Marquez takes historic MotoGP title

Marc Marquez finished third in the GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana on Sunday to become the youngest ever MotoGP™ World Champion in his rookie season. The Repsol Honda Team rider, who started from pole position, shared the podium with teammate Dani Pedrosa as race victory went to outgoing title winner Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha Factory Racing.

Having already made himself the youngest premier class race winner and pole-sitter as well as registering numerous other records, Marquez now becomes the youngest ever World Champion and takes the mantle away from Freddie Spencer.

At the same time, the 20-year-old from Cervera, Catalunya becomes the first rookie World Champion for 35 years, following in the footsteps of Kenny Roberts from 1978.

“You know…it is a dream that has come true,” Repsol Honda Team’s Marquez commented immediately after the 30-lap race. “Maybe too early because I didn’t expect it in the first season of MotoGP. It feels so good.

“I cannot explain what I feel, to fight in front of all of our fans with Jorge and Dani – two of the best riders in the history of MotoGP. Now I just want to say thanks to Honda, all of my team, all of the people that helped me, my family…they are always there and I don’t know what else I can say because I feel so good!”

Lorenzo needed to win the race and for Marquez finish fifth or worse in order to recover a 13-point deficit in the last race of the season and he made his plan clear over the opening laps. Having shot through into the lead, the title winner of 2010 and 2012 attempted to slow the pace as last year’s victor Pedrosa ran second from Marquez, Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing). Having avoided incidents on a selection of occasions, the tipping point came on lap 10 as Pedrosa overhauled Lorenzo but was instantly pushed wide at Doohan corner, leaving Marquez in the lead.

Lorenzo retook the top spot just a lap later, while Bautista pressured Rossi before dropping to fifth and the recovering Pedrosa rose to third before being waved through by Marquez on the 26th tour. By this point, knowing Marquez would still become World Champion, Lorenzo put the power down to win for the eighth time this year (two more victories than Marquez) by almost four seconds.

“When we got here for this weekend my strategy in my mind was to try to go away at the front of the race,” Lorenzo said. “Actually I was undecided, but I told the press I’d try to run away, so that Marquez would not know my tactic. But then this morning after the Warm-Up we had a meeting and we decided to change the strategy to try a slow down the race a little bit, in the first laps, in order not to regret anything. At least you’ve tried and you can see what will happen.

“The other riders apart from the front three were too slow to stay in the group. So I stayed with Dani for a few laps trying to slow it down and some time with Marc. I had to take a lot of risks especially with Dani, but then when I turned around I saw that the others were too far behind and I decided to push away at the front. 

“We tried our best all the way through the championship and there are no regrets. Today Marc is the winner and he deserves the win. He has talent and ambition and you have to be fast to stay in front of him.”

Pedrosa collected his 13th rostrum of the season, with Marquez sealing the world title in a comfortable third.

Reacting to the tangles with Lorenzo, Pedrosa said, “I started well and I could see that Jorge was trying not to go too fast at the beginning and I tried to make a move forward but every time I tried to make a pass he fought back. We had a strong fight. I tried to change my passing points so it was harder for him to get back on me and he always found a way to do that. A couple of times he pushed too hard and the second time I nearly crashed at turn two.

“His strategy was clear and I understand, but I was trying to get in front and he was fighting real strong. We had a good battle and I had a couple of touches from behind. Obviously, when I felt he was touching me I had to pick up the bike. I had no other option. Of course, it’s more learning for the future.”

Lorenzo gave his version of events, saying, “Obviously, I didn’t want to touch Dani or do anything to him, but I had my strategy and I had to try until the end. The first time he braked earlier than I expected and the second time he tried to stay in the same position on the outside and we found ourselves in the same place. I say sorry to him because I never want to touch any rider.”

Rossi signed off his partnership with long-time Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess in fourth place, ahead of Bautista as LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl finished sixth from Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Bradley Smith and Ducati Team trio Nicky Hayden (in his last race for the Italian marque), Andrea Dovizioso and Michele Pirro.

Aleix Espargaro finished 11th in the last event to feature the CRT label, while Cal Crutchlow crashed out of his final Grand Prix with the Tech3 outfit.

Nicolas Terol took a great victory at his home race in the GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana Moto2™ contest, with teammate Jordi Torres second and Johann Zarco third, after a photo finish with Simone Corsi.

New Moto2™ World Champion Pol Espargaro crashed out on lap eight when leading comfortably and he eventually finished in 29th position. Meanwhile Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding clinched second in the standings, finishing 15th in the race, riding through the pain barrier with his injured wrist.

Terol clinched a third win of the season by a clear four-second margin, taking full advantage of Espargaro’s error. The race winner’s colleague Torres made it a great day for the Aspar Team Moto2 team, coming home second after overtaking NGM Mobile Racing’s Corsi with five laps to go.

There was more disappointment for Corsi as he was beaten to the line by French Came IodaRacing Project man Zarco by just 0.001s.

The Moto3™ title was decided on the last lap at the GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana with Maverick Viñales winning the race and the championship, as Jonas Folger came home second and Alex Rins third. Luis Salom crashed earlier in the race and finished 14th.

In a dramatic conclusion to what has been an intriguing Moto3 title battle it was Team Calvo’s Viñales who had the last word, taking his first win since Le Mans – only his third victory of 2013 – before he moves up to Moto2™ next season.

Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) missed out in the final stages as Viñales made his move, with German Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 rider Folger coming through for second place on the final straight. If he stays in Moto3 next year Rins will surely get another title shot.

There was heartbreak for Red Bull KTM Ajo man Salom who crashed out on lap 15, dropping the front end at turn five, having gone into the race as the standings leader.

MotoGP Race Results

Final MotoGP Standings

–From motogp.com

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