Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) won his sixth straight MotoGP race at the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM in a riveting battle with Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP). Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) completed the podium in third on his 300th GP start.
The two Spaniards put on a great show in front of the Italian crowd, battling for the lead for several laps, only for Marquez to clinch a sixth successive victory in 2014 by 0.121s on the final lap.
With today’s victory, Marc has become the sixth rider ever – and the first since Rossi in 2002 (also on a Honda) – to win six successive races in the premier class (along with Agostini, Hailwood, Surtees and Doohan). He is also the youngest ever rider to achieve this (21 years and 104 days) taking the record from Rossi (23 years and 148 days) when he took the sixth of seven successive wins in 2002.
Marquez also equalled the number of career victories achieved by John Surtees, who won a total of seven World titles (four in the 500cc class and three in the 350cc class), making him the joint 14th most successful GP rider of all-time in terms of Grand Prix wins.
At his 300th Grand Prix the yellow sea of fans were willing Rossi to capitalise on any mistake from the front two, and although The Doctor had to settle for third by just under three seconds it was still a great ride for him from 10th on the grid.
Marc Marquez: “I am very happy with this win; Jorge and I had a really good battle and had a lot of fun out there! I wasn’t expecting the victory, because it has come at a circuit that I had marked on the calendar as being one for picking up Championship points – not thinking about winning the race. However, I saw that it would be possible and took more risks than at other races, because Jorge and Vale were very fast and we were finding it difficult to keep up the same pace. I think that we did a great job all weekend, and the change that we made to sixth gear in the warmup was very important too; we did this to help pass using a slipstream at the end of the straight. I am very pleased with how the entire weekend went, and now it is time to look ahead to my home Grand Prix – racing at Montmelo is always special”
Jorge Lorenzo: “I’m happy, I could be more happy if I had won but I tried my best. Probably in the last corner I should have stayed more in the inside to try to overtake him on the inside line but I made a mistake and went wider and it was impossible to overtake him on the straight. When I feel physically strong and the bike has a small improvement I can be there and fight with him. We have some margin, some physical condition to improve for me and the bike can make another step so we will get better. I’ve worked really hard to be more physically fit and the team also worked very hard this weekend to give me a great bike, so thank you to them.”
Valentino Rossi: “Today was a great day for all the people and for MotoGP. Mugello is one of the greatest race tracks in the world; a lot of people around and the race was very funny with a great battle between Jorge and Marc. I wasn’t too far from them and all the people were happy for my podium. It is a great emotion as always, it was a solid race from fourth row to third. I think I had the chance to battle with them but unfortunately we made a mistake yesterday in practice but we will try in Barcelona again. The podium in Mugello is always fantastic, it’s the most special moment of the season, it’s like a great concert. It’s a great party for MotoGP and motorcycling because the passion in Italy is amazing. This is my 300th GP, so I’m in the middle of my career, another 300 before the end!”
With Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) and impressive rookie Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) the next two across the line – albeit more than 10 seconds further back – there were four Spaniards in the top five.
Behind them Italians Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) also got great support from the crowd en route to sixth and seventh respectively, with Iannone making a brilliant start and leading in the early stages having started second on the grid.
The top ten was completed by Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini),Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) and Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing).
Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) and Michel Fabrizio (Octo IodaRacing Team) both retired from the race with technical problems.
Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) crashed out on lap 4, but walked away unharmed. Shortly afterwards Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) and Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) went down, the German being hit by the Englishman’s bike as it slid across the track, with both riders fortunately avoiding injury.
