Marc Marquez ties MotoGP record

Marc Marquez tied the 1997 record of Australian legend Mick Doohan for most wins in a MotoGP season with victory Sunday in a thrilling Malaysian Grand Prix.

It was the 12th win of the season for Repsol Honda's Marquez, who has already wrapped up his second straight world title.

He had a race long battle with the Movistar Yamaha pair of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, who completed the podium in Sepang.

The 21-year-old Marquez slipped to as low as ninth after a poor start from pole, but the Spaniard quickly worked his way back through the field, taking the lead for good on the 11th lap.
I've equaled Mick Doohan's record, with one race left maybe I can beat it!
Marc Marquez

Rossi, who won last week in Australia after Marquez crashed out, tracked him for the remainder of the race but finished 2.445 seconds adrift at the checkered flag.

Read: Rossi takes advantage of Marquez mistake

Italian legend Rossi has a 12-point advantage over his teammate Lorenzo in the battle for second place in the championship, heading into the final round in Valencia.

Marquez will get the chance to beat Doohan's record on home soil and it is a prospect which thrills him.

"I've equaled Mick Doohan's record, with one race left maybe I can beat it," he told the official MotoGP website.

"If I had a bad result here the pressure in Valencia would be more. But now I am free in Valencia and I can do well for my fans and just enjoy it," he added.

Marquez's teammate, Dani Pedrosa, saw his hopes ended by going off twice and he could not complete the race.

The leading three were followed home, at some distance, by Germany's Stefan Bradl on a Honda and young British rider Bradley Smith on a Yamaha Tech 3.

Smith's teammate, Pol Espargaro of Spain, came in sixth despite breaking a bone in his left foot in a fall during practice Saturday.

Read: Whizz kid Marquez retains title

Meanwhile, in the world rallying championship, Sebastien Ogier of France retained his global title with victory in the Rally of Spain Sunday.

Ogier took the honors ahead of Volkswagen teammate Jari-Mari Latvala of Finland, the only man who could have denied him the title.

Another Finn, Mikko Hirvonen, in a Ford Fiesta RS, was third.

It was the seventh win in 12 rounds for the 30-year-old Ogier, who is only the fifth driver to achieve back-to-back title triumphs.

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Results MotoGP Le Mans France 2014

 

Marc Marquez The Winner Le Mans France 2014

Marc Marquez produced a fantastic fightback after an early mistake to lead by a second on lap 16 having been 10th on lap one. Rossi demonstrated his competitiveness again to lead for several laps in the first half of the race but ultimately could not hold off the rampant Marquez.

Whilst Rossi achieved his tenth premier class podium at LeMans and his 150th in the top category, Marquez became the first rider to win five successive premier class races from pole since Mick Doohan in 1997.

Meanwhile, it was Bautista’s first podium since 2012 and a great reward for the determination he has shown since his three DNFs at the start of the season.

An excellent ride from rookie Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) saw him hold off Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) for fourth. Pedrosa appeared to be riding in significant discomfort after recent arm pump surgery.

Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) finished three seconds behind Pedrosa in the unfamiliar territory of sixth for the 2010 and 2012 MotoGP World Champion.

Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) recovered from his recent arm operation for seventh, with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) also in the top ten.

Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) crashed on the first lap after contact with Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing), only for the Italian to go down shortly afterwards. Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) was also an early crasher, though none of those three were seriously affected by the incidents.

 

1. Marc Marquez Honda 44m03.925s

2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha +1.486s

3. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda +3.144s

4. Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha +3.717s

5. Dani Pedrosa Honda +4.077s

6. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha +7.088s

7. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda +11.527s

8. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati +22.103s

9. Aleix Espargaro Forward Yamaha +22.626s

10. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha +23.108s

11. Cal Crutchlow Ducati +25.780s

12. Scott Redding Gresini Honda +39.523s

13. Yonny Hernandez Pramac Ducati +42.544s

14. Hiroshi Aoyama Aspar Honda +42.736s

15. Karel Abraham Cardion Honda +56.644s

16. Michael Laverty PBM Aprilia +1m14.123s

17. Colin Edwards Forward Yamaha +1m19.723s

18. Broc Parkes PBM Aprilia +1m30.934s

19. Mike di Meglio Avintia FTR-Kawasaki +1m34.521s

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Marc Marquez Takes Pole Position At Le Mans 2014

 

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez Recorded His Fifth Pole 

Marc Marquez extended his unbeaten qualifying streak by taking a dominant pole position for the French Grand Prix at Le Mans 2014. The world champion was almost seven tenths clear of the field with Pol Espargaro springing a major surprise to qualify second at Tech 3’s home grand prix.

