Marc Marquez Wins Motogp Qatar 2014

 

Marquez overcomes Rossi to Take Qatar Win

Repsol Honda’s 21 year-old rider produced a gritty performance to take maximum points despite breaking his leg in preseason and missing the last two MotoGP tests.

In further drama Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo crashed out of the race lead at turn 15 on the first lap, meaning his season starts with a DNF after he had struggled with grip issues throughout the weekend.

Meanwhile, after eight laps the race was over for Stefan Bradl who had led the contest for several circulations. Coming from seventh on the grid and taking advantage of Lorenzo’s crash and some errors ahead of him Bradl was writing headlines for LCR Honda but perhaps the pressure of Marc Marquezand Valentino Rossi on his shoulder was too much as the German slid off track.

Indeed, Marquez and Rossi then went on to have a great fight which went down to the last lap and saw the Spaniard outpace the Italian by 0.25s – with Pedrosa three seconds back to complete the podium.

An excellent ride for Aleix Espargaro saw him take fourth on his debut for NGM Forward Racing on their ‘Open’ Yamaha. Espargaro cashed in on crashes for Alvaro Baustista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) as they fell out of the podium hunt.

Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow did well in fifth and sixth respectively for Ducati Team, though Crutchlow finished 16 seconds behind his teammate after almost running out of fuel on his debut for the Italian factory.

A good first premier class race for Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) saw him beat fellow ‘Open’ Honda equipped rider Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) to seventh by a 0.035s margin.

The top ten was rounded out by Hayden’s compatriot Colin Edwards (NGM Forward Racing), riding his first race as a 40 year-old, and Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) who recovered well from a fall on the last corner of lap two.

A mistake from rookie Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) with five laps to go saw him drop down to 15th and then pull into pits shortly after.

The riders will reconvene for the next race at the Circuit Of The Americas in three weeks’ time.

MARQUEZ M.Repsol Honda TeamLap 22

ROSSI V.Movistar Yamaha MotoGP+0.259

PEDROSA D.Repsol Honda Team+3.370

ESPARGARO A.NGM Forward Racing+11.623

DOVIZIOSO A.Ducati Team+12.159

CRUTCHLOW C.Ducati Team+28.526

REDDING S.GO&FUN Honda Gresini+32.593

HAYDEN N.Drive M7 Aspar+32.628

EDWARDS C.NGM Forward Racing+39.547

IANNONE A.Pramac Racing+43.360

AOYAMA H.Drive M7 Aspar+46.595

HERNANDEZ Y.Energy T.I. Pramac Racing+46.688

ABRAHAM K.Cardion AB Motoracing+50.581