Marc Marquez (Honda) collected his trophy last night in the 4th edition of the Superprestigio Dirt Track in front of 8.900 spectators, thus closing his sporting season in perfect fashion after obtaining his fifth world speed championship title. A surprising Toni Elias obtained second place after overtaking American Brad Baker, AMA Pro Flat Track champion and winner of two editions of the Superprestigio, who finished third. Ruben Xaus proved to be the best rookie.
Marc Márquez had a brilliant evening yesterday at the Palau San Jordi in Barcelona, winning all his finals in the Superprestigio category (see here et leaves), although the level of competitiveness in this edition was particularly high, even leading the Cervera rider to suffer a slight fall without consequences. Less innocuous, however, were the losses of control of Francesco Cecchini and Ricky Cardus, from which we are awaiting news.
The surprise of the day was a very fast Toni Elias. The Manresa rider maintained a high pace in the Superfinal and managed to overtake Brad Baker to secure second place. The latter, left behind by the Moto2 world champion who is currently racing in MotoAmerica, was unable to do anything to defend the second step of the podium, even if he had been able to impose his law in the Open category, ahead of a surprising Gerard Bailo and Tom Chareyre.
Marc Marquez (Honda): “Second victory in Superprestigio Dirt Track, during an edition which was one of the most closely fought on equal terms that I can remember. I am very happy with the result. Toni made things very difficult for me and surprised me a lot with her pace. With the high level of competitiveness there was, there was a lot of contact on the track, but I'm very happy that everyone is okay. »
Toni Elias (Suzuki): “I didn't expect to go to the Superfinal, and I have to thank the excellent work of my team. It was a perfect day, and in the Superfinal I was able to maintain a pace that I didn't expect, so second place makes me very happy. Every time I tried to get closer to Marc, he responded, so second place was the best we could hope for today. Congratulations to organizing this show! ".
Brad Baker (Honda): “Despite the result, everything went well and I really enjoyed it. Coming to Barcelona always makes me happy. The truth is that I didn't feel comfortable on the track at all times, and that made me lose those extra tenths of a second that are the key to winning. I would like to thank the entire organization for their extraordinary work. The level of drivers surprises me every year, and Dirt Track has stopped being an American sport and become a global sport.”
At a press conference, the American driver, however, put forward technical hypotheses to explain the loss of his title, ranging from the use of new tires against worn and less aggressive tires for Marc Marquez, to poor rear suspension settings. (the bike too low and too hard, unlike Marc Marquez), through particularly well-developed maps for the Spanish rider. In short, especially after the déclarations what he had done, he is not very happy...
