The French driver did not have the race he hoped for, but nevertheless achieved his objectives and can say goodbye to Tech3 as he should.
We knew that the race would be complicated and uncertain due to the weather, and it really lived up to the forecast! Indeed, heavy showers fell throughout the race which was even stopped at the red flag before being restarted.
Johann Zarco felt more comfortable during the first part of the race and less after the second start. He could not do better than seventh, but finished first independent driver in 2018 and therefore ends his Tech3 adventure as it should: “Saturday was tough. We had a lot of rain on the grid and I had a good feeling at the first start. The rain was very heavy and the amount of water on the track was quite difficult to manage. We saw it in the number of falls. I was able to do my laps and find myself in a good place. After the second start, the others were faster than me and I couldn't keep up with them. The objective however was to finish the race and be the first independent driver in the Championship, which was our main objective at the start of the year. So I'm happy because I succeeded. It's good for me and for the team and for our history with Yamaha, because we had two years at an excellent level. I'm really proud and happy about that. It was possible to fight for the top 5 in the Championship, but Álex Rins was very fast this weekend. He rode perfectly, so congratulations to him! He deserves this place. Finally, I want to thank the Tech3 team for the two incredible years we had together. I'm also happy to arrive at KTM next year because we will continue to share good times, even if we will no longer be in the same garage during race weekends. »
Valencia Grand Prix, Ricardo Tormo, MotoGP, J.3 Classification.
1 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 24'03.408
2 42 Alex RINS Suzuki +2.750
3 44 Pol ESPARGARO KTM +7.406
4 51 Michele PIRRO Ducati +8.647
5 26 Dani PEDROSA Honda +13.351
6 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +32.288
7 5 Johann ZARCO Yamaha +32.806
8 38 Bradley SMITH KTM +33.111
9 6 Stefan BRADL Honda +36.376
10 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN Yamaha +37.198
11 45 Scott REDDING Aprilia +44.326
12 99 Jorge LORENZO Ducati +46.146
13 46 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +52.809
14 17 Karel ABRAHAM Ducati +1'10.628
15 81 Jordi TORRES Ducati +1'16.739
Not Classified
19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati 7 Laps
25 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 0 Lap
9 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 0 Lap
93 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 0 Lap
29 Andrea IANNONE Suzuki 0 Lap
41 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 0 Lap
43 Jack MILLER Ducati 0 Lap
21 Franco MORBIDELLI Honda 0 Lap
12 Thomas LUTHI Honda 0 Lap
