Marquez wins MotoGP title after Rossi & Lorenzo crash out at Motego

Autosport

Honda’s Marc Marquez won the Japanese Grand Prix to secure his third MotoGP title in four years, after Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo crashed out.

Marquez started the day 52 points clear of Rossi and 66 ahead of Lorenzo, and with 75 still on offer in the three grands prix after the Motegi race had downplayed his prospects of sealing the title.

However, with his fifth victory of the season, and with the Yamaha pair both falling out of contention, the 23-year-old has a third premier class title to go with his 2013 and ’14 triumphs.

Marquez took the lead off the line, but exited the first corner in second place, behind Lorenzo, who muscled his way past both polesitter Rossi and Marquez on the inside line.

Lorenzo led the way until the fourth lap, when Marquez moved past down the inside at Turn 9.

Rossi had to wait another two laps to do the same, and by that time Marquez was 0.866 seconds clear and setting a string of fastest laps.

Any hopes Rossi had of chasing Marquez down came to an end on lap seven, when the Italian crashed at Turn 10.

He remounted but headed straight back to the Yamaha garage, retiring from the race and bringing his title challenge to an end.

In order to keep his own hopes alive, Lorenzo had to finish on the podium.

Battered after his Saturday practice accident, Lorenzo stayed in second place, but his advantage over Andrea Dovizioso was gradually cut.

With seven laps to go the Ducati rider was just four tenths behind, while having lapped relentlessly in the 1m45s barrier for the first 14 laps, Marquez led by nearly four seconds.

Marquez’s day then got better when Lorenzo lost the front end of his Yamaha at Turn 9 with five laps remaining.

He got the message on his pitboard that Lorenzo was down, and made no mistake from there, taking victory to seal the title with three races to go, at Honda’s home circuit.

Dovizioso picked up second place, while Maverick Vinales caught and passed Suzuki team-mate Aleix Espargaro in the final third of the race to complete the podium.

LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow was the only frontrunner to opt for the hardest of the three front tyres, and his switch on the grid did not pay off as he finished a distant fifth.

Pol Espargaro was sixth for Tech3 Yamaha, while Aprilia and Pramac Ducati riders completed the top 10, with Alvaro Bautista seventh and 10th, and Danilo Petrucci and Scott Redding eighth and ninth.

On his return from injury after missing the last three grands prix, Bradley Smith battled his way to 13th place.

RESULTS – 24 LAPS:

POSRIDERTEAMBIKEGAP
1Marc MarquezHondaHonda42m34.610s
2Andrea DoviziosoDucatiDucati2.992s
3Maverick VinalesSuzukiSuzuki4.104s
4Aleix EspargaroSuzukiSuzuki4.726s
5Cal CrutchlowLCR HondaHonda15.049s
6Pol EspargaroTech3 YamahaYamaha19.654s
7Alvaro BautistaApriliaAprilia23.032s
8Danilo PetrucciPramac DucatiDucati28.555s
9Scott ReddingPramac DucatiDucati28.802s
10Stefan BradlApriliaAprilia32.330s
11Katsuyuki NakasugaYamahaYamaha42.845s
12Yonny HernandezAspar DucatiDucati52.219s
13Bradley SmithTech3 YamahaYamaha53.783s
14Tito RabatMarc VDS HondaHonda54.760s
15Hiroshi AoyamaHondaHonda1m00.155s
16Loris BazAvintia DucatiDucati1m04.440s
17Hector BarberaDucatiDucati1m42.966s
18Mike JonesAvintia DucatiDucati1 Lap
Jorge LorenzoYamahaYamahaRetirement
Valentino RossiYamahaYamahaRetirement
Jack MillerMarc VDS HondaHondaRetirement
Eugene LavertyAspar DucatiDucatiRetirement
Dani PedrosaHondaHondaWithdrawn

Marquez wins MotoGP title after Rossi & Lorenzo crash out at Motego

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