French MotoGP 2019: Marc Marquez wins

Reigning World Champion Marc Marquez of Honda secured another win this season after a dominant run in the 2019 MotoGP French Grand Prix at Le Mans. The Japanese factory team secured its 300th premier class win, 53 years after taking Jim Redman took it’s first-ever at Hockenheim. While Marquez made a strong run right from the opening lap, it was Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso who showed immense grit through the race to finish at P2, despite some close competition with teammate Danilo Petrucci in the final stages. Dovizioso fended off Petrucci by 0.158s to take second, while Pramac Ducati's Jack Miller and Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi rounded up the top five.

The 2019 French GP opened with Marquez on the pole with Petrucci second and Miller third, while Dovizioso started from P4. Petrucci had the better start but it was Marquez who had the better line on the first turn and took the race lead. Meanwhile, Franco Morbidelli if Petronas Yamaha and Pol Espargaro of KTM had moved up the order while Dovizioso was pushed down to seventh ahead of Honda's Jorge Lorenzo. Petrucci tried passing Marquez once again on the opening lap but failed at it and was soon pushed down to fifth fading away after the initial run. The move allowed Miller to shine who was now hot on the Honda's tail.

The Pramac rider finally found an opportunity to pass Marquez on Lap 5 pushing the latter to P2. The Honda rider was looking to re-take what was lost and opportunity and Marquez finally found the gap two laps later as Miller ran wide allowing the seven time world champion back in the first place. It was no looking back for Marquez from hereon who started to build the gap by over a second on Miller.

By the halfway point, Dovizioso was climbing his way back to the top and was placed third behind Miller. The factory Ducati rider passed his teammate soon after and was now battling to retain P2 with Miller and teammate Petrucci breathing down his neck. Marquez was a good 3 seconds off by now, almost impossible for the Ducati riders to catch at this pace. With five laps remaining, Petrucci managed to pass Dovi to take P2 but couldn't hold on for long and ride wide on the Dunlop chicane handing the position back to the rider.

It remained a close encounter for the Ducati’s at the chequered flag, while Marquez was 1.984s clear of Dovi in his third victory of the season. Finishing behind Miller and Rossi were Espargaro and Morbidelli, while Yamaha teammate Fabio Quartararo took P8. LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow finished ninth while Argentina GP winner Alex Rins of Suzuki took P10.

Lorenzo finished 11th after running in top 10 for most of the race, and was followed by Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro and KTM rider Johann Zarco. Tech3 KTM rider Hafizh Syahrin finished 14th followed by teammate Miguel Oliveira. Suzuki's Joan Mir was the last of the racers to complete in 16th place after falling on the warm up lap.

Valencia MotoGP 2018: Andrea Dovizioso wins

A smashing and crash ridden finale to the 2018 MotoGP season, Ducati Andrea Dovizioso won the Valencia Grand Prix turning out to be one of the few riders to actually complete the very wet race.

The rain drenched track made for a spectacle at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, as the top riders were pulled out of contention after back-to-back crashes. The race was even stopped at half-point bringing with the red flag out, only to be started again for a 14 lap stint. Dovizioso ended the season just like he started it - with a win. However, the race was a game changed for KTM, which saw rider Pol Espargaro take his and the team's first ever podium in the sport. Suzuki's Alex Rins took his fifth podium of the season, finishing behind Dovizioso.

The Valencia GP started out wet but was drying when the race begun. However, it wasn't long before the clouds were back over the circuit and the track was soaked again. Yamaha's Maverick Vinales started on pole in a surprise qualifying session, but couldn't hold on to the lead for long as Rins and Dovi were quick to pass the rider on Turn 2 of the opening lap. Rins took the lead and was a good 2 seconds clear of Dovi. The next few laps saw Rins extend his gap further to 4 seconds.

Bringing an end to a legendary career, Honda's Dani Pedrosa completed his final MotoGP race in fifth place, ahead of Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami. Tech3 Yamaha's Johann Zarco and KTM's Smith finished at P7 and P8. Tech3's rookie rider Hafizh Syahrin finished tenth behind Stefan Bradl, who was standing in for LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow. Aprilia's Scott Redding finished 11th, ahead of Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo and a damaged Yamaha ridden by Rossi. Bautista, who also crashed, re-mounted to finish 16th, behind Angel Nieto's Karel Abraham, who moves back to WSBK next year and Jordi Torres.