Results
1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 41m 38.254s
2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 41m 38.375s
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 41m 40.942s
4. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 41m 52.300s
5. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 41m 53.857s
6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 41m 55.296s
7. Andrea Iannone ITA Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 41m 55.383s
8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 42m 5.661s
9. Aleix Espargaro ESP NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 42m 20.140s
10. Yonny Hernandez COL Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 42m 23.466s
11. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 42m 23.687s
12. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (RCV1000R) 42m 24.085s
13. Scott Redding GBR Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RCV1000R)* 42m 24.093s
14. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 42m 25.088s
15. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 42m 47.808s
16. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART) 42m 56.043s
17. Broc Parkes AUS Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART)* 43m 13.285s
18. Mike Di Meglio FRA Avintia Racing (Avintia)* 43m 15.755s
Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Avintia) DNF
Michel Fabrizio ITA IodaRacing Project (ART) DNF
Cal Crutchlow GBR Ducati Team (Desmosedici) DNF
Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) DNF
Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) DNF
* Rookie
Championship standings
1 Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team 150
2 Valentino Rossi Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 97
3 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 96
4 Jorge Lorenzo Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 65
5 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Team 63
6 Pol Espargaro Monster Yamaha Tech 3 49
7 Aleix Espargaro NGM Forward Racing 44
8 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda MotoGP 39
9 Bradley Smith Monster Yamaha Tech 3 34
10 Andrea Iannone Pramac Racing 34
11 Alvaro Bautista GO&FUN Gresini Honda 34
12 Hiroshi Aoyama Drive M7 Aspar 23
13 Nicky Hayden Drive M7 Aspar 23
14 Yonny Hernandez Emergy T.I. Pramac Racing 22
15 Scott Redding GO&FUN Honda Gresini 21
16 Cal Crutchlow Ducati Team 15
17 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing 13
18 Colin Edwards NGM Forward Racing 8
19 Michele Pirro Ducati Team 5
20 Hector Barbera Avintia Racing 2
21 Danilo Petrucci IodaRacing Project 2
22 Broc Parkes Paul Bird Motorsport 1
Moto3 – Miller crashes out on final lap – retains championship lead
Moto3 race concluded with victory for Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46) at the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM, with Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team) and Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) joining him on the podium.
Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jack Miller crashed out in the final lap but still leads the championship by five points. Miller and Fenati, also 1-2 in the standings, have between them won all six races so far held in the 2014 World Championship, delivering a perfect scorecard for KTM so far this season.
Jack Miller: “There was a moment in which I was in third and fighting for second on the last lap. Masbou overtook me on the corner and I had to pass him on the straight. It was hard to close off the line on the first corner, because there were so many people behind me. I tried to regain some places on the final lap, but when I went into Turn 12 but Oliveira blocked me off. I touched his rear wheel and had to pick the bike up. Then Marquez clipped me from behind. It was completely my mistake -a rookie mistake.”
Five laps before the finish it was clear that the race was wide open with a group of 13 riders challenging at every corner and the lead constantly changing back and forth between the top riders.
Miller was in the lead with two laps ago and it looked like his well-known late braking was going to serve him well. Then in one quick move, the order had completely changed. Miller was down in turn 12 and had to retire.
Fenati, racing in the colors of the Italian flag seized the initiative and the race was his while behind him there was a battle of attrition for the minor place, finally only decided by a photo.
The top five also featured Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing) and Niklas Ajo (Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo), as they both crossed the line within 0.3s of race winner Fenati.
Going into the final laps, before Miller, Marquez and Bastianini crashed out, there were 13 riders split by just 1.5s, with Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold), Alessandro Tonucci (CIP Mahindra), Juanfran Guevara (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3), Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) and Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) eventually completing the top ten.
Moto3 Results – (top 10)
1. Romano Fenati ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 39m 46.256s
2. Isaac Viñales SPA Calvo Team (KTM) 39m 46.266s
3. Alex Rins SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 39m 46.267s
4. Miguel Oliveira POR Mahindra Racing (Mahindra) 39m 46.377s
5. Niklas Ajo FIN Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo (Husqvarna) 39m 46.516s
6. Alexis Masbou FRA Ongetta-Rivacold (Honda) 39m 46.615s
7. Alessandro Tonucci ITA CIP (Mahindra) 39m 46.853s
8. Juanfran Guevara SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 (Kalex-KTM) 39m 51.486s
9. Brad Binder RSA Ambrogio Racing (Mahindra) 39m 51.609s
10. Karel Hanika CZE Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 39m 51.651s
Moto3 Championship standings (top 10)
1 Jack Miller KTM 104
2 Romano Fenati KTM 99
3 Alex Rins Honda 87
4 Efren Vazquez Honda 76
5 Isaac Vinales KTM 64
6 Alex Marquez Honda 60
7 Alexis Masbou Honda 45
8 Jakub Kornfeil KTM 37
9 Francesco Bagnaia KTM
10 Miguel Oliveira Mahindra
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