“I could have gone faster but there was no need to do so, I had it won and I’m not taking those risks anymore,” said the three time world champion who however celebrated by standing on his bike as he rode past the main stand to an ovation. “These kind of races (mixed weather) can be very challenging and you have to remain focussed,” Marquez said after negotiating his tyre change early in a race where wet conditions quickly turned to dry.
The result leaves the overall standings on a razor’s edge as Marquez leads with 154 points ahead of Vinales on 140, Andrea Dovizioso is third on 133, Rossi fourth on 132 and Pedrosa has 123 in fifth.
In his third win of the season, defending world champion Marquez was in truly imperious form, starting from pole and dominating, holding his nerve during an early change from wet tyres as he temporarily dropped down the field before gradually lap after lap extending his lead.
After also winning in a similar fashion at the German GP last time out Marquez has galvanised the defence of his title that was in danger of being a landslide for the Yamaha tyro Vinales who took a big early lead but who is now second after ten of 18 races. “This weekend was very tough, then luckily on the grid the sun started to come out,” said Vinales.
“On the rain tyre I was feeling good, but I was already thinking after two laps maybe I should go in but there were too many people, so maybe I went in a lap too late. Warming up the slicks was difficult but then the bike felt good again. I was feeling great in the last laps and I’m happy to have that back. It’s important to be back on the podium for confidence and motivation.”
Rossi was able to poke fun at himself, his team and his inability swap bikes at the correct time in a flag-to-flag scenario. “To understand the moment is not my strong point,” he conceded.
The Italian salvaged a fine fourth place on the final lap after an error in judgement cost him the shot at a podium at the very least, leading him to later joke that he and five members of his team were ‘donkeys’, as his Movistar crew had not signalled for him to pit as early as was needed.
“I’m very happy this time because normally I’m the only stupid,” he quipped.
Having three Spaniards on the podium was a fine tribute to 13 time world champion Angel Nieto, who popularised motorbike racing in Spain and who was killed aged 70 in a quad bike accident last week. Ahead of the day’s proceedings riders and teams from all categories gathered behind a banner saying Gracias Maestro (Thanks Master) and respected a minute’s silence.
Nieto was on a quad bike on Wednesday last week when he “had an accident with a tourism vehicle”, police said at the time.
He was rushed to hospital in a serious state where he remained in intensive care, but his condition deteriorated before passing away. Nieto sits second in the all-time list of most motorcycling world championship titles, two behind Italian great Giacomo Agostini.
Only Agostini and current Italy great Valentino Rossi have bettered his tally of 90 Grand Prix victories.
Nieto competed in his first Grand Prix at just 17 in 1964 before going on to win six world titles in the 50cc category and seven in the 125 division. He retired aged 39 two years after his final world championship in 1986.
Collated Czech Motogp Grand Prix results and standings
MotoGP: 1. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 44min 15.974sec, 2. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) at 12.438sec, 3. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Yamaha) 18.135, 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) 20.466, 5. Cal Crutchlow (GBR/LCR Honda) 20.982, 6. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) 23.259, 7. Danilo Petrucci (ITA/Ducati) 24.079, 8. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 30.559, 9. Pol Espargaro (ESP/KTM) 30.754, 10. Jonas Folger (GER/Yamaha Tech3) 33.236
Standings (after race ten of 18):
1. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 154, 2. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Yamaha) 140, 3. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) 133, 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) 132, 5. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) 123, 6. Johann Zarco (FRA/Yamaha Tech3) 88, 7. Jonas Folger (GER/ Yahama Tech3) 77, 8. Danilo Petrucci (ITA/Ducati Pramac) 75, 9. Cal Crutchlow (GBR/LCR Honda) 75, 10. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Ducati) 66
Moto2: 1. Thomas Lüthi (SUI/Kalex) 13mins 39.036sec, 2. Alex Marquez (ESP/Kalex) 4.991, 3. Miguel Oliveira (POR/KTM) 6.983, 4. Luca Marini (ITA/Kalex) 9.190, 5. Xavi Vierge (ESP/Tech 3) 11.064, 6. Simone Corsi (ITA/Speed Up) 15.779, 7. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Kalex) 18.431, 8. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Kalex) 19.743, 9. Remy Gardner (AUS/Tech 3) 19.843, 10. Joe Roberts (USA/Kalex) 20.168
Moto 2 standings (after 10 of 18)
1. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Kalex) 182, 2. Thomas Lüthi (SUI/Kalex) 165, 3. Alex Marquez (ESP/Kalex) 133, 4. Miguel Oliveira (POR/KTM) 133, 5. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Kalex) 87, 6. Mattia Pasini (ITA/Kalex) 73, 7. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Kalex) 69, 8. Simone Corsi (ITA/Speed Up) 63, 9. Luca Marini (ITA/Kalex) 54, 10. Xavi Vierge (ESP/Tech 3) 51
Moto3: 1. Joan Mir (ESP/Honda) 44min 41.314sec, 2. Renato Fenati (ITA/Honda) at 0.350sec, 3.Aron Canet (ESP/Honda) 3.078, 4. Bo Bendsneyder (NED/KTM) 4.598, 5. Juanfran Guevara (ESP/KTM) 4.882, 6. John McPhee (GBR/Honda) 8.343, 7. Marcos Ramirez (ESP/KTM) 9.597, 8. Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN/Honda) 10.234, 9. Adam Norrodin (MAL/Honda) 10.395, 10. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (THA/Honda) 10.913
Moto3 standings (after 10 GP)
1. Joan Mir (ESP/Honda) 190, 2. Romano Fenati (ITA/Honda) 148, 3. Aron Canet (ESP/Honda) 126, 4.
John McPhee (GBR/Honda) 93, 5. Jorge Martin (ESP/Honda) 89, 6. Marcos Ramirez (ESP/KTM) 88, 7. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Honda) 85, 8. Andrea Migno (ITA/KTM) 83, 9. Juanfran Guevara (ESP/KTM) 69, 10. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Honda) 59