MARQUEZ HEADS HOME HONDA TEAM-MATE PEDROSA IN STUNNING RIDE

2014-04-13 17:26
Magnificent Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V)
was in a class of his own at the Circuit of the
Americas this afternoon, making the race all his
own, as he did a year ago, when he won his first MotoGP race at this track.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) was the only
man who got close to his young compatriot, but
even he had to give up the chase and settle for a
strong second place to put him second in the
World Championship points chase behind his team-mate.

Marquez would have led from start to finish, but
for former World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
jumping the start and leading the way, only to
ride into the pits at the end of lap one to pay
his ride-through penalty. Marquez was ahead from
then on, steadily opening a gap over Pedrosa
until he had more than five seconds advantage. He
crossed the line 4.1 seconds ahead after
surviving a lurid front-end slide at the final
corner, the result, he said, of a moment’s lack of concentration.

As last year, Marquez was the only rider on the
grid able to use the harder compound Bridgestone,
which suits his aggressive riding style. The
tactic worked perfectly, giving him his second
consecutive pole/win/lap record at this challenging, undulating circuit.

The 21-year-old has now won the first two races
of 2014 and leads Pedrosa by 14 points with 16 races still to go.

Pedrosa nonetheless had a great weekend: second
in the race, second in qualifying and riding the
second fastest lap, but there was nothing he
could do to match Marquez’s scintillating pace
and he was man enough to admit as much after the
race. For some laps he stayed close to the
leader, learning many things that may help him in
the future, but bit by bit the gap grew until he
decided to focus on keeping second place, well
ahead of a thrilling three-way scrap for the
final podium place between Andrea Dovizioso
(Ducati), Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda RC213V) and Bradley Smith (Yamaha).

Bradl did make it into third place during the
final laps, but he didn’t quite have the front
grip he needed to deal with Dovizioso, so he
ended the race in fourth place, two seconds down
on the Italian. Upset to miss the podium after
such a determined fight, he was nevertheless
happy to score his first points of the year,
after he had crashed out of the lead of the season-opening Qatar GP.

Nicky Hayden (Drive 7 Aspar Honda RCV1000R) was
the top finisher on Honda’s production racer in
11th, after a frustrating scrap with several
rivals. The last man to come past him at the end
of the race was Lorenzo, who spent his whole race
fighting his way through from last position to finish tenth.

Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive 7 Aspar Honda RCV1000R) was
12th, three seconds down on his team-mate after
starting further back on the grid. He steadily
worked his way through once his set-up and tyre
choice came into their own and enjoyed the race more with every lap.

Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing Honda
RCV1000R) scored his second points of the year in 14th place.

Alvaro Bautista (Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini
RC213V) struggled all weekend to get the best out
of his machine and yet he still gave it his all
in the race, fighting through from 12th on the
grid to run with the leading pack and move into
eighth place shortly before half-distance.
Unfortunately he then made a small mistake and couldn’t save the crash.

MotoGP rookie Scott Redding (Team GO&FUN Honda
Gresini RCV1000R) was having a great ride, until
he ran out of front-end grip and slid off without injury.

Reigning Moto3 World Champion and Moto2 rookie
Maverick Vinales (Pons HP 40, Kalex) rode like an
established intermediate-class star to win
today’s Honda-powered Moto2 race, comfortably
ahead of Qatar winner Esteve Rabat (Marc VDS
Racing Team, Kalex). The 19-year-old Spaniard
charged through from eighth place on the first
lap to overpower race leader Dominique Aegerter
(Technomag carXpert, Suter) in the closing
stages. Rabat followed Vinales through into
second but had no answer for the leader’s
stunning end-of-race pace. Vinales finally
crossed the line four seconds in front of his
compatriot, with Aegerter a further 1.3 seconds down at the flag.

Vinales was in a class of his own in a race that
had been delayed slightly due to a rain shower.
The youngster seemed able to find room to pass
where others could find none. Qatar runner-up
Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team, Kalex) was in
fine form, till the lingering effects of an old
injury prevented him from riding at 100 per cent.
At the end of the race he led the next group in
fourth place, just ahead of Simone Corsi (NGM Forward Racing, Forward KLX).

Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock, Suter) crossed
the line another seven seconds down and just
ahead of Anthony West (QMMF Racing Team, Speed Up).

There were a number of crashes, including a
multiple pile-up at the first corner. Significant
fallers included Johann Zarco (AirAsia Caterham,
Caterham Suter) who took out Julian Simon
(Italtrans Racing Team, Kalex) in the early stages.

Honda riders Efren Vazquez (SaxoPrint-RTG Honda
NSF250R) and Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0
Honda NSF250RW) played a starring role in the
thrilling Moto3 race, which was eventually won by
a fraction of a second by Jack Miller (KTM).

Vazquez was in with a chance of victory all the
way to the flag, while Marquez slid out of a
close fourth place with just a few corners to go,
having set the fastest lap of the race in the
early stages. Finally Vazquez crossed the line in
third pace, just 0.103 seconds behind Roman
Fenati (KTM) and a further 0.069 seconds behind winner Miller.

Vazquez and Miller enjoyed most of the limelight
in the 18-lap encounter, Vazquez using the
impressive speed of his Honda NSF250R to take the
lead on several occasions. In the end, however,
he didn’t quite have what it took to grab first position from the Australian.

Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda NSF250RW)
ran with Fenati for much of the race, but
couldn’t quite go with the Italian when he zeroed
in on the leaders. Alexis Masbou
(Ongetta-Rivacold Honda NSF250R) had a good race,
battling all the way to secure sixth place after
working hard with his crew to improve the race performance of his Honda.

John McPhee (SaxoPrint-RTG Honda NSF250R) rode
well to take ninth place, the second top-ten
result of his GP career. Zulfahmi Khairuddin
(Ongetta-AirAsia Honda NSF250R) was 17th, just
three seconds outside of a points-scoring finish.

The next MotoGP event takes place at the
brand-new Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo facility
in Argentina. The following weekend the action moves to Jerez, Spain.


Honda MotoGP rider quotes

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda: race winner
“I'm very happy! I got a really good start, but
when I saw Jorge overtake me off the line at
first I was a little worried, but then I saw that
he had jumped the start. It was a different race
to previous ones because I led from start to
finish; although it might seem easier that way,
it is tough because you have to maintain
concentration. It was a perfect weekend and gives
us plenty of confidence, although we are aware
that the coming races will be different. I know
that the race was a little boring for the fans,
but sometimes these types of races are good for a
rider. Let's hope that the next one is more exciting!”

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 2nd
“It was a tough race as Marc was that little
faster than me and although I tried to improve
with every corner, it was too difficult to gain
ground on him and the distance between us
increased with every lap. In the end, he was too
far away from me. I didn't have anyone behind me
either, so I just kept up my pace as best I
could. I learnt a few things in this race and we
will try to apply them and make the maximum
improvement possible, in order to be able to put up more of a fight next time”

Stefan Bradl, LCR Honda MotoGP: 4th
“First of all this race was a bit strange because
of the jump-start of Lorenzo and in the beginning
I struggled a bit to find my pace. I had to
battle with Rossi and Ducati riders in the first
laps and it took me some time to get out of that
to find my speed. After that I could go but
honestly we had a big problem with the front tyre
as it dropped down too fast. I had to slow down
and it was impossible for me to catch Dovizioso.
The tyres performance throughout the weekend was
good but in the race we had a very big problem
and I think it’s the same for many riders right
now. I smelled the podium today and it’s
difficult to accept the defeat, but we can be
happy anyway because we did a very good job.”

