Indonesia, (Asian independent) A weekend full of complications resulted in a disappointing double DNF for the Repsol Honda Team as Marc Marquez and Joan Mir fell while challenging for the top ten.
The Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika turned into a grueling affair as a third of the grid suffered falls and experienced issues. Both Repsol Honda Team riders would be unfortunate victims of the former, Marc Marquez the first to fall on lap seven and Joan Mir coming off a few laps later on lap 12. Neither rider sustained any injuries in their falls.
“The weekend started in a good way but then day by day, it became more complicated. Today in the race I kept calm, I was losing a little bit of ground, but I was not panicking. The aim was to finish the race and I was riding with this in mind. Unfortunately, at one point in Turn 13 I lost the front and I couldn’t save it. A tricky crash to understand but we start thinking about Australia,” said Marquez.
Marc Marquez had been running a comfortable pace inside the top ten when he fell from eighth.
Before coming off, Joan Mir looked set to author a strong comeback having charged from 19th on the grid to as high as 11th. Battling with Nakagami for top Honda honours, Mir was able to lap consistently as he made impressive forward gains. His pace looked strong enough to challenge the top six.
“Look, I crashed so obviously the result is a disaster, but I could see some potential today. I made a good start but I got caught up with Morbidelli a bit. Then I was recovering and I had a good pace in the 1’31s, catching the group with Miller and these guys. The only guy doing better times in front was Martin so we really have to focus on this – it’s a positive point. I am happy for this, but obviously not happy to fall. Now we get to go straight to Phillip Island, a track I really like so hopefully we can have some more pace there and keep improving,” said Joan Mir.
There’s not long to wait for a chance of redemption, the entire paddock heading directly to Australia for Round 16 at the iconic Phillip Island Circuit.