Although Jorge Lorenzo finished the three practice sessions on top, the identity of the polesitter was never in any real doubt with Marquez setting a 1:32.567 on his first lap of Q2. Little did he know it, but Marc had already done enough to take pole with no-one matching his initial flyer but the championship leader caused even more pain for his rivals by going half a second quicker on his second set of tyres.

The rest of the front row looked set to be dominated by Ducati with Andrea Iannone holding second, only to be beaten by Andrea Dovizioso, but a flurry of late improvements saw the younger Espargaro brother snatch second, comfortably his best qualifying result in MotoGP so far. Stefan Bradl was among those to go quicker in the dying seconds to finish fourth with the two Movistar Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo demoted to fifth and sixth.

Alvaro Bautista starts seventh tomorrow ahead of Aleix Espargaro while Dani Pedrosa will line up a disappointing ninth after lapping a full second slower than his pacesetting teammate in Q2. Bradley Smith rose as high as fourth at one stage but the frantic finish relegated him to tenth with Andrea Iannone eleventh after an unintended shortcut on his last lap caused it to be deleted.

Cal Crutchlow was the last rider to make it into the second session after narrowly pipping Nicky Hayden in Q1 and the Briton will start twelfth as a result, four places ahead of Scott Redding.

1. Marc Marquez Honda 1m32.042s

 2. Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 1m32.734s +0.692s

 3. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m32.755s +0.713s

 4. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m32.846s +0.804s

 5. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m32.873s +0.831s

 6. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m32.899s +0.857s

 7. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m33.006s +0.964s

 8. Aleix Espargaro Forward Yamaha 1m33.015s +0.973s

 9. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m33.023s +0.981s

10. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 1m33.058s +1.016s

11. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati 1m33.102s +1.060s

12. Cal Crutchlow Ducati 1m33.315s +1.273s

13. Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 1m33.859s Q1

14. Yonny Hernandez Pramac Ducati 1m33.999s Q1

15. Colin Edwards Forward Yamaha 1m34.203s Q1

16. Scott Redding Gresini Honda 1m34.233s Q1

17. Hiroshi Aoyama Aspar Honda 1m34.457s Q1

18. Karel Abraham Cardion Honda 1m34.880s Q1

19. Hector Barbera Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m35.499s Q1

20. Broc Parkes PBM Aprilia 1m35.795s Q1

21. Michael Laverty PBM Aprilia 1m35.932s Q1

22. Mike di Meglio Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m36.163s Q1

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Argentina MotoGP Results 2014

 

 The Argentine Grand Prix on Sunday

Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez stormed to his third straight victory of the season with a hard-fought victory at the Argentine Grand Prix onSunday.    

Marquez dropped down the field despite starting in pole as three riders crashed out on the first lap. But despite briefly dropping down to third, the Spaniard fought his way back through the field to overtake Jorge Lorenzo and maintain his 100 percent start to the season. 

Marquez had raced to his third straight pole position at theTermas de Rio Hondo circuit in Argentina on Saturday. The Repsol Honda rider recorded a time of 1 minute, 37.683 seconds to beat Yamaha's two-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo by 0.742 seconds in what was a masterful display.    MARQUEZ M.Repsol Honda Team Lap 25.

Argentina MotoGP Results 2014 :

1.     MARQUEZ M.Repsol Honda Team Lap 25
2.     PEDROSA D.Repsol Honda Team +1.837
3.     LORENZO J.Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +3.201
4.     ROSSI V.Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +4.898
5.     BRADL S.LCR Honda MotoGP +15.029
6.     IANNONE A.Pramac Racing +19.447
7.     SMITH B.Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +24.192
8.     ESPARGARO P.Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +29.118
9.     DOVIZIOSO A.Ducati Team +33.673
10.     AOYAMA H.Drive M7 Aspar +43.279
11.     HAYDEN N.Drive M7 Aspar +43.352
12.     HERNANDEZ Y.Energy T.I. Pramac Racing +44.819
13.     ABRAHAM K.Cardion AB Motoracing +45.178

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