Nicky Hayden, Drive 7 Aspar Honda: 11th
“To be honest the race went a lot better than I
expected and obviously it was much better than
the rest of the weekend. It hasn't been an easy
Grand Prix for us, we had a few setbacks during
practice and to be honest my reaction wasn't the
best. It was hard for me to be so far off the
pace in my home race and I have to apologise
because I'm sure I wasn't easy to be around. The
team worked really hard all weekend, I gave the
mechanics plenty to do and they did their best to
give me the best possible bike. In the end we
have come away with a positive result and I had
fun fighting with a strong group of riders. The
positive thing is we have more experience with
this new bike and we know the season is long so
we have to keep going to make the most of our potential.”

Hiroshi Aoyama, Drive 7 Aspar Honda: 12th
“I think starting from 16th and finishing 12th,
we have to be satisfied and it shows the progress
we have made all weekend. I had a good start but
with us going for the hard [medium] tyre we had
to wait for the feeling to come in and as the
laps went by I was able to close on the group in
front and make some passes. In the end I almost
caught Nicky so I am really happy and grateful to
the team for giving me a great setting, the bike
worked well and I felt better than in Qatar,
especially with the front end. We still need to
build experience with this bike but a twelfth
place finish today is positive and we are on the
right lines. I want to thank the team, the
sponsors and everybody around me that helps us score results like this.”

Karel Abraham, Cardion AB Motoracing: 14th
“We always knew this race was going to be tough
because it’s a left-handed circuit, so it’s very
demanding on my injured left shoulder. Anyway, we
ended the first lap near the back and we came
through to finish the race, so we learned plenty
about the bike, and we also scored a couple of
points. Hopefully next time out the shoulder will be a bit stronger.”

Alvaro Bautista, Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini: DNF
“We knew that it wouldn’t be an easy race: I got
off the line pretty well and I found myself in
the group battling for third place. I could keep
a good rhythm and I was able to stay with them,
so much so that I even overtook a few riders.
Unfortunately, I continued to have the same
problems encountered during practice and
qualifying: at a certain point I lost the front
and I couldn’t avoid the crash. It’s been a
really difficult weekend for us, however in the
race I might be able to get a top six finish. We
will try to forget this weekend as soon as
possible: we need to reset everything and start
again from scratch, with the highest
concentration ahead of the next round in
Argentina, where the priority will be to finish the race.”

Scott Redding, Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini: DNF
“I felt comfortable for the first seven or eight
laps, but then I started to lose more and more
grip on the front tyre and my rhythm started to
drop a lot. I tried to resist, but after losing
the front several times in the end I crashed: I’m
okay, nothing serious, just a small crash. After
the race, we checked the front tyre and we
noticed that the right side was completely
ruined: it’s strange because we already had a lot
of laps with this kind of tyre during practice
and we haven’t had any problems, so we need to
investigate more if there’s been a problem with
the tyre. The bike was fine, although the battle
with Hernandez, who was passing me every time on
the straights, broke my rhythm, taking away the
possibility to try to catch the group of riders in front of me,”


Moto2 rider quotes

Maverick Vinales, Pons HP 40: race winner
“It’s an incredible feeling to win, especially my
second Moto2 race. I’ve felt good with the bike
all weekend. We spent most of our time during
practice working with used tyres. The team worked
very hard and when you work very hard you can
win. Today we had the bike to win.”

Esteve Rabat, Marc VDS Racing Team: 2nd
“It was tough – I had to go wide to avoid a
collision after the start and then Zarco touched
me, so after that I tried to find a good rhythm
and I passed many riders. The worst problem was
we had an issue with the gearbox – so when I
changed down to first it would go into neutral
and suddenly back into first, almost throwing me
off the bike. But I’m happy because we had some
problems and we still finished second.”

Dominique Aegerter, Technomag carXpert: 3rd
“After the disappointment of my engine problem at
the first race I’m very happy today. The team did
a great job and I had a good set-up all weekend,
so we got my first front-row start, which really
helped because usually I am used to having to
overtake many riders in the first laps. After the
first ten or 15 laps the front-tyre performance
dropped a little, so I couldn’t stay with the
others braking into the corners. Overall, I’m
very happy to be on the podium again.”


