Marc Marquez is the four-time and reigning MotoGP World Champion, but he may cherish winning the Superprestigio Dirt Track title just as much; Marquez landed the big win at the annual indoor short track event at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain, today.
The win was Marquez second, tying him with American flat track ace Brad Baker, who finished third behind Marquez and Tony Elias in the eight-rider 16-lap SuperFinal.
Marquez stormed from the outside into turn one and took the lead early in the first of the four Superprestigio finals on the 20-meter clay oval, leading every lap to rack up 10 points. Tony Elias came through to second place, and the former MotoGP and now MotoAmerica Superbike star dogged Marquez to the finish. Superprestigio Final 2 was nearly a carbon copy of the first, as Marquez led Elias home again in eight-lap race.
After starting from the outside twice, Marquez chose an inside starting gate for Superprestigio Final 3 and led the field into the first corner and led every lap to make it three wins in three starts. He was followed across the line by Marcel Schrotter and Xavier Simeon. Elias, who came into the race second in the overall points standings, rode in fourth place for most of the race but slipped to fifth at the finish.
That left the fourth and final Superprestigio Final, a 14-lap race in which the top four in points would transfer to the Super Final. There was added drama when Marquez, who came from the pole position, got a terrible start and was then caught up in a multi-rider crash with Simeon and Alex Marquez in turn three on the opening lap, bringing out another red flag. Marquez appeared to be favoring his left hand, though he made the restart.
Marquez had no such trouble on the second go as he pulled out another huge lead, running away from the field to make it a perfect four wins in four Superprestigio finals to land the class overall win with a perfect 40 points and claim first pick of starting positions for the SuperFinal. Elias was back on form in Final 4, and he once again ran second, although he ran nearly a straightaway behind Marquez. Schrotter finished third. Marquez, Elias, Schrotter and Simeon all qualified for the Super Final.
Baker didn’t get the holeshot in the first of the three eight-lap Open class finals, but when the field slid wide, the former American Flat Track Champion was happy to use his inside starting position and hug the pole to drive into the lead off turn two. However, the race was halted due to a crash by Spanish rider Ferran Sastre. Baker got a much cleaner gate on the restart, and he pulled clear of Ferran Cardus, who would drop to fourth place behind Gerard Bailo and Thomas Chareyre.
Baker flat out missed the start in the second Open class final, but he caught a break when the race had to be restarted due to a malfunctioning starting gate. However, another poor start left the American deep in the field as Bailo ran out front followed by Fredrik Lindgren and Chareyre. Baker was fourth, but he was able to move into third place with four laps to go, then to second with two laps to go. However, the short, sprint-like nature of the finals left Baker with too few laps to challenge Bailo, who took the win and moved into a points tie with Baker, each man with 18 points.
Baker got another bad start in the 14-lap Open Final 3, but he quickly moved from fourth to second in one corner and then passed Chareyre for the lead before the race was two laps old. Bailo, meanwhile, was in fourth place behind Cardus, leaving him well behind in overall points. Chareyre continued to shadow Baker at the halfway point. The five-time World Supermoto Champion rode an excellent race, but Baker never made a mistake and was able to hold Chareyre off to take the race win and cement the Open class overall win.
That set up another SuperFinal showdown between Marquez and Baker. Marquez selected the pole position on the starting gate for the eight-rider, 16-lap race while Baker slotted-in right next to the four-time MotoGP Champion, in starting gate number two.
Chareyre got the holeshot but Marques and Chareyre quickly shot past him into the top two positions. Marquez, who was reportedly riding a Honda with specialized maps to help him adjust to the slick track surface, appeared to pull away immediately while Baker fell under attack from Elias, who took over second place just three laps into the race. Chareyre was the next to challenge Baker.
Marquez was well clear of Elias and Baker by the time the race was 10 laps old. Elias was able to run within 1.1 seconds of Marquez, but Marquez rolled to an easy win in the race, which lasted less than 3 minutes and 20 seconds. A jubilant Marquez then proceeded to crash on his victory lap; but better than in the race.
In Junior Final 1 for riders aged 6-11, Joel Esteban took pulled the holeshot, but Brian Uriarte came through to take the lead before the end of the first lap. Max Sanchez then made a move into second and tried to run down Uriarte, to no avail. That gave Uriarte a leg up on the Junior title with one race down and one to go. Esteban again got the holeshot in Junior Final 2, but Uriarte and Sanchez came through to first and second on the opening lap. Sanchez give it his all to pressure Uriarte in the final race, but Uriarte was able to hold on and take the Junior Final overall win.
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