Spain’s Marc Marquez regained the lead of the MotoGP world championship with a close second place finish behind Italian Valentino Rossi in Sunday’s Catalunya round.

Honda’s Marquez was the only rider that could stay with Yamaha’s Rossi, the pair swapping the lead until less than three laps to go.

But already aware that title leader Jorge Lorenzo was out of the race, and after saving several moments, Marquez admits he settled for the 20 points.

“Honestly today I was on the limit for the whole race behind Valentino. I was losing a lot in T1, T2. In T3 I could keep the distance, but my only strong point was T4,” he said. “Then in the middle of the race I had a big moment there. I nearly crashed. And when I saw Lorenzo out my mind changed a little bit.

“I was planning the last laps, but was not really comfortable. Not like at Mugello. I tried, but I was not 100 percent convinced. Maybe this was the main mistake. Because I was there, but at the same time thinking about the championship.

“Then with two laps to go I had another big moment, nearly crashed, so I say ‘ok, stop, 20 points is enough’. We lead the championship and that was most important after this weekend.”

Winner in Argentina and Austin, Marquez will now take a 10-point lead over Lorenzo, and 22-point advantage over Rossi, in Assen at the end of the month.

“The main target for me in this first part of the season was try to go out from Catalunya as close as possible to the top guy,” he said. “We are leading the championship and now are some different circuits that I like much more.

“We have an important test tomorrow. I was scared about, or had some questions, about Mugello and Catalunya because they are tracks where the Yamaha works really good. But we were there.

“So I feel confident for the next races. We took a lot of risks at Mugello and here but we were able to be there and now we need to manage the situation.”

Marquez’s form has been especially impressive given the handling issues Honda riders have been battling since the winter – team-mate and next best RC213V competitor Dani Pedrosa being 43 points behind – and he is looking forward to trying some new developments at Monday’s official test.

“Honestly compared to Qatar we have a small modification in the electronics but the rest of the bike is the same,” he revealed. “So we must work. Tomorrow I have some items to try and we will see.”

RESULTS & STANDINGS:

Race result:

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 44m 37.589s
2. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 44m 40.241s
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 44m 43.902s
4. Maverick Viñales ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 45m 1.977s
5. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 45m 7.135s
6. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 45m 13.833s
7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 45m 19.053s
8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 45m 20.564s
9. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 45m 22.926s
10. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 45m 24.258s
11. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 45m 27.103s
12. Stefan Bradl GER Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 45m 32.722s
13. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 45m 35.563s
14. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V)* 45m 37.730s
15. Michele Pirro ITA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 45m 38.018s
16. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 45m 53.858s
17. Yonny Hernandez COL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) +1 lap
Aleix Espargaro ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) DNF
Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) DNF
Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) DNF
Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) DNF

Riders’ World Championship:

1. Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 125 points
2. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 115 points (-10)
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 103 points (-22)
4. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 82 points (-43)
5. Maverick Viñales SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 72 points (-53)
6. Pol Espargaro SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 59 points (-66)
7. Aleix Espargaro SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 49 points (-76)
8. Hector Barbera SPA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 49 points (-76)
9. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 43 points (-82)
10. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 41 points (-84)
11. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 39 points (-86)
12. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 29 points (-96)
13. Stefan Bradl GER Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 29 points (-96)
14. Alvaro Bautista SPA Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 29 points (-96)
15. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 24 points (-101)
16. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 20 points (-105)
17. Michele Pirro ITA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 19 points (-106)
18. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 16 points (-109)
19. Tito Rabat SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V)* 13 points (-112)
20. Loris Baz FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 8 points (-117)
21. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 7 points (-118)
22. Yonny Hernandez COL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 3 points (-122)