Honda Moto3 rider quotes

Efren Vazquez, SaxoPrint-RTG: 3rd
“That was a really important race for us. After
qualifying and practice we had a great package
with our Honda engine and the whole bike. We had
a very good top speed, which really helped on the
long back straight here, but in the end Jack was too strong!”

Alex Rins, Estrella Galicia 0,0: 4th
“We have improved a little from Qatar, but we
found it really hard to set the bike up
throughout the weekend. When I was behind Alex
[Marquez] and saw that he was getting away, I
tried to brake later. That was my mistake. When I
saw that I couldn’t keep up the same pace, I
decided to focus on the points and try not to
make any errors. The result today was both good and bad.”

Alexis Masbou, Ongetta-Rivacold: 6th
“That was a big shame because we had a good day
yesterday, improving the bike in general and
especially the Honda engine which gives such good
power. I knew it would be tough today but I
thought I could fight close to the front.
Unfortunately there was something strange with
the rear tyre and we had a lot of chatter which
didn’t allow me to ride the way I like to ride.”


RESULTS

MOTOGP
RACE: (21 laps = 115.773 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / TEAM / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / KM/H / GAP
1 / Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 43'33.430 / 159.4 /
2 / Dani PEDROSA / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 43'37.554 / 159.2 / 4.124
3 / Andrea DOVIZIOSO / ITA / Ducati Team / DUCATI / 43'54.406 / 158.2 / 20.976
4 / Stefan BRADL / GER / LCR Honda MotoGP / HONDA / 43'56.220 / 158.0 / 22.790
5 / Bradley SMITH / GBR / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 /
YAMAHA / 43'56.393 / 158.0 / 22.963
6 / Pol ESPARGARO / SPA / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 /
YAMAHA / 43'59.997 / 157.8 / 26.567
7 / Andrea IANNONE / ITA / Pramac Racing / DUCATI / 44'01.687 / 157.7 / 28.257
8 / Valentino ROSSI / ITA / Movistar Yamaha
MotoGP / YAMAHA / 44'18.949 / 156.7 / 45.519
9 / Aleix ESPARGARO / SPA / NGM Forward Racing /
FORWARD YAMAHA / 44'21.035 / 156.6 / 47.605
10 / Jorge LORENZO / SPA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
/ YAMAHA / 44'22.541 / 156.5 / 49.111
11 / Nicky HAYDEN / USA / Drive M7 Aspar / HONDA / 44'34.165 / 155.8 / 1'00.735
12 / Hiroshi AOYAMA / JPN / Drive M7 Aspar /
HONDA / 44'37.384 / 155.6 / 1'03.954
13 / Yonny HERNANDEZ / COL / Energy T.I. Pramac
Racing / DUCATI / 44'40.763 / 155.4 / 1'07.333
14 / Karel ABRAHAM / CZE / Cardion AB Motoracing
/ HONDA / 45'01.402 / 154.2 / 1'27.972
15 / Hector BARBERA / SPA / Avintia Racing /
AVINTIA / 45'05.806 / 154.0 / 1'32.376
16 / Michael LAVERTY / GBR / Paul Bird Motorsport
/ PBM / 45'05.973 / 154.0 / 1'32.543
17 / Danilo PETRUCCI / ITA / IodaRacing Project /
ART / 45'12.606 / 153.6 / 1'39.176
18 / Mike DI MEGLIO / FRA / Avintia Racing /
AVINTIA / 45'25.392 / 152.9 / 1'51.962

Pole Position: Marc MARQUEZ 2'02.773 161.6 Km/h
Fastest Lap (New record): Marc MARQUEZ 2'03.575 160.6 Km/h Lap 3
Old Circuit Record Lap: Marc MARQUEZ 2'04.242 159.7 Km/h 2013
Circuit Best Lap: Marc MARQUEZ 2'02.773 161.6 Km/h 2014

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TILL DATE:
1 MARQUEZ 50, 2 PEDROSA 36, 3 ROSSI 28, 4 DOVIZIOSO 27, 5 ESPARGARO 20,
6 IANNONE 15, 7 BRADL 13, 8 HAYDEN 13, 9 SMITH 11, 10 ESPARGARO 10,
11 CRUTCHLOW 10, 12 REDDING 9, 13 AOYAMA 9, 14 EDWARDS 7, 15 HERNANDEZ 7,
16 LORENZO 6, 17 ABRAHAM 5, 18 PETRUCCI 2, 19 BARBERA 1, 20 PARKES 1.


