Misano MotoGP race winner Marc Marquez admits he considered settling for second in the closing stages of the San Marino Grand Prix, before ultimately pulling off his last-lap overtake on Danilo Petrucci.
Marquez and championship rival Andrea Dovizioso shadowed Pramac Ducati man Petrucci for much of the wet-weather race, their battle turning into the fight for victory when Jorge Lorenzo crashed out of first place up ahead.
As track conditions improved in the closing stages, Dovizioso dropped away from the leading pair, but Marquez managed to stick with Petrucci - and eventually dived down the inside of the Italian at Turn 1 on the final lap.
"I was trying to control all the race, try to control myself because I was able to be little bit faster - but I say 'okay, you must be patient'," he said.
"And then when I saw that we started to open a gap with Dovi, one moment I thought to stay in second position - but then on the last lap I say 'I'll try'."
Marquez often chose to settle for points rather than go all-out for victory during his 2016 title run, but the Honda rider felt he could not do so here, especially following his costly mechanical failure in the British GP.
"This championship is really tight, five points can be a lot in the end," he said. "After Silverstone it is really important, this victory, for myself but especially for the team."
While Marquez battled Petrucci up ahead, Dovizioso had slowed his pace considerably in the latter stages of the Misano race and finished almost 12 seconds behind his championship rival - which was still enough for a comfortable third place.
He and Marquez will now head to the next round at Aragon level on points.
"For sure everybody wants to try to win every time," Dovizioso said. "I was there but I wasn't feeling so good on the bike.
"The risk was too high, everybody almost crashed today. I think today it was a day [when] we don't have to make a mistake.
"I am happy about the podium, i never did the podium in Misano so we have to be happy about that. It was a very difficult weekend but we are there and we did another podium in a strange and difficult moment."
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