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
