Alex Márquez maintains a healthy advantage in the championship fight thanks to a strong third place at Misano as Xavi Vierge holds on for an excellent top ten finish.

• The 13th Moto2 race of 2019 kicked off in perfect sunny conditions and ambient temperatures of 25 degrees.
• Márquez rode a mature race to collect an important 3rd place and 16 points for his championship challenge, while Vierge fought for 8th, a second consecutive top ten finish.
• Márquez’s result is subject to change with the FIM Stewards investigating a last lap incident between the first 2 riders.

Alex Márquez, 3rd, + 1.283 s.

• Starting from 2nd, his 8th front row of 2019, Márquez had to recover five positions in the first 2 laps to regain 3rd place.
• The current championship leader was involved in an exciting 3-rider fight for the lead with Fabio Di Giannantonio and Augusto Fernandez, and took 2nd on lap 9.
• Ultimately Márquez didn’t have the pace to challenge the top 2 until the end but collected a strong 3rd place, just 1.2 seconds behind eventual winner Fernandez.
• The result means Márquez still holds a healthy lead in the championship, and sits on 197 points, 26 ahead of Fernandez.  
   

“I’ve always struggled here. This is a good result”

“Here is not one of my favorite tracks and I’ve always struggled here. This was a good result. OK, before the race we were expecting a little bit more. I thought I could be a little bit closer in the final laps to the top guys. On the third lap I had a moment where I nearly crashed and then I knew today would be difficult. I was too much on the limit and in the end I tried to control the gap to the guys in front and behind. I tried to just do my race and forget all the rest. I did it and I’m happy with the result and the job done.”

Xavi Vierge, 8th, +12.844 s.

• Vierge attacked the race from 6th place and started well, holding his position on lap 1.
• After 10 laps, the Catalan was unable to hold onto Jorge Navarro ahead and was then passed by Brad Binder.
• In the end he came home in 8th place to secure 8 important points for the championship.
• The result sees Vierge win one position in the championship standings. He is now 13th with 53 points.

“It was a good race. But I made a mistake when I missed a gear”

 “Overall it’s a positive result. We did a good job all weekend, inside the top six in every session. It was a good race. But I made a mistake when I missed a gear. That allowed Navarro to overtake me and pushed me wide. From there I lost the chance to fight for the top five. My rhythm was good enough to fight for that. I’m happy to finish the race. Like Silverstone, it was really important to finish and take confidence for the next races and to take another step ahead of my home GP at Aragon. I want to say thanks to the team because they did a great job this weekend.”

Joan Olive, Team Manager

“Alex was very clever to achieve this third position”

“We are very happy with the result we received today. To be on the podium is always positive. It’s a lot of important points for the championship. We showed again that we can be really fast throughout the weekend. The most important thing for us is that today Alex was very clever to achieve this third position. With Xavi we are also very happy. He made a step forward all weekend and he likes Misano. In the last laps he had a bit of an issue. Had he not experienced that, he could have finished in an even better position. In any case it was a good result and we’re already looking forward to next week at Aragon.”