Marquez in the Record books

Moto GP 2014

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www.motorcycle-usa.com   Byron Wilson

 

 

 

 

 

 

MotoGP Argentina Results 2014

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez registered his name in the record books once again with his MotoGP victory in Argentina, becoming the first rider to win the opening three rounds of a season from pole position since Giacomo Agostini did so in 1971. Marquez’s teammate, Dani Pedrosa, scored the runner-up spot followed by Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo in third.

Lorenzo enjoyed a return to form after his rocky start to the 2014 season, flying off the line at Rio Hondo to the front of the pack as riders dipped into Turn 1. The Mallorcan was followed by Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone, Pedrosa, Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Marquez. The tightly-packed lead group also included Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso and LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl, and the opening laps of the contest were some of the best seen so far this season. Some, however, ended their South American Grand Prix early, namely Go & Fun Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Baustia and IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci. Both riders slid out of competition in the opening lap on the same corner. A few turns later NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro also lost control, but the Forward-Yamaha rider was able to return to competition and made his way back to 15th by the checkers.

Out front, meanwhile, Lorenzo pushed to open a gap on the field while Rossi, Pedrosa, Dovizioso, Bradl and Iannone battled for positions two through six. Marquez held comfortably in seventh and within the opening laps started picking off riders in his drive for the front. Within the first five laps Marquez had bested all but Lorenzo, settling in to second and biding his time before making a move for the lead, which he did with a clean pass with nine laps still on the board. After that Marquez proceeded to open up a gap on the field and was unchallenged to the finish.



"I am happy with how the weekend went in general and I’d like to thank all my team,” said Marquez. “I think it was a nice race for the fans, with plenty of passes and I wasn't expecting it to be like that. As the race went on and I saw what the gap was to Jorge Lorenzo and I tried to catch up with him quickly and spend a few laps on his tail. When I saw that Dani [Pedrosa] was getting closer, I tried to overtake in order to maintain more of a gap. I took 25 more points today which are very important and I've put together three wins in a row, but we are aware that the season is very long and we are now heading to Jerez where Dani and Jorge are very fast. We will need to be up there with them, fighting for the win!"

After Marquez made his move on Lorenzo, the Yamaha rider held steady in second-place but couldn’t maintain his gap on Pedrosa. Mid-race, Pedrosa had carved his way through the field to assume third and from there gained speed with each lap, posting the fastest of the session on Lap 22 of 25 in his pursuit of Lorenzo. Pedrosa caught Lorenzo on the penultimate lap and throttled ahead to notch his second-consecutive second-place finish of the season. Lorenzo was pleased with the result however, his first podium finish of the year.

“I’m really happy, this is probably the most sweet third place in my career in MotoGP, arriving after two difficult races," said Lorenzo. "We have demonstrated that even in not our best shape we can fight with the Hondas and arrive in a proud third position. We want to improve; I want to improve my physical condition still and also the bike and when the moment arrives I think we will be ready to win races. We have to keep improving and have patience and wait for our moment.”



Rossi earned a hard-fought fourth-place finish, battling all the while with Bradl and Iannone. Bradl gave the Doctor a serious run for his money mid-way through the contest but Rossi made his pass for fourth-place stick with 13 laps remaining and successfully defended against any further challenge to his position. Bradl took fifth ahead of Iannone followed by Tech 3 Yamaha’s Bradley Smith in seventh. Smith’s teammate, Pol Espargaro, finished in eighth followed by Dovizioso in ninth. Drive M7 Aspar’s Hiroshi Aoyama rounded out the top-10, getting the best of his teammate, Nicky Hayden, on the final lap when Hayden ran wide.

Marquez has a 19-point lead over Pedrosa in second through three rounds, followed by Rossi in third, who is 34 points adrift of the leader. Dovi sits fourth followed by Iannone in fifth. Lorenzo, owing to his dismal start to the season, is seventh, 53 points behind Marquez. 

MotoGP Argentina Results 2014 
1. Marc Marquez (Honda) 
2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 
3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 
4. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 
5. Stefan Bradl (Honda) 
6. Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 
7. Bradley Smith (Yamaha) 
8. Pol Espargaro (Yamaha) 
9. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 
10. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda) 
11. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 
12. Yonny Hernandez (Ducati) 
13, Karel Abraham (Honda) 
14. Scott Redding (Honda) 
15. Aleix Espargaro (Forward-Yamaha) 
16. Hector Barbera (Avintia) 
17. Michele Pirro (Ducati) 
18. Michael Laverty (PBM) 
19. Mike di Meglio (Avintia) 
20. Colin Edwards (Forward-Yamaha) 
21. Broc Parkes (PBM)

MotoGP Championship Points 2014 
1. Marc Marquez, 75 
2. Dani Pedrosa, 56 
3. Valentino Rossi, 41 
4. Andrea Dovizioso, 34 
5. Andrea Iannone, 25 
6. Stefan Bradl, 24 
7. Jorge Lorenzo, 22 
8. Aleix Espargaro, 21 
9. Bradley Smith, 20 
10. Pol Espargaro, 18 
 
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