Marquez ends season with record win

The MotoGP™ race at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana saw Marc Marquez score a record 13th premier class win of the season on Sunday, ahead of Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa. The result sees Rossi clinch the runner-up spot in the championship.

Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) set a new record for most victories in a single campaign in the top class, having equaled Mick Doohan’s total of 12 wins in 1997 last time out in Sepang.

The race saw light rain fall, with Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Iannone electing to move onto bikes set up for the wet on lap 20, a decision which would prove costly for both.

A crash on Saturday saw 2014 MotoGP™ World Champion Marquez starting from down in fifth, his worst grid spot of the season. A solid start to the race had him up into third and chasing Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) and Iannone (Pramac Racing), who had broken away.

Iannone and Marquez reignited their Moto2™ rivalry as the pair dueled for several corners before Marquez took the lead on lap 11, Iannone running wide soon after. Rossi posed some challenge, but Marquez was able to create a gap, winning by 3.5 seconds.

“I thought about Aragon when it started raining again,” Marquez said. “I had some doubt about whether to go in or not. There were only two or three wet corners, we showed that Aragon taught us something. Today we chose the best strategy.

“Now we have to enjoy 2014, it will be difficult, if not impossible to repeat this next year.”

Rossi notched up the 13th rostrum result of a remarkable season for him too.

“I’m so happy because I finished this positive season with a good race,” the Italian said. “Today was very difficult, the conditions were impossible to understand. We worked well and I was strong. I wasn’t so far from Marc and I felt good on the bike. We had a problem on the right side of the tire, we knew about it during the practice. The temperature and condition of the track made the tire suffer a lot so I couldn’t stay with Marc through the right handers.”

Pedrosa recovered from an uncharacteristically slow start, dropping him behind the factory Ducati pair of Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso. The Honda rider eventually broke the pair and attempted to close the gap to Rossi.

Slight rain throughout the race stopped Pedrosa advancing, the Spaniard settling for third, 10.5 seconds from Rossi. Finishing first and third hands Repsol Honda the Team Championship for 2014, giving them a clean sweep of Rider, Team and Constructor Championships.

“Not an easy race,” Pedrosa admitted. “The middle was tricky because it got a bit wet. I had a bad start and I lost touch with Marquez and Rossi. I was a little stronger in the opening laps than always. It’s better to finish on the podium than not, overall not the best season but I’m happy.

“It’s been a tough season with some problems throughout. But you have to take the positives and learn from it all. We’re looking forward to improving and being stronger next year.”

Dovizioso beat Crutchlow to the line for fourth place by just 0.068s in their final race together as teammates.

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) was sixth in the race to confirm sixth in the championship in an excellent rookie season. Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) crossed the line 0.284s behind his brother in seventh, giving him seventh place overall in the standings.

Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), wild card Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) and Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) completed the top 10.

On lap 20 Lorenzo and Iannone took the decision to swap bikes as light rain fell. Lorenzo then pulled into the pits on lap 26 having worn down wet tires on a track which remained relatively dry, while Iannone ended up 22nd.

Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) was forced to retire during the early stages with a technical problem. Suzuki’s MotoGP return also ended with Randy De Puniet (Team Suzuki MotoGP) in the pits.

Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) suffered a small crash, but was able to remount and recover to 14th.

Tom Luthi took the victory in the final Moto2™ race of the year at Valencia, overtaking Tito Rabat on the final straight, with the World Champion slowing after the last corner and letting the Swiss rider slip in front. Johann Zarco finished third.

A close battle between Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) and Luthi (Interwetten Sitag) saw the Swiss rider come out on top in dramatic fashion at the death. Rabat stated afterwards that he had encountered a fuel shortage coming out of the final corner, allowing Luthi to charge forward and claim victory.

It was a lonely ride for Zarco (Caterham Suter) in third, as he finished 10 seconds down on the leading duo.

Luis Salom (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) beat Xavier Simeon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), who had pushed hard to catch the Spaniard for fourth. Dominique Aegerter (Technomag CarXpert) was part of that battle towards the end of the race but crossed the line sixth.

Sam Lowes (Speed Up), Marcel Schrotter (Tech 3), Anthony West (QMMF Racing Team) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Gresini Moto2) rounded out the top 10.

Alex Marquez took the Moto3™ title by crossing the line third at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana, with Jack Miller winning the race ahead of Isaac Viñales.

A breathtaking 24-lap contest at the Spanish track saw Marquez doing enough to take the World Championship crown by two points, holding off a fight from Danny Kent in the final stages for the crucial last podium spot.

The championship triumph for Marquez means that he and older brother Marc Marquez, the MotoGP™ World Champion, are the first siblings to win World titles in Grand Prix racing.

Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) produced another stunning ride for his sixth win and 10th podium of a remarkable season, but it was Marquez’s third place – also his 10th rostrum of 2014 – and the Spaniard’s consistency over the year that won the day.

Viñales (Calvo Team) was searching for his first career victory and held the lead provisionally, eventually being overtaken by Miller and finishing second by 0.155s.

Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) was 0.617s in front of Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) for third with the Englishman missing a gear in the final stages meaning he could not challenge the Spaniard on the line.

Also in the front running group were Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Efren Vazquez (SaxoPrint-RTG), the Spanish pair crossing the line fifth and sixth respectively.

–From motogp.com

MotoGP Race Results (courtesy Repsol Honda)

MotoGP Point Standings (courtesy Repsol Honda)

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