MOTO2
RACE: (19 laps = 104.747 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / TEAM / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / KM/H / GAP
1 / Maverick VIÑALES / SPA / Pons HP 40 / KALEX / 41'31.520 / 151.3 /
2 / Esteve RABAT / SPA / Marc VDS Racing Team /
KALEX / 41'35.529 / 151.1 / 4.009
3 / Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Technomag carXpert
/ SUTER / 41'38.843 / 150.9 / 7.323
4 / Mika KALLIO / FIN / Marc VDS Racing Team /
KALEX / 41'40.110 / 150.8 / 8.590
5 / Simone CORSI / ITA / NGM Forward Racing /
FORWARD KLX / 41'41.454 / 150.7 / 9.934
6 / Thomas LUTHI / SWI / Interwetten Paddock
Moto2 / SUTER / 41'48.507 / 150.3 / 16.987
7 / Anthony WEST / AUS / QMMF Racing Team / SPEED
UP / 41'49.081 / 150.2 / 17.561
8 / Alex DE ANGELIS / RSM / Tasca Racing Moto2 /
SUTER / 41'50.468 / 150.2 / 18.948
9 / Marcel SCHROTTER / GER / Tech 3 / TECH 3 / 41'51.240 / 150.1 / 19.720
10 / Ricard CARDUS / SPA / Tech 3 / TECH 3 / 41'56.072 / 149.8 / 24.552
11 / Takaaki NAKAGAMI / JPN / IDEMITSU Honda Team
Asia / KALEX / 41'59.983 / 149.6 / 28.463
12 / Mattia PASINI / ITA / NGM Forward Racing /
FORWARD KLX / 42'15.475 / 148.7 / 43.955
13 / Randy KRUMMENACHE / SWI / IodaRacing Project
/ SUTER / 42'15.864 / 148.7 / 44.344
14 / Sandro CORTESE / GER / Dynavolt Intact GP /
KALEX / 42'17.186 / 148.6 / 45.666
15 / Hafizh SYAHRIN / MAL / Petronas Raceline
Malaysia / KALEX / 42'20.811 / 148.4 / 49.291
16 / Sam LOWES / GBR / Speed Up / SPEED UP / 42'22.674 / 148.3 / 51.154
17 / Franco MORBIDELLI / ITA / Italtrans Racing
Team / KALEX / 42'22.851 / 148.2 / 51.331
18 / Azlan SHAH / MAL / IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia
/ KALEX / 42'23.203 / 148.2 / 51.683
19 / Axel PONS / SPA / AGR Team / KALEX / 42'23.633 / 148.2 / 52.113
20 / Tetsuta NAGASHIMA / JPN / Teluru Team JiR
Webike / TSR / 42'33.623 / 147.6 / 1'02.103

Pole Position: Esteve RABAT 2'10.135 152.5 Km/h
Fastest Lap (New record): Maverick VIÑALES 2'10.103 152.5 Km/h Lap 16
Old Circuit Record Lap: Nicolas TEROL 2'11.742 150.6 Km/h 2013
Circuit Best Lap: Maverick VIÑALES 2'10.103 152.5 Km/h 2014

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TILL DATE:
1 RABAT 45, 2 VIÑALES 38, 3 KALLIO 33, 4 LUTHI 26, 5 CORSI 22, 6 AEGERTER 16,
7 WEST 16, 8 CORTESE 11, 9 LOWES 10, 10 CARDUS
10, 11 TORRES 8, 12 DE ANGELIS 8,
13 SCHROTTER 7, 14 ROSSI 6, 15 KRUMMENACHER 6, 16 NAKAGAMI 5, 17 FOLGER 5,
18 PASINI 4, 19 SALOM 2, 20 SYAHRIN 2.


