April 14, 2014- Marc Marquez has completed the perfect weekend in Austin, having led every session, taken pole (with a new lap record), recorded a new fastest race lap and crowned it with a victory this afternoon. His teammate, Dani Pedrosa, also contributed to the fantastic Repsol Honda spectacle with a strong second place 16.8 seconds ahead of third place finisher Dovizioso.
Starting on pole for the 11th time in just 20 MotoGP starts Marc, as last season, was once again the only rider to choose the hard rear Bridgestone tyre. He had his best start in the premier class, only beaten in the first corner by Lorenzo who made an uncharacteristic jump start – forcing him into the pit lane for a drive through penalty – and promoting Marc back up to first by the end of the first lap.
Once out in front, he never looked back. He set a new race lap record on lap three with a time of 2’03.575 (beating his time of 2’04.242 in 2013) and went on to win the race comfortably, apart from a final corner scare on the last lap when he briefly lost concentration, and finished four seconds in front of his teammate. Dani, starting from second on the grid, was also unfazed by Lorenzo’s mistake and slipped in behind Marc as the Repsol Honda duo ran away from the race leaving them untouchable.
With this result, Marc has become the first rider to win the first two races of the year from pole in the premier-class since Repsol Honda’s Mick Doohan in 1995. Repsol Honda riders have now won the last nine MotoGP races in the USA. The last non-Honda MotoGP winner in the USA was Jorge Lorenzo, at Laguna Seca in 2010.
Team Quotes
Marc Marquez: 1st – Championship Standing: 1st – 50 points
“I’m very happy! I got a really good start, but when I saw Jorge overtake me off the line at first I was a little worried, but then I saw that he had jumped the start. It was a different race to previous ones because I led from start to finish; although it might seem easier that way, it is tough because you have to maintain concentration. It was a perfect weekend and gives us plenty of confidence, although we are aware that the coming races will be different. I know that the race was a little boring for the fans, but sometimes these types of races are good for a rider. Let’s hope that the next one is more exciting!”
Dani Pedroda: 2nd – Championship Standing: 2nd – 36 points
“It was a tough race as Marc was that little faster than me and although I tried to improve with every corner, it was too difficult to gain ground on him and the distance between us increased with every lap. In the end, he was too far away from me. I didn’t have anyone behind me either, so I just kept up my pace as best I could. I learnt a few things in this race and we will try to apply them and make the maximum improvement possible, in order to be able to put up more of a fight next time”
ace Results: Grand Prix of The Americas – Round 2
Pos. Rider Num. Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Marc Marquez 93 ESP 25 Repsol Honda Team HONDA 43’33.430
2 Dani Pedrosa 26 ESP 20 Repsol Honda Team HONDA +4.124
3 Andrea Dovizioso 4 ITA 16 Ducati Team DUCATI +20.976
4 Stefan Bradl 6 GER 13 LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA +22.790
5 Bradley Smith 38 GBR 11 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA +22.963
6 Pol Espargaro 44 ESP 10 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA +26.567
7 Andrea Iannone 29 ITA 9 Pramac Racing DUCATI +28.257
8 Valentino Rossi 46 ITA 8 Yamaha Factory YAMAHA +45.519
9 Aleix Espargaro 41 ESP 7 NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA +47.605
10 Jorge Lorenzo 99 ESP 6 Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA +49.111
11 Nicky Hayden 69 USA 5 Drive M7 Aspar HONDA +1’00.735
12 Hiroshi Aoyama 7 JPN 4 Drive M7 Aspar HONDA +1’03.954
13 Yonny Hernandez 68 COL 3 Pramac Racing DUCATI +1’07.333
14 Karel Abraham 17 CZE 2 Cardion AB Motoracing HONDA +1’27.972
15 Hector Barbera 8 ESP 1 Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI +1’32.376
16 Michael Laverty 70 GBR 0 Paul Bird Motorsport ART & PBM +1’32.543
17 Danilo Petrucci 9 ITA 0 IodaRacing Project IODA-SUTER +1’39.176
18 Mike Di Meglio 63 FRA 0 Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI +1’51.962
19 Scott Redding 45 GBR 0 Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA DNF
20 Colin Edwards 5 USA 0 NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA DNF
21 Cal Crutchlow 35 GBR 0 Ducati Team DUCATI DNF
22 Alvaro Bautista 19 ESP 0 Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA DNF
23 Broc Parkes 23 AUS 0 Paul Bird Motorsport PBM DNF
Rider Standings
Sunday, April 13th 2014
Pos. Rider Num. Nation Points Team Constructor
1 Marc Marquez 93 ESP 50 Repsol Honda Team HONDA
2 Dani Pedrosa 26 ESP 36 Repsol Honda Team HONDA
3 Valentino Rossi 46 ITA 28 Yamaha Factory YAMAHA
4 Andrea Dovizioso 4 ITA 27 Ducati Team DUCATI
5 Aleix Espargaro 41 ESP 20 NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA
6 Andrea Iannone 29 ITA 15 Pramac Racing DUCATI
7 Stefan Bradl 6 GER 13 LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA
8 Nicky Hayden 69 USA 13 Drive M7 Aspar HONDA
9 Bradley Smith 38 GBR 11 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA
10 Cal Crutchlow 35 GBR 10 Ducati Team DUCATI
11 Pol Espargaro 44 ESP 10 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA
12 Scott Redding 45 GBR 9 Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA
13 Hiroshi Aoyama 7 JPN 9 Drive M7 Aspar HONDA
14 Yonny Hernandez 68 COL 7 Pramac Racing DUCATI
15 Colin Edwards 5 USA 7 NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA
16 Jorge Lorenzo 99 ESP 6 Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA
17 Karel Abraham 17 CZE 5 Cardion AB Motoracing HONDA
18 Danilo Petrucci 9 ITA 2 IodaRacing Project IODA-SUTER
19 Hector Barbera 8 ESP 1 Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI
20 Broc Parkes 23 AUS 1 Paul Bird Motorsport PBM
21 Alvaro Bautista 19 ESP 0 Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA
22 Mike Di Meglio 63 FRA 0 Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI
23 Michael Laverty 70 GBR 0 Paul Bird Motorsport ART & PBM
From: Repsol Honda Team
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