Honda pilot Marc Marquez has fought off Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha Petronas) to victory by less than a second this Sunday at the San Marino Moto GP 2019, 13th round of the calendar. Maverick Viñales has completed the podium at nearly two seconds from the winner at the Marco Simoncelli Circuit of Misano. 

What a race! And what heart-stopping last few laps! The Spanish five-times MotoGP champion managed to get into the winning position in the very last lap and once there still had to fend off the attacks from El Diablo to seal his seventh victory of the year and his eleventh podium in thirteen races. 

The Spaniard has thus broken in such an authoritative way his two-race winless streak ( Austria & Great Britain) and, most importantly, he has pretty much put the title in his pocket. The Spaniard is currently 93 points ahead of Andrea Dovizioso, who was sixth in San Marino, in the overall standings. 

As if that wasn’t enough for Marquez, this being his 89th podium and 77th victory overall means that he has now surpassed legends Giacomo Agostini and Mike Hailwood as the pilots with the most podiums and victories respectively. A very feisty Quartararo, however, has battled for the glory right up to the final meters at the San Marino Moto GP 2019. 

The rookie from Petronas has displayed a sensational performance in this his fourth, and second consecutive, podium. Perhaps the greatest disappointment at this weekend’s San Marino MotoGP 2019 was Maverick Viñales. Despite starting from first, he has not been able to withstand the pace of the Honda #93 or that of the Yamaha #20 Petronas.

A good start for Viñales!

Contrary to habit, the pilot from Rosas performed a good exit, maintaining his coveted first position. Behind him was Quartararo who also managed a surprisingly brilliant start. The action soon started unfolding a few metres behind. Franco Morbidelli and Marc Marquez passed Pol Espargaro, who started second on the grid onboard his KTM.

Just a few curves after the start, the three strongest pilots on the grid (Viñales, Quartararo and Marquez) imposed their law and escaped from the rest. It was clear then, that the three leaders will now keep on opening ground with the midfield right until the checkered flag.

Alex Rins and Valentino Rossi, however, kept up their efforts to join the head of the race but they always found Espargaro junior blocking the way. Polyccio’s reputation as a hard nut to crack is well known by all.

Back at the top, Quartataro took over Viñales on the third curve positioning himself as the new leader of the race. Meanwhile, Marc, third and also on the hunt for the first position, passed Maverick, who was unable to hold him behind.

At the same time, and seven laps into the race, Valentino managed to climb up to fourth by first jumping over Pol Espargaro and then over Morbidelli. It was in any case too late for the local hero who was already seven laps behind and had lost too much time to compete for a podium position. Three laps later it was Rins’ turn to overtake the young Catalan driver from KTM.

Marquez’ attack mode

The leader of the World Championship turned-on attack mode at the San Marino Moto GP 2019. He adjusted his RC213V ready to strike a blow to his new French prey. By the ninth lap, Marquez had caught up with Quartararo. In that position, he decided to stay hot on his rival’s wheel.

Marquez knows better than underestimating Quartararo, the same pilot that snatched his youngest ever pole holder record. Meanwhile, the courageous French pilot was pushing both his bike and his tires to the limit.

He was also very aware Marquez is a very dangerous opponent over short distances. Unconcerned about what was going on behind them, they allowed Viñales to climbed up from almost three seconds to 1.5. Maverick was making the most of the fight ahead.

Duel of the titans: Marquez vs Quartararo

Over the last laps, Fabio and Marc made the delight of fans worldwide with a glorious battle in which the pair swapped the lead on several occasions. The Spaniard received the checkered flag first in the end but the Frenchman certainly didn’t make it easy for him. 

Images: MotoGP.com & Repsol HRC Honda.