The MotoGP summer break didn’t take any of Marc Márquez’s edge away, as the reigning world champion roared back into action with his 10th consecutive win of the 2014 season.
It maintained the Spaniard’s 100 percent winning record this year, and left the question of whether anybody can stop the talented 21-year-old unanswered.
After qualifying on pole position for the eighth time this campaign, Márquez recovered from a less than perfect start to overcome the challenges of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi to secure yet another win in what continues to be the most incredible of campaigns.
Andrea Dovizioso made one of the better getaways and led early on, but the Ducati rider faded after he and Rossi had swapped first position in the formative stages of the race. Lorenzo and Márquez then stepped forward.
Márquez and Rossi engaged in a thrilling exchange of positions, and the Honda star also went head-to-head with Lorenzo as they fought for second behind Rossi, but before even the halfway point (lap 11 of 27) Márquez hit the front, and once he saw clear track he slowly prised open an advantage that finished with a victory by 1.8 seconds.
Lorenzo and Rossi finished second and third respectively, with Márquez’s Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa fourth.
It means Márquez has taken a maximum 250 points available so far in 2014, and he now holds an 89-point lead at the top of the standings over Pedrosa. Rossi sits just a further four points behind.Stefan Bradl.
It was a disappointing afternoon for LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl, who failed to finish, after an announcement about his switch to Forward Yamaha for 2015 had been announced in the lead-up to the GP.
That was the latest piece in the puzzle for next year after Cal Crutchlow’s departure from Ducati for LCR had been confirmed shortly before. Meanwhile Lorenzo’s renewal with the Yamaha factory team for another two years was made public at Indianapolis.