The roasting conditions at Jerez made for a grueling Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía, but Alex Marquez made it on his way to eighth place as the sun set.
On a strange Sunday in Jerez, Alex Marquez was the only representative of the Repsol Honda team. Teammate Marc Marquez retired from the weekend as he continues to recover from surgery on his broken humerus. The temperatures rose steadily during the day and the track reached a brutal 63 ° C during the 25-lap GP of Andalusia.
After showing promising pace in Free Practice 4, Alex Marquez shot off the line and stayed away from problems in the first corners to avoid the close combat around him. The Moto2 world champion learned from his premier class debut the week before, was aggressive in the first laps and won seven positions in the first lap alone. Alex fended off the attacks of his rookie colleague Iker Lecuona and soon settled on a steady but lonely race.
His impressive performance was rewarded not only with top rookie honors, but also with his first visit to the top ten of the premier class when Alex crossed the finish line in eighth place. In combination with his 12th place in race one, Alex increases his lead in the Rookie of the Year to nine points.
Takaaki Nakagami’s best MotoGP weekend yet continued as his pace carried over from practice to Sunday’s race. Fourth place in the race is the LCR Honda driver’s best result in the premier class. The Japanese driver narrowly missed the podium battle in the last few laps. Cal Crutchlow also drove a spirited run to 13th after breaking his left scaphoid last weekend.
The Repsol Honda Team will now spend a well-deserved week away from the racetrack and prepare for the Czech GP from August 7th to 9th, when World Champion Marc Marquez wants to return to the track.