Repsol Honda rider recovers from tenth place to take fifth victory of the season and claim new record. Dani Pedrosa finishes a second off the podium in fifth.
Marc Marquez provided another memorable race for MotoGP fans with his performance at the French Grand Prix. Fighting back from tenth following a difficult start, the Repsol Honda rider extended his perfect winning streak at the start of 2014 with his fifth victory in a row. With this latest triumph, he overtakes MotoGP Legend Mike Hailwood as the youngest rider to win five consecutive races in the premier class. Teammate Dani Pedrosa also had to make a comeback –from ninth– with his progress taking him to a final fifth position, 3 tenths off fourth place and less than a second off the podium.
Despite having taken a sixth consecutive pole position –his fifth this season– Marc Marquez was unable to use the grid spot to his advantage. A bad start and a chaotic opening lap left him down in tenth, behind Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa. He took just two laps to recompose himself, and on lap 3 he overtook Pedrosa to begin his push up the order. Up into the lead by the halfway point in the game, he bested the circuit record in place since 2011 in the process.
One would have to go back to Valentino Rossi in 2008 to find the last time a rider won 5 consecutive MotoGP races, and back to Mick Doohan in 1997 for the last time anyone took 5 wins in a row from pole. Marc Marquez’ 37th win of his career in all classes also served to bring him level with Jorge Martinez “Aspar” for overall triumphs. In the present day, it also brought his points total in 2014 to 125 points.
Pedrosa continues in second place overall, behind his teammate. The Repsol Honda rider was unable to set the kind of times he did late on in the early stages of the race, and lost precious ground on the opening laps. Despite being the quickest man on track on the final laps, the podium eluded the Spaniard. He overtook Smith on lap 8, Dovizioso on lap 9, Bradl on lap 16 and Lorenzo on lap 20, concluding the race 0.360s off Espargaro and 0.933s behind Bautista. He eventually placed fifth, bringing his total in the overall standings to 83.
The sixth round of the MotoGP World Championship takes place in a fortnight’s time, at the Italian circuit of Mugello.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
1st, 44:03.925 sec.
“I am really happy with this win, which was different to the other victories. I made a mistake at the start; maybe I was too relaxed off the line, then when Jorge [Lorenzo] passed me I had to take a wide line otherwise we would have touched and as a result, many riders overtook me. However, from that moment on I began a really good comeback it was a lot of fun, ending in my fifth consecutive victory. Although it might look easy to people, we are working extremely hard and this is the reward for the whole team!”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
5th, a 4.077 sec.
“It was a very difficult race to manage, because I didn’t get a bad start but had Iannone and Smith coming through very strong on the opening corner; they split the group and even pushed a rider off-track. However, this wasn’t the main problem, I had an issue with the front tyre preventing me from making my way up the order. Every time that I tried to be more aggressive I had a lack of grip and it took many laps for me to move forward. It’s a shame, because I didn’t find a setup that allowed me to ride comfortably and we didn’t have a good race. I think I can go a lot faster here than what we saw today.”
