Category: Moto GP

Valencia, 9 Nov 2014: 2014 World Champion Marc Marquez has broken another record in Valencia on Sunday, winning his 13th race of the season, the most ever in the premier class. Nine-time world champion Valentino, who started from pole, had to be content with the second position.

Marquez’s teammate Dani Pedrosa took third place – continuing his impressive record at the Valencia track with six podium finishes in nine starts in MotoGP – and together the Spanish duo have clinched the Team Championship resulting in back-to-back Triple Crown.

Starting from pole in what began as a dry race, Valentino Rossi took off as soon as the lights dimmed and arrived at the first corner in second place behind compatriot Andrea Iannone. Followed closely by Marc Marquez, the nine-time World Champion was quick to find a strong pace, but as soon as the first lap was finished white flags were waving, signaling rain and allowing riders to come into the pits to change bikes.

It was another complicated race with rain constantly threatening to arrive. Dani starting from 3rd and Marc in 5th traded positions on the opening lap as the race began at a very quick pace with riders jostling for position. Dani fought with Crutchlow in the early laps but finally completed the pass into 4th and joined the battle for the podium. Meanwhile Marc attacked Rossi – setting a new record race lap of 1’31.515 (beating Pedrosa’s 2013 lap of 1’31.628) – and passed him on lap ten and after a brief battle with Iannone on lap eleven, finally took the race lead. The following lap Dani also passed Iannone and began to chase down Rossi and Marc.

Then with twelve laps remaining small spots of rain began to appear. Lorenzo entered the pits for his wet setup bike, but fortunately for the other riders the rain never arrived. Although lap times fluctuated, Marc was able to control his lead and Dani consolidated third place resulting in Repsol Honda winning their 7th Team Championship (since the beginning of the MotoGP class in 2002) to add to the Rider and Constructor Championships and marking Honda’s third Triple Crown in four years and second in succession.

The 2014 season is now officially over but the 2015 season will begin tomorrow with a three day test in Valencia. Dani will be on track after lunch but Marc and his team will take a break and start their testing programme on Tuesday, with Marc’s brother – 2014 Moto3 World Champion Alex – enjoying some laps on the Factory RC213V as a gift from Honda.

Movistar Yamaha team release adds:

Meanwhile, starting from pole in what began as a dry race, Valentino Rossi took off as soon as the lights dimmed and arrived at the first corner in second place behind compatriot Andrea Iannone. Followed closely by Marc Marquez, the nine-time World Champion was quick to find a strong pace, but as soon as the first lap was finished white flags were waving, signaling rain and allowing riders to come into the pits to change bikes.

Rossi didn’t let the changeable conditions slow him down and set a fastest lap of 1’32.437 on lap five. As things closed up at the front, fans were thoroughly entertained with a heated battle between Rossi, Marquez and Iannone. Sparks were flying from Rossi’s bike on lap 12 as Dani Pedrosa started to get into the mix. Six laps later rain threatened again, allowing the Doctor to reel in Marquez. Rossi kept his head down, but as the track dried again he came just short and finished in a deserved second place, 3.516 seconds behind the front man.

Teammate Lorenzo had an unlucky end to the 2014 season. Starting from fourth on the grid, he soon got caught up in a fight with rival Pedrosa. The Movistar Yamaha rider looked to be the stronger of the two until drops of rain began to fall and he took a few laps to get a feel for the situation, falling back to seventh.

As the track started to dry Lorenzo regained confidence and rose to fifth, having retaken Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso by lap nine. Four laps later the Spaniard arrived at the back of Iannone’s bike and won a hard battle with him before continuing his hunt for Pedrosa in third, until rain once again disrupted the race.Lorenzo struggled to get the bike stopped in the uncertain conditions and dropped down the order. He decided to come into the pits on lap 20 to switch to his wet bike and rejoined the race in 14th place. Unfortunately the gamble didn’t pay off. He dropped back to 21st and was forced to retire with five laps remaining as the conditions remained dry.

