Marquez wins his tenth MotoGP race.
MotoGP™ World Champion Marc Marquez won his tenth consecutive race on Sunday at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, with Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi joining him on the podium.
The victory saw Repsol Honda’s Marquez become the first rider since Mick Doohan in 1997 to win ten successive premier class races. It was also the 100th win for a Spanish rider in the premier class and the 500th win for Spain across all categories.
On Lap 11 of the first MotoGP contest at the modified Indianapolis track, Marquez took advantage as Lorenzo joined the battle with Rossi for the lead, the World Champion squeezing through to take over at the front and not looking back – eventually finishing just under two seconds clear at the front.
Lorenzo got the better of his teammate Rossi for second, after the Italian had held the lead in the early stages fending off a challenge from Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), who started well but faded to seventh. In finishing third Rossi becomes the first rider to score 4,000 premier class points.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) finished fourth as he came through from eighth on the grid, gambling on a harder front tyre.
Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) rode well to finish fifth with his teammate Bradley Smith crossing the line sixth after suffering a heavy crash on Saturday in which he aggravated an old finger injury.
Winner Quote:
“The race was very hard, especially as the track temperature was very high. I struggled a little with the front tyre so I stayed behind Rossi to try to keep the front tyre cool. I tried to push but then the rear started sliding! Eventually I was able to open the gap and take 25 points,” said Marquez.
He added, “We will try to fight for the victory in Brno. The test we had went well but it was very slippery so we don’t have too much data. I have never gone great there and Jorge and Vale are very strong there.”
Results:
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap
1. 25 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 160.3 42’07.041
2. 20 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 160.2 +1.803
3. 16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 159.9 +6.558
4. 13 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 159.7 +10.016
5. 11 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 159.2 +17.807
6. 10 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 159.1 +19.604
7. 9 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 159.0 +20.759
8. 8 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Ducati Team Ducati 157.9 +39.796
9. 7 45 Scott REDDING GBR GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 157.8 +40.507
10. 6 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Drive M7 Aspar Honda 156.9 +55.760
Full Results & Statistics:
http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/2014/INP/MotoGP/RAC/Classification
Source: motogp.com