Repsol Honda team rider wins premier class crown thanks to the second position in the Japanese Grand Prix. Dani Pedrosa finishes fourth at Motegi.
An historic second place for Marc Marquez at Honda’s home track of Motegi allowed him to mathematically claim a second MotoGP title. The Repsol rider becomes the youngest man in history to take two consecutive titles in the premier class, and adds the accolade to his World Championship wins in 125cc and Moto2. His teammate, Dani Pedrosa, finished fourth in a race won by Jorge Lorenzo.
The start of the race had a big impact on the outcome. When the red lights went out, Pedrosa and Marquez dropped to the fifth and seventh, respectively, at the first corner. The reigning World Champion regained positions gradually, reaching third by the midway point. It was enough for Marquez to finish ahead of Valentino Rossi to win the title, and he passed the Italian with 8 laps remaining. Maintaining the advantage over the Italian, he crossed the line second and sealed the title win. His 20 points from the Japanese GP take him to 312 overall, 82 ahead of Rossi and Pedrosa on 230. Pedrosa took longer than his teammate to overtake Ducati riders Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso and, although he managed to get within half a second of Rossi, he finally finished fourth.
The next Grand Prix takes place in seven days, at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia.
Marc Marquez season facts
– Grand Prix starts: 15
– Victories: 11
– Second places: 1
– Third places: 0
– Podiums: 12
– Poles: 11
– Win percentage: 79%
– Podium percentage: 80%
– Pole percentage: 79%
– Race fastest lap: 10
– Laps led: 165 of 371
– Free practices led: 27 of 60
Marc Marquez >> Audio
2nd at 1.638 sec.
“I am very happy to have sealed this second consecutive World Championship, because although it is difficult to maintain this level, in the end we succeeded! Today is the time to enjoy this title. In the race I had a very clear objective, which was to finish ahead of Valentino and Dani ‒the other riders did not matter to me so much today. I just had one goal in mind and the important thing is that I was able to achieve it. I want to dedicate this title to all the people who have helped me ‒they know who they are‒ and especially to my family and the team, who are the foundation for all of this.”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
4th at 3.157 sec.
“I wasn’t as fast off the start as the riders at the front, which meant that I lost two or three seconds early on. However, later I was able to come back, set good times and cut the distance a lot. However, as has happened to me before on other occasions this season, I was continually having to make up the time that I had lost at the start. I have to congratulate Marc and his team today, because they have done a really good job this season and deserve the title.”
