The Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider scored valuable championship points with a brave performance while teammate Joan Mir came in twelfth position.

In near perfect conditions Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Alex Marquez and Joan Mir contested round 16 of the Moto2 World Championship at a sunny and calm Twin Ring Motegi.

Alex Marquez set the scene for a strong race with the fourth fastest time in the warm-up in advance of the 22 lap race. Ignoring the setback of a bruising highside crash on Friday Marquez made a fast start to be fifth on lap one before settling in ninth place. Marquez saved his best for the second half of the race to surge back to fifth and finished just 0.5s out of fourth. He is fifth in the standings with 137 points.

Joan Mir was 15th in the warm-up before starting from 14th on the grid. Mir gained four positions on lap one and was briefly ahead of Marquez when he moved to eighth place on lap eight. But over the final ten laps Mir could maintain the pace of the lead group and drifted back to eventually finish 12th. Mir is seventh in the standings with 128 points

The next Moto2 World Championship race will be held from October 26 to 28 at the Phillip Island in Australia.

Alex Marquez: 5th, +12.528

“I am really happy to finish this race in fifth”

“I am really happy to finish this race and especially to be fifth after making some small mistakes in the beginning and dropping back while not being aggressive and passed by many riders. I am happy with the work of the team to build up my confidence, it was not easy from what happened on Friday.”

Joan Mir: 12th, +19.666

“We are bit lost, I don’t understand why I cannot go fast”

“I am really disappointed because there is something that has escaped us and we are a bit lost at moment and I don’t understand why I cannot go fast. I lose a lot of time on corner exit with traction, it is a nightmare but I hope come back stronger in the next races and be back on top.”