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2014 MotoGP: Marquez' Perfect 10 at Indianapolis, Colin Edwards Says Good-Bye

The 10th round of the 2014 MotoGP season was once more under the sign of history in the making, with 2013 World Champion Marc Marquez adding another victory for a perfect 10-out-of-10 record. Marquez thus becomes the first rider since Mick Doohan in 1997 to win 10 consecutive premier class races, and now has 250 points to his name.
2014 Indianapolis podium 13 photos
Photo: motogp.com
2014 Indianapolis, Colin Edwards2014 Indianapolis, race results2014 Indianapolis, start2014 Indianapolis, Marc Marquez2014 Indianapolis, Jorge Lorenzo2014 Indianapolis, Valentino Rossi2014 Indianapolis, Lorenzo and Rossi2014 Indianapolis, Dani Pedrosa2014 Indianapolis, podium2014 Indianapolis, MM932014 Indianapolis, Jorge Lorenzo2014 Indianapolis, Valentino Rossi
At the same time, his victory in Indianapolis marks the 100th premiere class victory for a Spaniard, and the 500th win across all categories. The race was tensed, with Ducati’s Dovizioso and Rossi fighting for the lead in the early stages, and Lorenzo joining the fray. However, as the two Yamaha riders fought each other, this only left Marquez with the perfect opportunity to squeeze through to the leading position, a place he retained in the end, fending off Lorenzo and managing to cross the finish line with a gap of under 2 seconds.

Rossi had to settle for third at the Brikcyard, but his position and points still made him the first rider to score over 4,000 points in the premier class. Dani Pedrosa climbed from 8th on the grid to claim the 4th place, while Pol Espargaro rounded the top 5. The Tech3 Yamaha rookie had an unbelievable save earlier in the free practice sessions, and was almost thrown off his bike, but gripping the bars really well allowed him to avoid what could have been a terrible accident.

The tow 10 was completed with Bradley Smith, Andrea Dovizioso, who gradually fell back after battling for the lead in the early laps, his team mate Cal Crutchlow, Scott Redidng for another great results, and Hiroshi Aoyama.

Indy also saw a lot of riders forced to abandon, by means of crashing or technical problems. Leon Camier, substituting for Nicky Hayden, had to retire, just like Andrea Iannone. Stefan Bradl hit Aleix Espargaro, damaging his bike and forcing the Open class leader to retire, Barbera lashed with Danilo Petrucci, while Alvaro Bautista too Yonny Hernandez out in the very first lap.

Colin Edwards, who rode in special camo leathers, finished 13th and announced that this was most likely his last race for the year. He will be present at some more rounds, including Silverstone in the UK, but he will appear as a wildcard or just hang out with his team. He will still be involved with NGM Forward Racing through the end of the year, but as a developer for the bike, and not as a racer.

Giovanni Cuzari, NGM Forward Racing:

“I’d like to thank Colin Edwards for everything he has done for our team. Our adventure in MotoGP has started thanks to him. Two times World Superbike Champion and successful rider in MotoGP, he accepted the challenge of the CRT project with us, scoring the first ever pole position and CRT win in Qatar 2012 in the year debut of this new class. From that race we have constantly grown, improving the results.”

Colin Edwards:

“It has been a great weekend here at Indy with lots of support from the family, the friends and the team. I’m not 100% certain about how many races I will do until the end of the season but for sure I will be in Silverstone, whether I will be racing or not. I have big support there and I cannot miss this appointment. I am thinking about my future, the different possibilities. I’m happy and I look forward to the second part of my life.”

Ahead of the Czech Republic round at Brno, Karel Abraham’s proper home round (his family owns he circuit), Marquez leads with 250 points, followed by Pedrosa (161), Rossi (157), Lorenzo (117) and Dovizioso (108).
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