Valencia MotoGP 2019: Marc Marquez wins

Marc Marquez capped off his sixth title-winning MotoGP season with a dominant victory in the Valencia Grand Prix to secure the 2019 team title for the Repsol Honda squad. Petronas SRT Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo led for the first seven laps before being passed by a recovering Marquez and was unable to mount a challenge to retake the position over the remaining tours.

Poleman Quartararo had run side by side with Pramac's Jack Miller on the run to the first corner at the start but had to concede the lead to the Rocketship Ducati. He quickly disposed of Miller after a couple of corners and began to build up a small lead, while Marquez had to fight through from sixth after getting hung out at the first turn from second on the grid. Quartararo held a margin of seven-tenths of a second by the third lap, with Marquez soon up to second after snatching second from Miller at the final corner at the end of the previous tour.

The Honda rider slashed Quartararo's lead by a couple of tenths over the next three laps and made his decisive move on the eighth tour of the 27-lap race at the Turn 11 left-hander - squeezing Quartararo out to the edge of the circuit on the exit. Marquez immediately got his lead up to six tenths, though Quartararo was able to ensure this remained stagnant for a handful of laps. Then with nine laps to go, Marquez moved a second out of reach for the first time and would ease across the line for his 12th win of the year by over 1.5s.

Quartararo came under some threat from Miller after he was passed by Marquez on lap eight but was able to quash the Pramac rider's challenge and ended a sensational rookie season with his seventh podium. Miller's attention was soon turned to fending off Ducati stablemate Andrea Dovizioso for the final podium spot. He did so successfully and cruised to a fifth podium of the year ahead of Dovizioso and the Suzuki of Alex Rins.

Maverick Vinales' expected challenge for the victory never materialized, and he was consigned to sixth on the works Yamaha ahead of Joan Mir (Suzuki), his team-mate Valentino Rossi, and the Espargaro brothers - Aleix Aprilia ahead of KTM-mounted Pol. Jorge Lorenzo ended his career in MotoGP with his best result since June's Italian GP on 13th.

Czech MotoGP 2019: Marc Marquez wins

The amazing Marquez show continued at Brno, where Repsol Honda star Marc claimed a sixth win in ten races. With just one non-finish with a crash in Texas, Marquez has not finished lower than second so far – and today’s start to finish win by an eventual 2.452 seconds over Andrea Dovizioso extended his points lead over the Italian to a comfortable cushion of 63 points.

Weather struck the track on Saturday, leaving all riders short of set-up time and giving Marquez the chance to claim a blistering pole by some 2.5 seconds, with a high-risk run on slick tyres on a damp track. Today, confounding dry-weather forecasts, more showers hit the sweeping 5.403-km Brno circuit during the lunch break, forcing the start of the premier-class race to be delayed by 40 minutes to allow the patchily wet track to dry, and with race distance cut by a lap from 21 to 20.

 

Marquez led from the first corner to the last, closely pursued the first half by Dovizioso, Alex Rins (Ecstar Suzuki) and second qualifier Jack Miller (Pramac Ducati). After that, it was time to push. Marquez survived a scare at the bottom corner but was soon drawing away remorselessly. Dovizioso was safe in second; but Rins was struggling with wheelspin at the end, giving the determined Miller the chance for a late attack, to claim his second podium of the season.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) came through from 11th on the grid for fifth. His last victim had been Valentino Rossi (Monster Yamaha), who was three seconds ahead of star rookie Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha). Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati) was ninth; Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) still close in tenth, managing to fend off a charging Maverick Vinales (Monster Yamaha), who had finished the first lap 15th after a dismal start from the third row.

Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM), who had given the Austrian marque its first front row in wet practice dropped to a distant 14th in the dry race. Marquez now has 210 points – an average of 21 out of a possible maximum of 25; then Dovizioso 147, Petrucci 129, Rins 114 and Vinales 91.

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.

Japan MotoGP 2018: Marc Marquez crowned World Champion

Repsol Honda Marc Marquez has been crowned as the 2018 MotoGP World Champion after a nail biting finish in the Japanese Grand Prix. The Honda rider won the fourth last race of the season fighting against Ducati Andrea Dovizioso. The last lap though is where Marquez managed to lead the race as Dovizioso crashed while in second place.

With the Japanese GP under his belt, the Honda rider takes his seventh world championship title at the manufacturer's home turf and his fifth world title in the premier class series. Marquez now equals Mike Doohan's world titles but is still behind Valentino Rossi's seven and Giacomo Agostini's eight titles.

The 24 lap race started with Dovizioso on pole while Marquez started only sixth at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit. A brilliant start allowed Marquez to move up to second on the opening lap as he closes in on the race leader. Behind him were Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller at P3 and P4 respectively, while Yamaha's Valentino Rossi jumped to sixth having started at ninth on the grid.

