main straight. "I don't fully understand why I crashed (in the race), as I lost both the front and the back at the same time and was unable to save it. It's clear that we made a mistake, but we can't go looking for excuses.
"We've looked at the telemetry and it shows that I was going at the same speed and on the same line as before but, anyway, you learn from these mistakes. We can't forget that this is my first year in the class and I am here to learn how things are in MotoGP. In spite of everything we were still fighting for second place, which is a reason to be happy. I want to apologise to Honda and to the team, as they always support me and work so hard. Now we are turning our focus to Montmelo and I can't wait to race there."
Pedrosa continues to lead the standings, but by the reduced margin of 12 points from Lorenzo, while Marquez has fallen to 26 points in arrears of his teammate.
