Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Álex Márquez overcame treacherously wet conditions to finish a superb fifth in the Czech Republic Grand Prix.

Márquez mastered the rain soaked Brno circuit to score his best result of the season so far in the 11th round of the Moto2 World Championship.

In sunny and hot conditions on Saturday Márquez had qualified a dazzling third on the front row and was confident of a podium result in dry conditions. 

However constant rain on race day made conditions a test of skill and stamina with Márquez setting in sixth and staging a late race battle with Mattia Pasini to secure fifth. 

From fifth on the grid Morbidelli was cautious in the opening laps and slipped back to 11th but adapted to the tricky conditions to recover and make a strong surge for a top ten finish in eighth place. 

The conditions did not deter a huge crowd of 82,000 fans attending the Brno race.   

Álex Márquez: 5th
“This was a very complicated race and I am happy to finish in these difficult conditions wih my best restult so far this season. From the start I didn't have the perfect feeling from the bike with a lot of water on the track so to fight for fifth at the finish was good because in the dry I would have expected to fight for the podium.  It was another good step and thanks to my team for all their support, our aim is to stay at this level at the next races.”

Franco Morbidelli: 8th
“I finished eighth which is not where I want to be but in wet conditions it is the maximum I could do to bring the bike home and score points today. We were chasing the ideal set-up all weekend, which put us behind compared to our strong performance at the previous race.  But overall it is good for me to be top ten in a wet race and now prepare for the next race in Silverstone.” 

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“A very good result for Álex in the conditions and coming after his sixth place in Austria it is a positive trend. For sure a dry race would have been better for us but the difficult conditions were the same for everyone. For Franco this was an important result after losing out in the wet at the Sachsenring and good points for him in the championship. Thanks to the riders and team for the way they have worked this weekend.”