With second place Rossi gains 20 championship points, securing second in the championship, with 295 points total. Lorenzo finished third in the championship as his points total remained 263.

Tomorrow Rossi and Lorenzo will be back aboard the M1 on the Valencia circuit for the first test sessions in preparation for next year’s season.

RACE RESULTS   Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana – Round 18 Pos. Rider Num. Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap 1 Marc Marquez 93 ESP 25 Repsol Honda Team HONDA 46’39.627 2 Valentino Rossi 46 ITA 20 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA +3.516 3 Dani Pedrosa 26 ESP 16 Repsol Honda Team HONDA +14.040 4 Andrea Dovizioso 4 ITA 13 Ducati Team DUCATI +16.705 5 Cal Crutchlow 35 GBR 11 Ducati Team DUCATI +16.773 6 Pol Espargaro 44 ESP 10 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA +37.884 7 Aleix Espargaro 41 ESP 9 NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA +38.168 8 Stefan Bradl 6 GER 8 LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA +41.803 9 Michele Pirro 51 ITA 7 Ducati Team DUCATI +45.710 10 Scott Redding 45 GBR 6 Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA +51.191 11 Hector Barbera 8 ESP 5 Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI +56.512 12 Danilo Petrucci 9 ITA 4 IodaRacing Project IODA-SUTER +57.000 13 Nicky Hayden 69 USA 3 Drive M7 Aspar HONDA +57.262 14 Bradley Smith 38 GBR 2 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA +57.517 15 Hiroshi Aoyama 7 JPN 1 Drive M7 Aspar HONDA +58.775 16 Alvaro Bautista 19 ESP Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA +58.864 17 Karel Abraham 17 CZE Cardion AB Motoracing HONDA +1’02.389 18 Alex De Angelis 15 RSM NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA +1’15.795 19 Michael Laverty 70 GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART & PBM +1’26.309 20 Broc Parkes 23 AUS Paul Bird Motorsport PBM +1’37.212 21 Mike Di Meglio 63 FRA Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI +1 lap 22 Andrea Iannone 29 ITA Pramac Racing DUCATI +1 lap 23 Jorge Lorenzo 99 ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA DNF 24 Randy De Puniet 14 FRA Team Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI DNF 25 Yonny Hernandez 68 COL Pramac Racing DUCATI DNF RIDER STANDINGS Sunday, November 9th 2014 Pos. Rider Num. Nation Points Team Constructor 1 Marc Marquez 93 ESP 362 Repsol Honda Team HONDA 2 Valentino Rossi 46 ITA 295 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA 3 Jorge Lorenzo 99 ESP 263 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA 4 Dani Pedrosa 26 ESP 246 Repsol Honda Team HONDA 5 Andrea Dovizioso 4 ITA 187 Ducati Team DUCATI 6 Pol Espargaro 44 ESP 136 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 7 Aleix Espargaro 41 ESP 126 NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA 8 Bradley Smith 38 GBR 121 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 9 Stefan Bradl 6 GER 117 LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 10 Andrea Iannone 29 ITA 102 Pramac Racing DUCATI 11 Alvaro Bautista 19 ESP 89 Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA 12 Scott Redding 45 GBR 81 Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA 13 Cal Crutchlow 35 GBR 75 Ducati Team DUCATI 14 Hiroshi Aoyama 7 JPN 68 Drive M7 Aspar HONDA 15 Yonny Hernandez 68 COL 53 Pramac Racing DUCATI 16 Nicky Hayden 69 USA 47 Drive M7 Aspar HONDA 17 Karel Abraham 17 CZE 33 Cardion AB Motoracing HONDA 18 Hector Barbera 8 ESP 26 Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI 19 Michele Pirro 51

Valencia (Spain), 8 Nov 2014: A super heated last qualifying session of the season at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit this afternoon saw Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi rise to the top to start tomorrow’s Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana from pole position. His teammate Jorge Lorenzo will start directly behind him from fourth place on the grid.

