Superior brake parts cleanerSuperior brake parts cleaner

Marquez overcomes ‘The Doctor’ for Qatar MotoGP win

MotoGP

MotoGP11:24am 24 March 2014

Marc-Marquez-MotoGP-2014-Qatar-1024x576

Repsol Honda’s 21 year-old rider produced a gritty performance to take maximum points despite breaking his leg in preseason and missing the last two MotoGP tests.

In further drama Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo crashed out of the race lead at turn 15 on the first lap, meaning his season starts with a DNF after he had struggled with grip issues throughout the weekend.

Meanwhile, after eight laps the race was over for Stefan Bradl who had led the contest for several circulations. Coming from seventh on the grid and taking advantage of Lorenzo’s crash and some errors ahead of him Bradl was writing headlines for LCR Honda but perhaps the pressure of Marquez and Rossi on his shoulder was too much as the German slid off track.

Indeed, Marquez and Rossi then went on to have a great fight which went down to the last lap and saw the Spaniard outpace the Italian by 0.25s – with Pedrosa three seconds back to complete the podium.

An excellent ride for Aleix Espargaro saw him take fourth on his debut for NGM Forward Racing on their ‘Open’ Yamaha. Espargaro cashed in on crashes for Alvaro Baustista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) as they fell out of the podium hunt.

Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow did well in fifth and sixth respectively for Ducati Team, though Crutchlow finished 16 seconds behind his teammate after almost running out of fuel on his debut for the Italian factory.

A good first premier class race for Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) saw him beat fellow ‘Open’ Honda equipped rider Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) to seventh by a 0.035s margin.

The top ten was rounded out by Hayden’s compatriot Colin Edwards (NGM Forward Racing), riding his first race as a 40 year-old, and Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) who recovered well from a fall on the last corner of lap two.

A mistake from rookie Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) with five laps to go saw him drop down to 15th and then pull into pits shortly after.

The riders will reconvene for the next race at the Circuit Of The Americas in three weeks’ time.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Racism in the racing paddock

11:12am 22 January 2015

Motorsport Magazine
0

Lewis-Hamilton

will there ever be a lewis hamilton of motogp, a black king of motorcycle…  More >

Rossi upbeat for 2015: “I’m in my best ever form”

2:28am 29 December 2014

Autosport
1

1419006482

Valentino rossi reckons he is in the best form of his entire motogp career after finishing second in the…  More >

Jorge lorenzo has renewed optimism that he will be able to challenge marc marquez as the pair both contend…  More >

Marc Marquez takes 13th season win

7:56am 10 November 2014

Autosport
0

Marc Marquez takes 13th season win

Marc marquez claimed a record 13th win of the 2014 motogp season by battling to victory in the drizzly…  More >

Valentino Rossi takes first pole since 2010

3:04pm 9 November 2014

Autosport
0

Valentino Rossi takes first pole since 2010

Valentino rossi denied andrea iannone a maiden motogp pole position in valencia qualifying, as a crash left marc marquez…  More >

RACE COUNTDOWN

V8 SuperTourers

Round 4

Waikato 250, Hampton Downs, 31 January

NZV8

Round 5

Manfeild Circuit, Feilding, 15 February

Indycars

Round 1

Brasilia Indy 300, Brasilia, 1 March

V8 Supercars

Round 1

Clipsal 500, Adelaide, 1 March

V8 Supercars

Round 2

Tasmania 400, Symmons Plains, 1 March

  • Latest story comments

  • CRC Motornews poll

    Who do you think will be top of the Kiwi in the 2014 V8 Supercars?

      View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...
  • Newsletter icon

    Get the latest motorsport news delivered to your inbox