Breaking news
MotoGP Italian GP
Marquez didn't attack Petrucci on Mugello last lap
Marc Marquez says that he did not try to pass Danilo Petrucci on the last lap of MotoGP's Italian Grand Prix as he did not want to risk title rival Andrea Dovizioso passing them both.
David Gruz
Edited: Jun 2, 2019, 3:11 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Marquez was fighting with factory Ducati pair Petrucci and Dovizioso, as well as Alex Rins, who was ultimately unable to bother the trio from fourth, for the victory at Mugello.
Petrucci led the majority of the latter stages of the race with Dovizioso running behind him, but Marquez slipstreamed past both of them on the main straight ahead of the final lap.
But the Honda rider ran slightly wide with Dovizioso on the inside of him, and Petrucci snuck past the both of them to retake the lead.
Marquez, leaving Turn 1 second, said that his focus for the rest of the lap was to keep Dovizioso behind, and not gift him a win with a desperate move on Petrucci.
"I try in the beginning like always, try to do my pace but I already have two small moments, I say today is not the day [to pull away], I will follow and I will fight on the last lap," said Marquez, whose lead over Dovizioso in the championship grew to 12 points.
"Just I miss the apex on Turn 1, but then when I saw the last lap that Danilo was first, me second and Dovi third, I say okay, I will not try, I will just defend.
"If I try and both we go wide, Dovi wins the race and then is worse for the championship.
"For that reason just I stay behind Danilo, I try on the last [corner] with the slipstream but we knew that was very difficult."
He added that he spent the previous laps "studying" how best to pull off a move on the Ducatis.
"For me was great to overtake both Ducatis on the straight, the other laps I was studying to see if it was better on the right side or left side but then I saw the right side was too dirty and then the bike started shaking," he explained.
"I went to the left side but with two slipstreams I arrived in the braking point with very high speed, when I miss the apex.
"I already see that I was going wide but then I just try to be tight in, then I saw some red bike inside, I don't know who it was, Dovi or Danilo, but just I was going in and then I see that he picks up.
"When going off the first corner and I see that I am second and first was Petrucci, was like okay, we are in a good situation."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Mugello MotoGP: Petrucci beats Marquez for first victory
Next article Petrucci "so sorry" to hamper Dovizioso in race-winning move
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
David Gruz
Honda reveals 2020 World Superbike challenger
World Superbike
World Superbike
Honda reveals 2020 World Superbike challenger
Redding: Bautista cost himself 2019 WSBK crown
World Superbike
World Superbike
Redding: Bautista cost himself 2019 WSBK crown
Espargaro: Aprilia showed podium pace at Sepang
MotoGP
MotoGP
Sepang February testing
Espargaro: Aprilia showed podium pace at Sepang
More from
Marc Marquez
Marc Marquez not celebrating MotoGP title yet: "I don't want to fall into the trap"
MotoGP
MotoGP
Malaysian GP
4 h
Marc Marquez not celebrating MotoGP title yet: "I don't want to fall into the trap"
How Marc Marquez could wrap up the 2026 MotoGP title in Qatar GP
MotoGP
MotoGP
Malaysian GP
23 h
How Marc Marquez could wrap up the 2026 MotoGP title in Qatar GP
More from
Honda HRC
How MotoGP teams and riders are organising themselves for their arrival in Qatar
MotoGP
MotoGP
Malaysian GP
1 h
How MotoGP teams and riders are organising themselves for their arrival in Qatar
MotoGP riders step up pressure in final bid to avoid Qatar Grand Prix
MotoGP
MotoGP
Malaysian GP
MotoGP riders step up pressure in final bid to avoid Qatar Grand Prix
Why tensions between MotoGP and riders have escalated amid Qatar row
MotoGP
MotoGP
Qatar GP
Why tensions between MotoGP and riders have escalated amid Qatar row
Latest news
Kimi Antonelli reveals why he won’t take number 1 for the 2027 F1 season
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
20 min
Kimi Antonelli reveals why he won’t take number 1 for the 2027 F1 season
Who slept best last night: Kimi Antonelli
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
Who slept best last night: Kimi Antonelli
FIA reveals revised Junior WRC for 2027
WRC
WRC WRC 1 h
FIA reveals revised Junior WRC for 2027
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe