DUCATI’S Marc Marquez took a record-extending 11th sprint win of the MotoGP season at the Czech Grand Prix on Saturday, but the Spaniard’s celebrations were briefly put on hold during an investigation for tyre pressure infringements.
Marquez and factory Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia were both forced to slow down during the race and surrender first and second place due to low tyre pressure, or risk incurring an eight-second penalty.
Six-times champion Marquez relinquished his lead but was able to overtake KTM’s Pedro Acosta with two laps remaining and cross the finish line first, with MotoGP later confirming that no further action would be taken against Marquez.
Acosta’s teammate Enea Bastiani ended in third.
Asked if he had done enough to avoid a penalty, Marquez said: “Yeah, we did it. For that reason, I’m smiling. So it’s true that it was super towards the limit. And yeah, we’re riding comfortable.
“Then I saw that the pressure was not enough. I tried to push some laps on the brakes, but I saw that was too much risk to get on that correct pressure. And then I decided to wait.
“I just stayed super close to Acosta to increase the temperature. And then when I saw the temperature was already inside the rules, pressure was inside the rules, then I pushed in the last few laps.”
Marquez leads the riders’ championship table with 356 points, with his second-placed younger brother Alex, who finished 17th after a disastrous start, 95 points behind on 261.
Pole-sitter Bagnaia finished seventh after he was overtaken by Trackhouse Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez in the final lap.
Reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Martin ended in 11th on his return to competition after suffering a collapsed lung and bruised ribs in a crash in Qatar in April. – Reuters
