357 days after his last podium finish, Marc Márquez becomes the fourth rider in history to achieve 100 podiums in the premier class.
Friday dawned a little clearer than the previous days at the Phillip Island race track, Australia, to welcome a new weekend full of emotions. However, the wind continued to be a challenge throughout the day for the riders in the premier class.
Pol Espargaró was one of those who improved the most between sessions, proving to be able to adapt well to the weather conditions. As a result, he ended the day in third place overall. For Marc Marquez, it was a busy day as he tested a new package on his Honda RC213V. But, even with these new parts, Marc managed to appear frequently at the top of the timing tower in both sessions, finishing a very respectable sixth place at the end of the day.
The eight-time world champion started Saturday in high spirits, once again starring in some very positive training sessions. Q2, although with a scare included, was great for Marc, who achieved a place on the front row of the grid, staying just 0.013 seconds from pole position.
Pol was not so lucky. Firstly, #44 came within a tenth of a second of advancing to Q2. The rider himself pointed out that the problems began during free practice 3, where he already felt that he was not driving well. Pol's goal for Sunday was: to finish in the top ten.
The sun was shining on Sunday at the Phillip Island circuit as Marc lined up in the center of the front row of the grid, ready to start the 27-lap race. Once started, the #93 was placed just behind the winner of the pole, Jorge Martín, and stayed there until almost the first half of the race. However, as the laps passed, the fight grew stronger until it became a seven-way battle for victory, which ended up being decided in the final laps.
Marc eventually crossed the finish line in second place, earning his 100th podium finish in the premier class. In addition, he ended up proud to miss the return to the top step of the podium by very little. Specifically, he finished 0.186 seconds behind Àlex Rins.
With this podium, the eight-time world champion becomes the fourth rider to achieve 100 podiums in the top category, joining Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa.
As for him, Pol Espargaró started the race well, trying to make his way into the top ten at all times. The strong competition he encountered kept him stuck in 14th place for much of the first half of the race. However, he did not give up and, following his plan, he started to advance until he reached 11th position to cross the finish line.
Now, the Repsol Honda Team is heading for the second to last race of the year, which will be held next weekend at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
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