Rossi clinched his first pole since Le Mans 2010 by lingering in the pits for a little while at the start of the session, allowing him to fully focus on a lap time once he entered a relatively empty track. Putting down a 1’31.765, the nine-time World Champion briefly set provisional pole. He went on to further improve his time but not his position with a 1’31.614 lap, leaving him in eighth place with eight minutes of the session remaining. Rossi then returned to the pits for fresh rubber and was back out again two minutes later. He became one of the key protagonists in an incredible fight for pole as the times started to drop into the 1’30s. His improvements continued as he initially set provisional pole with a 1’31.198 lap. He later got pushed back to fourth but, with one lap remaining after the flag had come out, he dropped a final time of 1’30.843 to take the 50th pole in his MotoGP career and his 60th pole over all classes.

Teammate Lorenzo was also one of the last riders to get on the track this afternoon. Once out he immediately fired off a fast lap and set provisional pole with a 1’31.726, before getting pushed back to eighth as the pace quickened. He went on to improve with a 1’31.421 to rise back up to second and with seven minutes remaining returned to the pits for a fresh rear qualifying tyre. Three minutes later he was back out and continued to improve his time when he put in another hot lap of 1’31.049, to move up four places to second. He looked good for a front row until a flurry of late activity from other riders pushed him to fourth position, on the second row.

Quote: Rossi:

“Getting my 50th pole position in my MotoGP career is a great achievement. It was a bit of a surprise, I didn’t expect it. I knew that I could do a good lap time because I felt really good with the bike. When I pushed the times were already not so bad, but on the last lap I was able to give a little bit extra. To get another pole position after four years is quite emotional. I like it a lot and I’m very happy, especially because it will be very important for tomorrow’s race.”

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Gerno di Lesmo (Italy), 5th November 2014
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP returns to Spain to wrap up the 2014 MotoGP season this weekend at the Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana.

With just 12 points separating Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in their battle for second in the championship, the Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo Circuit sets the scene for an intense battle on Sunday. However, the teammates won’t only be battling for their own glory: also the Team’s Title is still up for grabs for Movistar Yamaha MotoGP.

After three successful weekends overseas Valentino Rossi arrives in Spain with the intention to defend his second place in the championship by claiming another podium finish. The very experienced nine-time world champion has taken two premier class wins at Valencia in 2003 and 2004 and claimed multiple other podiums there, with a second place in 2002 and 2009 and third places in 2005, 2008 and 2010.

Having won a phenomenal race at the Valencia track last year, teammate Lorenzo arrives in his home country with confidence. He looks forward to the support of the passionate Spanish crowd as he aims to finish the season with another thrilling battle for victory. So far Lorenzo has claimed two premier class victories at this circuit in 2010 and 2013 and a third place podium position in 2009.

The final showdown at the Ricardo Tormo circuit is always enjoyable for the riders, thanks to its unique atmosphere. Valencia became the traditional closing stage of the MotoGP calendar in 2002 and is known to draw record crowds. Its layout ensures all parts of the circuit can be seen from every stand, so fans won’t miss any of the final racing action. Completed in 1999, the 4.005 m MotoGP track is run anti-clockwise, with five right and eight left hand corners and a 650 meters straight.

Quotes: Valentino Rossi:

“It won’t be an easy race! I’m second in the championship and being 12 points ahead is good, but this gap is not sufficient enough to play a passive role this weekend. Jorge is in a good moment. During the second part of the season Jorge was very fast and he wants to win in Spain and try to take the second place from me. We must focus on finishing the season with a victory just like we aim to do at all races! My team and I will do our best, as usual. Valencia isn’t one of my favorite tracks, but that doesn’t bother me. In this season we were strong also in the tracks that aren’t favorable to me. The three races in a row went well, I won another race, and for this reason I think that we can do a good race in Valencia! I am confident!”

Jorge Lorenzo said: Finally we face the last race of the championship and it’s always exciting to come back to Spain to close the season. We have already saved third position in the championship after the race in Sepang and I hope to fight for the win again in Valencia. I think this is a better track for our Yamaha M1 than Sepang. I won here last year and hopefully we get to try this again this year. The second position of the championship is still a possibility, but I need to get the victory and wait to see what Valentino’s result will be like. I would like to close the championship in a better way than I started it, especially in front of the big crowd that always visits us in Valencia!

