Repsol Honda rider takes victory at ‘The Brickyard.’ With tenth consecutive win of the season, he matches same feat by Mick Doohan from 1997. Dani Pedrosa finishes fourth after making up several places.
Marc Marquez did it again at Indianapolis. The Repsol Honda Team rider took his tenth victory in a row today, something unheard of in the premier class since Mick Doohan achieved the same feat –also in Repsol colours– in 1997. Teammate Dani Pedrosa fought back from eighth on the grid, eventually crossing the line fourth.
The race began with Marquez starting badly and Pedrosa moving up several positions, and at the end of the opening lap the Repsol Honda riders were in fourth and fifth, respectively. At the front, Rossi tried to escape, with Dovizioso and Iannone following him closely.
Marquez moved steadily up the order, passing first Iannone and then Dovizioso. At the same time, Lorenzo latched onto the reigning World Champion and both went in pursuit of Rossi. Behind them, Pedrosa lost time in his attempts to overtake Iannone –the three frontrunners already escaping by the time he had passed the Italian.
With 17 laps to go, Marquez put in a sensational lap, winning out in a brief but intense duel with Lorenzo to take the lead. The Repsol Honda rider then began to open up a gap of more than 2 seconds from those behind him, crossing the finish line alone. Victory at Indianapolis gives the Spaniard a perfect 250 points in the overall standings, which he leads by a comfortable margin.
Marquez now enjoys an 89-point advantage over his nearest rival, as Pedrosa remains second with Rossi a further 4 points back.
The MotoGP World Championship ups its pace after the summer break and will have another race next weekend, when the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic hosts the eleventh round of the 2014 season.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
1st – 42:07.041
“I am really happy to have taken this win! After the summer break it was important to start with another victory. Yesterday it seemed like it may be a straight forward race, but it ended up being quite the opposite. We suffered a lot and physically it was hard, there was a lot of humidity and I was sweating a lot. The track temperature rose by 10 degrees today and this made the tyres behave differently. It was hard for me to have the same level of confidence. I was patient at the beginning and when I regained the good feeling I had in practice I decided to push, opening that two-second gap which in the end was enough for the win”.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
4th at 10.016 sec.
“Overall it has been a difficult weekend in which at no point did I feel good on the bike. We couldn’t find a good setup in practice. Then in the race, although I was able to move up a few places, I was always off the pace if I was going to fight for the podium”.