MOTO3
RACE: (18 laps = 99.234 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / TEAM / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / KM/H / GAP
1 / Jack MILLER / AUS / Red Bull KTM Ajo / KTM / 41'06.659 / 144.8 /
2 / Romano FENATI / ITA / SKY Racing Team VR46 /
KTM / 41'06.728 / 144.8 / 0.069
3 / Efren VAZQUEZ / SPA / SaxoPrint-RTG / HONDA / 41'06.831 / 144.8 / 0.172
4 / Alex RINS / SPA / Estrella Galicia 0,0 / HONDA / 41'13.841 / 144.4 / 7.182
5 / Jakub KORNFEIL / CZE / Calvo Team / KTM / 41'13.923 / 144.4 / 7.264
6 / Alexis MASBOU / FRA / Ongetta-Rivacold / HONDA / 41'26.766 / 143.6 / 20.107
7 / Francesco BAGNAIA / ITA / SKY Racing
Team VR46 / KTM / 41'27.040 / 143.6 / 20.381
8 / Danny KENT / GBR / Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo /
HUSQVARNA / 41'30.640 / 143.4 / 23.981
9 / John MCPHEE / GBR / SaxoPrint-RTG / HONDA / 41'30.691 / 143.4 / 24.032
10 / Karel HANIKA / CZE / Red Bull KTM Ajo / KTM / 41'30.881 / 143.4 / 24.222
11 / Juanfran GUEVARA / SPA / Mapfre Aspar Team
Moto3 / KALEX KTM / 41'31.476 / 143.3 / 24.817
12 / Livio LOI / BEL / Marc VDS Racing Team /
KALEX KTM / 41'41.293 / 142.8 / 34.634
13 / Enea BASTIANINI / ITA / Junior Team Go&FUN
Moto3 / KTM / 41'41.614 / 142.8 / 34.955
14 / Niklas AJO / FIN / Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo
/ HUSQVARNA / 41'41.679 / 142.8 / 35.020
15 / Miguel OLIVEIRA / POR / Mahindra Racing /
MAHINDRA / 41'42.095 / 142.7 / 35.436
16 / Alessandro TONUCCI / ITA / CIP / MAHINDRA / 41'44.965 / 142.6 / 38.306
17 / Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN / MAL / Ongetta-AirAsia
/ HONDA / 41'45.195 / 142.6 / 38.536
18 / Eric GRANADO / BRA / Calvo Team / KTM / 41'55.984 / 141.9 / 49.325
19 / Scott DEROUE / NED / RW Racing GP / KALEX
KTM / 42'09.081 / 141.2 / 1'02.422
20 / Philipp OETTL / GER / Interwetten Paddock
Moto3 / KALEX KTM / 42'09.268 / 141.2 / 1'02.609

Pole Position: Jack MILLER 2'16.342 145.5 Km/h
Fastest Lap: Alex MARQUEZ 2'16.354 145.5 Km/h Lap 3
Circuit Record Lap: Luis SALOM 2'16.345 145.5 Km/h 2013
Circuit Best Lap: Jack MILLER 2'16.342 145.5 Km/h 2014

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TILL DATE:
1 MILLER 50, 2 VAZQUEZ 32, 3 FENATI 24, 4 RINS
24, 5 KORNFEIL 21, 6 MARQUEZ 20,
7 MASBOU 19, 8 BAGNAIA 15, 9 OLIVEIRA 14, 10
MCPHEE 12, 11 KENT 11, 12 VIÑALES 8,
13 HANIKA 8, 14 ANTONELLI 7, 15 GUEVARA 5, 16 LOI
4, 17 BASTIANINI 3, 18 AJO 2, 19 BINDER 1.


NEXT EVENT: ROUND03, APRIL 27, TERMAS DE RÍO HONDO, ARGENTINA

Source: Honda Pro Image

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