Motorland Aragón (Spain), 28 Sept 2014: On Sunday’s Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón proved to be the most dramatic of the season so far as Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo defied both his rivals and the changing weather to deliver a master class in Grand Prix riding and claim his first victory of the season.

Teammate Valentino Rossi’s Aragón fortunes were the mirror opposite, the Italian crashing out in the early laps.

With a dry start to the race, Lorenzo was one of the few to opt for the soft front medium rear tyre combination and made a jump of three places to fo

urth in the opening corners. Third was to follow quickly and then a promotion to second as front runner Andrea Iannone became one of the first of many to crash out.

Lorenzo tucked in behind race leader Marc Marquez, beginning the Spanish duel that race fans had been waiting for. Never more than half a second apart, it wasn’t until there were just 15 laps remaining thatLorenzo made his move through the uphill section of the circuit for the lead. Three laps later Marquez was back through, passing into turn one.

One lap later and the weather became another rival to face on track as the white flag was waved. With some drops of rain falling riders were now clear to change to wet bikes if wanted. The lead group stayed out and with 9 laps remaining Lorenzo mirrored Marquez’ earlier pass, re-taking the lead into turn one.

A lap later and with the track getting damper in places, Lorenzo slowed and both Marquez and Dani Pedrosa passed in the uphill series of corners. With rain now clearly evident the front three played a dangerous gamble, not wanting to allow the others to get away by pitting. With four laps to go Lorenzo made his move, diving in to change for his wet bike and returning immediately to the track. In the meantime, Pedrosa had crashed out in the start straight, promoting Lorenzo to second.

Race leader Marquez opted not to pit and a lap later also fell victim to the wet, crashing out and leavingLorenzo with a clear run to the finish line and his first victory of the season.

Teammate Rossi had started well from his sixth place grid position and had been making progress when he ran wide in the down hill section, running off track and onto the slippery grass where he crashed heavily. He lost consciousness briefly after the crash but regained it quickly and was taken immediately to the medical centre for a check up. There appears to be no injuries however he has now transferred to hospital for a precautionary check up.

Lorenzo’s superb race craft delivers the maximum 25 points. He remains in fourth position, now just 12 points behind his teammate in third. Rossi’s DNF means he stays on 214 points, now three behind Pedrosa in second.

Repsol Honda release adds:

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa today fell victim to problematic weather, crashing in the final laps of the Aragón GP, as Jorge Lorenzo took his maiden win of 2014.

The Spanish duo, who started the race in prime positions – Marc 1st and Dani 2nd – dropped positions in the first lap, Marc crossing the line in 2nd and Dani in 4th. After a brief battle with Andrea Iannone, Marc passed into 1st and a few corners later Andrea crashed, promoting Jorge Lorenzo to 2nd and Dani to 3rd. Jorge took the lead from Marc on lap nine for a few laps before Marc again passed for the lead at turn one on lap twelve, as the white flag was displayed by track marshals, signifying that riders may now swap bikes if necessary.

Marc and Jorge then battled for a few laps, trading the race lead, when the rain flag was shown on the start / finish straight at the beginning of lap sixteen. Dani passed Jorge and proceeded to duel with Marc as other riders began to enter the pits to change bikes, for the wet setup and tyres. The rain was almost non-existent at the back of the circuit, but quite intense on the front straight, and with just four laps remaining both Marc and Dani made the choice to stay out. Dani made a small mistake in turn one and crashed out, then unfortunately on the next lap Marc also crashed. Both riders were able to get back to the pit lane and change the bike, but with two laps remaining it was too late. Marc finished 13th and Dani 14th.

Marc (292) still leads the Championship by 75 points over Dani (217), who is 3 points ahead of Valentino Rossi (214) – who crashed out on lap four – and Lorenzo (202) has closed the gap considerably after his race win. Now the Championship will head East in two weeks time for the three back-to-back races of Japan, Australia and Malaysia.

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