Dovi and Iannone crash promoted Rossi to fourth, down by five seconds over the race leader, while Alvaro Bautista on the Nieto Ducati took a career best fifth, having started 11th on the grid. Tech3 Yamaha's Johann Zarco finished sixth after a bad start, but recovered to the position after dropping to outside the top 10 in the race.

Aragon MotoGP 2018: Marc Marquez extends his lead

Marc Marquez rode a master class race at MotoGP Grand Prix of Aragon, which helped him retain his place at the top of the 2018 championship standings. The Spaniard was able to beat the Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso who followed closely in second place, and the Suzuki of Andrea Iannone who delivered a spectacular third place finish.

The race got off to a dramatic start as the series' top three riders blasted out of their grid spots, but ultimately only two of them would make it past the first corner. After diving too deep into Turn 1, Marquez and his archenemy Jorge Lorenzo went wide and handed over the lead to the Dovizioso. While Marquez was able to turn his Repsol Honda around and emerge from the run-off unscathed, Lorenzo high-sided, while attempting to rejoin the racing surface and crashed in dramatic fashion.

With Marquez out of the picture and Dovizioso at the lead, it was Iannone and teammate Alex Rins who bolted to the front along with Honda's Dani Pedrosa, Aprilia's Aleix Expargaro, and LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow. The battle for the top five positions was a heated one throughout the race, and a charging Marquez only made things even hotter. Crutchlow eventually crashed out, but it was Marquez who held a tight grip on the TV cameras as he did everything he could to get back to the front and lead around his beloved MotorLand Aragon circuit.

Marquez continues to dominate the championship with 246 points, with Dovizioso in second place with 174 and Valentino Rossi in third with 159. The MotoGP fraternity now heads to the Chang International Circuit for the Thailand Grand Prix on Oct. 7.

German MotoGP 2018: Marc Marquez wins 9th straight race

Marc Marquez has re-written another piece of history, storming the Sachsenring from a ninth pole in a row to take his ninth win in a row across all classes. Valentino Rossi took second and maintains his second place in the standings after an impressive bounce back with the podium completed by teammate Maverick Vinales.

At lights out it was Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) who got the holeshot from pole, moving from third into the lead as Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) slotted into second – with Marquez shuffled back into third. Rossi made a good start from sixth to move into fourth ahead of teammate Vinales, with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) the key man to lose out from fifth.

Petrucci top Independent Team rider in a well-fought fourth, just ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Team)’s stunning ride to fifth. Bautista was the fastest man on track for a good number of laps and kept that incredible form to the end, the final man able to muscle past Lorenzo by the flag.

Lorenzo took P6 ahead of a tough day for teammate Andrea Dovizioso, with Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) putting in a solid ride to eighth. Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) improved from his worst qualifying of the season so far to take ninth despite the difficult weekend, with an incredible ride from Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) putting the Brit in tenth to take KTM’s first top ten of the season.

Hafizh Syahrin (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was top rookie in eleventh and takes over at the top of the Rookie of the Year standings, ahead of Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar), who was caught in an early incident that saw Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) make contact with Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and both go down; also affecting Iannone and Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing. Miller finished P14, with Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) between him and Iannone. Scott Redding (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) completed the points.

Dutch MotoGP 2018: Marc Marquez wins to extend Championship lead

Marc Marquez won the most nail biting race of the 2018 season in front of a packed housed at Assen. The Repsol Honda rider started the race on pole, but it was Jorge Lorenzo, who stole the limelight. The Ducati rider made a lightning start, which catapulted him from tenth to second place as the riders made their way through the first corner. Valentino Rossi, who had been pushed back to fifth place at the start of the race, was showing good pace as he carved his way past the grid in fifth place and in the second lap of the race, took second place from Marquez.

Despite having a clear track in front, Lorenzo wasn’t able to break away from the grid as he normally does. Rossi was close on Lorenzo’s rear, putting the Spanish rider under tremendous pressure. The front tyre of Lorenzo’s bike washed out, but the Ducati rider somehow saved himself from crashing out. While Lorenzo still led the race, Rossi lost momentum in the incident and was pushed down to fifth place.

Suzuki rider, Alex Rins was on the charge and he muscled his way past Marquez and was trailing the Ducati duo of Lorenzo and Dovizioso by the halfway stage of the race. With 12 laps remaining in the race, Dovizioso overtook his teammate to lead the race. In the following two laps, Marquez regained his position and it looked like a three-way battle for the race win.

The only rider who could come close to Marquez’s pace was Rossi, but he ran wide off the track in an attempt to defend second position from Dovizioso. Rins managed to pass Vinales in the last lap, to clinch his best result in premiere class. It was Marquez’s ninth podium finish at the Dutch circuit and he now extends his championship lead over Rossi by 41 points. The next race is at Sachsenring, which is one of Marquez’s favourite racetracks, and he looks on course to extend his winning run in Germany.