HERTZ BRITISH GRAND PRIX - MARQUEZ TAKES 11th WIN AFTER BRILLIANT BATTLE WITH LORENZO ....... Marc Marquez returned to winning ways with a swashbuckling victory in the British MotoGP to clinch his 11th premier class triumph this season. The Repsol Honda rider became embroiled in a paint-swapping battle with Jorge Lorenzo at Silverstone, but Marquez rebounded from his shock fourth place at Brno in the Czech MotoGP to reclaim his familiar place on the top step of the rostrum. A mistake by the world champion in the closing stages allowed Lorenzo a brief whiff of his first victory of the season on the Movistar Yamaha, but Marquez quickly recovered to snuff out the threat posed by the Yamaha rider. Valentino Rossi clinched the final place on the podium – almost eight seconds behind – as the Italian came out on top of a race-long confrontation with Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso. Pol Espargaro completed the top six, although there was disappointment for his Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team-mate Bradley Smith, who was forced to make a pit-stop with a rear end problem, eventually finishing 22nd. Scott Redding was the top British rider in 10th on the Open class Gresini Honda, with Cal Crutchlow finishing a disappointing 12 on the Ducati. Lorenzo powered off the line to lead into the first corner from Marquez, with Aleix Espargaro nosing ahead of Dovizioso at Stowe, followed by Rossi and Pedrosa. Bradley Smith made a solid start to slot into seventh on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Dovizioso slipped underneath Espargaro at the Loop, but the Forward Yamaha rider responded immediately. The Ducati star launched another effort and made it stick, although Rossi ran wide as he attempted to follow through on the factory YZR-M1 at Brooklands and was pushed back to fifth again at Luffield. Rossi exchanged places with Espargaro on lap two before consolidating fourth at Vale, with Pedrosa also finding a way past the Open class Yamaha rider. Bradley Smith was holding seventh place, with Redding and Crutchlow in 13th and 14th positions respectively. Lorenzo continued to set the pace followed closely by Marquez as the top four began to make a break, with Dovizioso holding third from Rossi, who was beginning to come under pressure from Pedrosa. Behind the leading group, Smith, Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone were having a battle of their own for sixth. An impatient Rossi was looking for a way past Dovizioso, mindful that Lorenzo and Marquez were beginning to make a slight break at the front. The nine-time world champion eventually charged into third place on lap six, with Pedrosa following suit two laps later. Lorenzos lead over Marquez was now 0.3 seconds on lap eight, but Rossi was unable to make an impression on the leaders, who were around 1.5 seconds clear, and was coming under threat from Pedrosa. At the half-way point, Pedrosa took third from Rossi with a move at Brooklands, but with Lorenzo and Marquez some three seconds out in front, the Repsol Honda rider was also incapable of making any inroads. Smiths race came to a disappointing end as the British rider was fighting for a top-six finish with an apparent mechanical issue on the satellite M1, leaving Iannone in sixth on the Pramac Ducati from Pol Espargaro. Pedrosa dropped back to fifth on lap 13 with Rossi and Dovizioso both finding a way past and it was clear the Brno race winner had no answer this time to Lorenzo and Marquez at Silverstone. Marquez hit the front for the first time on lap 14 at Stowe after setting the fastest lap of the race and opens a gap of three tenths. However, just when it seemed Marquez would disappear at the front, Lorenzo began to raise his game once more and closed down the Honda star, taking the lead again at Vale on lap 16 when Marquez ran in too hot and left an inviting gap. Two laps from the end, Marquez made his move with a forceful pass at the Loop, forcing Lorenzo to stand the Yamaha up as the world champion barged underneath. Marquez had lined Lorenzo up at Farm but had the door shut in his face before making the decisive pass. He put the hammer down to edge away and Lorenzo never had another opportunity to get back on terms, with Marquez once again getting the better of the two-time premier class champion in a head to head. Rossi – the last rider to win 11 times in a MotoGP season in 2005 – held on for third, with Pedrosa taking Dovizioso on the final lap. Pol Espargaro was sixth, with Stefan Bradl on the LCR Honda, Iannone, Aleix Espargaro and Redding the top 10. HERTZ BRITISH GRAND PRIX MotoGP Race Classification 2014 Silverstone, Sunday, August 31, 2014 Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap 1 25 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 173.2 4051.835 2 20 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 173.2 +0.732 3 16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 172.6 +8.519 4 13 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 172.6 +8.694 5 11 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 172.6 +9.238 6 10 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 171.5 +24.746 7 9 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 171.3 +26.717 8 8 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 171.3 +26.910 9 7 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 170.9 +33.455 10 6 45 Scott REDDING GBR GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 170.5 +39.094 11 5 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati 170.4 +40.255 12 4 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Ducati Team Ducati 170.2 +43.027
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 15:39:09 +0000
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