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'Super happy' Marc Marquez celebrates victory in Australia MotoGP after tear-off struggles
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Published 20/10/2024 at 09:48 GMT+1
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Six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez earned his third Grand Prix win of the season, as he secured a dramatic late victory in Australia on Sunday. The 31-year-old Spaniard is now third in the championship standings, behind Francesco Bagnaia in second, and current leader Jorge Martin. Speaking to TNT Sports, Marquez reflected on his path to victory.
‘Never seen anything like that’ – Watch as Marc Marquez’s tear-off causes horror start
Video credit: TNT Sports
Marc Marquez said he was “super happy” to recover from another poor start to win at the Australian MotoGP on Sunday.
The 31-year-old Spaniard claimed his third win of the season as he sprung a dramatic, late overtake on then leader Jorge Martin.
Marquez held on for victory, with current championship leader Martin in second, and world champion Francesco Bagnaia claiming third.
The championship race is tight at the top between the trio after Marquez’s success, and he was pleased to recover after yesterday’s poor start in the sprint, where he came second.
The full-length race also saw him struggle - he had a problem with a visor tear-off getting caught up in his bike early on.
Speaking to TNT Sports of the setbacks this weekend, he said: "It was always something happening, but I've never pulled the tear-off in the start before.
"This time when I was putting the front device on, I saw something was super big here and I didn't have a chance so I took it off - lucky it was under my wheel.
"I saw it, I tried to remove it but it was impossible, and when I released the clutch I began to spin.
"I don't know where I was in the first corner but I overtook many riders and I thought that one time it was impossible to catch Martin.
"Then in lap five or six I started to get the rhythm and it was more calm, it was a bit stressful but I'm super happy for the victory.
"It's true that Martin pushed through all the race and I was saving the tyre to have the last lap."
After his second-place finish, Martin acknowledged that things had not been as smooth as his sprint race victory on Saturday.
He said: "Yeah it was a difficult race, for sure.
"I had a strong pace but the feeling wasn't the same as yesterday, the wind was really strong so I started to lose the front.
"I couldn't make this big gap then as soon as Pecco overtook me I said 'okay you need to change up the energy, you need to push.'
"I started to push .27s up and then I knew Marc was there and he was going to try at Turn 4.
"For sure he had nothing to lose so I tried again but it was too much risk if I wanted to make a move.
"10 more points, and I'm going to Thailand with this."
World champion Bagnaia saw his deficit behind Martin widen after the weekend, but he looked ahead to the future races before the season’s end.
He said: "More than this today was difficult.
"We now have two more races where I'll feel much better.
"Today we managed to improve a bit, I tried everything I could to stay with Jorge and then with Marc.
"I started to struggle a lot with the entrance to corners but they did a good job."
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