MotoGP 2014: Unstoppable Marc Marquez Claims Eighth Consecutive Victory in Assen
The superb Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) claimed his eighth consecutive victory at the Dutch Grand Prix in Assen -- with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) second and teammate Dani Pedrosa third.
The race started late due to heavy rain, a new element that tested the world champion. And despite the threat of bad weather, it did not stop Marquez taking first place -- from the fifth lap the youngster dominated the race, and he eventually coasted home seven seconds ahead of Dovizioso.
With chaos ensuring in the pit lanes as the riders responded to the fluctuating conditions by changing their tires, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) led the race for a few laps and Dovizioso many more.
Lorenzo took advantage of a brief error from Marquez - with the dry tyres, the Catalan hesitated in turning on the ninth lap - to consolidate his lead, but the young driver soon took up second place and began hunting.
In the last few meters of the fifteenth race, the world champion finally took the lead. Marquez then proceeded to dominate the other riders. Meanwhile Lorenzo eventually finished a disastrous thirteenth, while Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) showed an exemplary attitude before eventually coming in fifth.
Still only 21, Marquez has become the first rider since legendary Giacomo Agostini in 1971 to win the first eight premier-class races of the year. Although there are 10 races still to go, it seems impossible for anyone to stop him regaining the world championship.
"I was very nervous before. The conditions are what no one wanted, very dangerous. We started on the right tyres as we knew it would dry" Marquez told MotoGP.com.
"To risk slicks was too dangerous. I made a small mistake after swapping. I was happy with second but then it stared raining a tiny bit. After that I settled into a rhythm and I passed Andrea. It was still very hard, I had to stay 100% concentrated."
"The team had everything under control which helped me a lot, seeing them calm kept me calm. They were so clever. The slick was too dangerous at the start, this was the key decision. I just concentrated on riding.
"It was hard going from wet to dry. But I felt better with each lap and I had a high pace throughout. I was able to push hard."
Dutch MotoGP 2014 Results
1 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 43'29.954
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 43'36.668
3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 43'40.745 162.2
4 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA NGM Forward Racing FORWARD YAMAHA 43'49.153
5 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA 43'55.767
6 Andrea IANNONE ITA Pramac Racing DUCATI 43'58.957
7 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini HONDA 44'00.836
8 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 44'00.939
9 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Ducati Team DUCATI 44'13.985
10 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 44'18.616
11 Broc PARKES AUS Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 44'21.817
12 Scott REDDING GBR GO&FUN Honda Gresini HONDA 44'30.283
13 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA 44'34.595
14 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing HONDA 44'35.934
15 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Octo IodaRacing Team ART 44'47.565
16 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Drive M7 Aspar HONDA 44'49.707
17 Nicky HAYDEN USA Drive M7 Aspar HONDA 44'57.584
18 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Racing AVINTIA 44'58.096
19 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Energy T.I. Pramac Racing DUCATI 43'41.754
20 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Avintia Racing AVINTIA 43'58.159
21 Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 44'49.966
22 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Forward Racing FORWARD YAMAHA 43'33.704
Not classified
Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA
World Championship Classification
1 MARQUEZ Marc SPA
2 ROSSI Valentino ITA
3 PEDROSA Dani SPA
4 DOVIZIOSO Andrea ITA
5 LORENZO Jorge SPA
6 ESPARGARO Aleix SPA
7 ESPARGARO Pol SPA
8 BRADL Stefan GER
9 IANNONE Andrea ITA
10 SMITH Bradley GBR
11 BAUTISTA Alvaro SPA
12 REDDING Scott GBR
13 HAYDEN Nicky USA
14 HERNANDEZ Yonny COL
15 AOYAMA Hiroshi JPN
16 CRUTCHLOW Cal GBR
17 ABRAHAM Karel CZE
18 EDWARDS Colin USA
19 PIRRO Michele ITA
20 PARKES Broc AUS
21 PETRUCCI Danilo ITA
22 BARBERA Hector SPA
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