Mugello: Marquez defends: Better Petrucci than Dovi…
Marc Marquez held fire on a victory lunge against Danilo Petrucci at Mugello, to ensure he beat MotoGP title rival Andrea Dovizios💛o.
The trio, plus Suzuki's Alex Rins, we꧋re nose-to-tail on the final lap in Italy, after Petrucci swept under Ducati team-mate Dovizioso and Honda's Marquez to retake the lead at turn one.
While close enough to try and make one of his famous last-la💧p attacks, the Repsol Honda star instead switched to defence mode.
Marc Marquez held﷽ fire on a victory lunge against Danilo Petrucci at M๊ugello, to ensure he beat MotoGP title rival Andrea Dovizioso.
Th♌e trio, plus Suzuki's Alex Rins, were nose-to-tail on the final lap in Italy, after Petrucci swept under Ducati team-mate Dovizioso and Honda'ꦦs Marquez to retake the lead at turn one.
While close enough to try and make one of his fam🎀ous lastꦡ-lap attacks, the Repsol Honda star instead switched to defence mode.
"When I saw 🅺Danilo was first, me second and Dovi third [after the turn one pass on the last lap], I said, 'okay, I will not try. I will just defend'," Marquez said.
"Because if I try and we both go wide, Dovi would win the ⛎race and then 🎉it’s worse for the championship.
"So for that reason,&nb🐈sp;I just stayed behind Danilo. I only tried at the end with the slipstream, but I knew it was very diffic💟ult."
Last lap of the and is🤡 on🌃 your tail? What do YOU do?
— Repsol Honda Team (@HRC_MotoGP)
The reignin𓂃g five-time MotoGP champion finished a mere&🥀nbsp;0.043s from Petrucci for only his second on-track defeat of the season, after losing to Dovizioso in Qatar.
But Marquez's patience ensured he extended his world championship lead over Dovi (+0.338s) from eight to twelveဣ points, at his and Honda's worst circ🤡uit.
"I'm happy because in our worst race we finished second and gꦬot 20 points," said the Spaniard, who qualified on pole position.
"I tried in the beginning to use my pace but I had two small moments and said, 'today is not the day [to escape].ꦕ I will follow and try on the last lap'.
"Also yesterday, if you check, I💃 di꧒d the fastest lap with the medium front tyre. I felt much better with the medium front, but for the race this tyre was impossible for me.
"So I chose the h𝄹ard tyre that I knew I would struggle with more, and𒆙 was slower, but it was the only option to finish the race.
"The most important thing [for the championship] is that when we struggle and we don’t✨ have the feeling, we are able to finish in second place, 43 milliseconds behind.
"We are there all the time, in all🎉 the conditio🉐ns."
Dovizioso is the only rider within one race win (25 points) of Marquez, wit♏h Rins - who completed a top-four covered by 0.535s on S🅰unday - now 27 points adrift.
LCR's T𒁃akaaki Nakagami was the next best Honda in fifth, with Marquez's team-mate Jorge Lorenzo finishiᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚng in 13th place.
Peter has been ♑in the paddock for 20 years and has 🐼seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
