Photo: motogp.com
The last racing weekend of 2014 is over and the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia saw quite a lot of action for the final showdown of the season. Valentino Rossi prevented Marc Marquez from adding another pole to his name and claimed the first position on the grid, followed by a surprisingly fast Andrea Iannone aboard the Pramac Ducati machine and with Dani Pedrosa third on the front row.
Lorenzo led the second row, with Marquez and Pol Espargaro behind him. Save for Yonny Hernandez, all the Ducati bikes, including that of the factory’s test rider Michele Pirro slotted in Q2.
Iannone led the race debut and his pace was exceptional, but it looks like the tire management and the bike are not top-spec yet. He started to slow down one third into the race and was overtaken by the top riders. Even more, he and Jorge Lorenzo have played the rain card and pitted to swap the bikes. To their dismay, rain did not start and the track dried. Iannone was lapped, while Jorge Lorenzo decided to withdraw, especially as his third position in the championship was not be threatened by anyone.
Marquez finally got past everyone and Rossi tried to keep up with him while fending off attacks from behind. Marquez no longer made mistakes and clinched his 13th victory this season, becoming the first-ever rider to do so. The previous record belonged to Mick Doohan, who won 12 rounds in a single season.
The same happened with the Espargaro brothers, as the younger one Pol was 0.284s faster than Aleix. Their 6th and 7th positions in the race also coined their placement in the 2014 season. Aleix Espargaro also became the best Open class rider, one title he has also been enjoying in the CRT days.
Stefan Bradl, Michele Pirro and Scott Redding have completed the top 10 in Valencia. The race was shorter for Hernandez and De Puniet as both have been forced to retire due to technical problems.
Frankly, seeing Suzuki’s wildcard appearance ending this way must be a bit frustrating for team boss Davide Brivio. The first official test of the 2015 season has just kicked off in Valencia this morning and it will be interesting to see how the riders are coping with their new machines.
Finally, the Valencia round also marked a first in the history of Grand Prix racing, as this is the first time when two brothers become World Champions in the same year. While we knew that Marc Marquez was the 2014 champion in Motegi, his brother Alex was also crowned as a Moto3 World Champion. Who said that MotoGP is becoming dull? And just wait to seee Alex Marquez steeping up to the premier class in a couple of years or so...
Iannone led the race debut and his pace was exceptional, but it looks like the tire management and the bike are not top-spec yet. He started to slow down one third into the race and was overtaken by the top riders. Even more, he and Jorge Lorenzo have played the rain card and pitted to swap the bikes. To their dismay, rain did not start and the track dried. Iannone was lapped, while Jorge Lorenzo decided to withdraw, especially as his third position in the championship was not be threatened by anyone.
Marquez finally got past everyone and Rossi tried to keep up with him while fending off attacks from behind. Marquez no longer made mistakes and clinched his 13th victory this season, becoming the first-ever rider to do so. The previous record belonged to Mick Doohan, who won 12 rounds in a single season.
Team mate against team mate, brother against brother
Fierce battles have been fought behind the top three riders, with the two Ducati factory pilots Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow offering quite a show. Their struggles went to the line, as the Italian was only 0.068s faster than the Manx rider in their last race together in full red liveries.The same happened with the Espargaro brothers, as the younger one Pol was 0.284s faster than Aleix. Their 6th and 7th positions in the race also coined their placement in the 2014 season. Aleix Espargaro also became the best Open class rider, one title he has also been enjoying in the CRT days.
Stefan Bradl, Michele Pirro and Scott Redding have completed the top 10 in Valencia. The race was shorter for Hernandez and De Puniet as both have been forced to retire due to technical problems.
Frankly, seeing Suzuki’s wildcard appearance ending this way must be a bit frustrating for team boss Davide Brivio. The first official test of the 2015 season has just kicked off in Valencia this morning and it will be interesting to see how the riders are coping with their new machines.
Finally, the Valencia round also marked a first in the history of Grand Prix racing, as this is the first time when two brothers become World Champions in the same year. While we knew that Marc Marquez was the 2014 champion in Motegi, his brother Alex was also crowned as a Moto3 World Champion. Who said that MotoGP is becoming dull? And just wait to seee Alex Marquez steeping up to the premier class in a couple of years or so...
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