Dani Pedrosa takes his second victory of the season at Valencia and Marc Márquez, after a spectacular save, celebrates his sixth World Championship from the podium.
The Repsol Honda team riders closed the 2017 season with a victory for Dani Pedrosa, the team title and a podium for Marc Márquez, who was crowned MotoGP Champion.
With today’s victory, Pedrosa matches Mick Doohan with 54 Grand Prix wins, and Eddie Lawson with 31 wins in the premier class.
Márquez saved a crash at Turn 1, just after overtaking Johann Zarco, and came back on track in fifth. He would eventually climb to third.
Marc Márquez – 3rd
“I’m living a dream. ‘Six Titles’ are big words. The truth is that I’m incredibly happy because we worked so much this year, and today the race was incredibly tense and exciting—a bit ‘Marquez Style.’ I made a mistake, but I also made my best save of the year. From that moment on, I just tried to finish the race in a good position. I’m sorry that Andrea didn’t finish the race, as he deserved to do so. He had an incredible season and I would have liked to have him on the podium with me today. The key to the year has been our mentality. In our world it’s very important to remain positive and motivated during the difficult moments. Some things happened to us at the beginning of the season but when we found the way to sort things out, everything went better. Congratulations to Honda and the entire team for the Triple Crown. It’s an amazing achievement. Winning the Title at the last race of the season in front of our fans is one of the best things possible, really special. Now I want to enjoy this with my entire team and my family, and after that we’ll start to work for next year.”
Dani Pedrosa – 1st
“Obviously I’m very very happy because a win is a win, and this was a very tough and hard-fought one. Today we had a chance because we got a good start and the setup was working well, so we took it. The track wasn’t easy as front grip wasn’t perfect, and in fact we saw a lot of crashes in the race. I was just behind Marc when he made that save and it was incredible. The smoke, the noise, the speed—wow, impressive! I realized that the track had a limit, maybe because the rear had more grip, which pushed the front. Anyway, I tried to manage the front grip, but then in the last three laps I gave it everything to pass Johann. He was so good into the corners but finally I passed him on the last lap. I’m so happy to have won in front of my crowd, and I would like to dedicate this victory to my family, friends, fans, and the team. This was a fantastic day for all of us, as Marc clinched the Rider Title and we secured the Constructor and Team Titles. I also move up one place in the Championship, and that’s great as well.”
Begoña Elices – General Director Communication and Chairman’s Office
“Marc Márquez never ceases to amaze us, even though we know him well and have been with him since he was a kid. We are very proud of him, as both an athlete and as a person, and proud to have him form part of the Repsol Honda Team. Top level competition is a constant challenge that allows us to improve ourselves as a company, in an environment of teamwork and technological collaboration. Congratulations for this latest success and for the manner in which it was achieved!”
Yoshishige Nomura – HRC President
“Today was the ‘perfect storm’ for HRC and Honda, as we won the Rider Title, Constructor Title, and Team Title, earning the Triple Crown. Of course I am extremely happy with this fantastic result, and I would like to congratulate Marc and Dani for their hard work and commitment, as well as all the HRC Engineers and our Sponsors, who together have contributed to this incredible result. I am very proud of all them.”
