In the equatorial heat of Malaysia, the last thing you want to do, is wrestle a motorcycle around a race track, especially if it rains. But if you think that's a fun way to spend a Sunday, man, you are in the right place. Two races are left in the season. Marc Marquez has a 13th pole of the season. We've also got a battle between the Yamaha team mates. Valentino Rossi has momentum, after his win in Australia last weekend. This is the penultimate round of the MotoGP world championship. Also, in Australia, it was the first podium sweep for Yamaha since 2008, with Bradley Smith on the Monster Energy backed bike, third.
Andrea Ianonne will not race after a fall yesterday. The new asymmetrical tire used in Australia will not be in use here in Malaysia. But, it will be in use in two weeks at the season finale in Valencia, Spain at Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Asymmetrical tires came about because of needing to stabilize temperatures on both sides of the tire, depending on how the tracks are configured. It is a challenge to make a tire behave like a symmetric tire, but run differently. Bridgestone has developed the tires, right up to their final races in MotoGP, before Michelin takes over as tire supplier, next year.
This is the 15th time MotoGP has run in Malaysia. In 1991, there was a race at another trackcalled the Shah Alam circuit, as the season finale of the championship. At that time, American John Kocinski was the winner of the 500cc Grand Prix event, with Italy's Loris Capirossi taking honors in the 125cc class, and fellow Italian Luca Cadalora, winning the 250cc race.
Marc Marquez has pole and there were some injuries to some of the riders. Marc Marquez needs two more wins to break Mick Doohan's single season win record. The Sepang track is the third one to host this race. It was built in 1998 by Formula One track designer Herman Tilke. Dani Pedrosa won this race last year, but sadly, it is also the place where Italian rider Marco Simoncelli, lost his life in a fatal accident. It is the third track to host the Malaysian GP along with Shah Alam and a one-time appearance, at Johor, in 1998.
In qualifying, it was dry, but hot. Andrea Ianonne has an injured arm and will not race. Pol Espargaro also had a big crash, and so did Hiroshi Aoyama. Aleix Espargaro is seventh. Valentino Rossi could only manage sixth. Andrea Dovizioso, and Stefan Bradl had good performances. Jorge Lorenzo has his ninth front row start, and we have a Repsol Honda 1-2 with Marquez and Pedrosa at the front. Marquez becomes the first 13-time polesitter in MotoGP history.
58 degrees Celsius is track temperature, and that's 137 degrees Fahrenheit! Hot, hot, hot! 22 bikes will start this race. The track temperature, throttle control and tire degradation, and maintain concentration. It's going to be a tough, wild race, from a steamy venue in Sepang, Malaysia. We are ready, for the penultimate MotoGP race of 2014, folks. It's going to be a doozy.
Pride and redemption are on the line, right now, in the Grand Prix of Malaysia. Lets go racing, folks. Rossi, Lorenzo, and Pedrosa are still going for points positions. We have one more race, after this one. 82,000 people are attending this race. The bikes grid up. Let's go. It's too hot. Marquez wants his first MotoGP win here. 20 laps. Go!
At the start, Aleix Espargaro shoots through and it's the Honda's and Lorenzo running together as some run wide. Dani Pedrosa is in the lead. Lorenzo and Marquez got together. Cal Crutchlow and Aleix Espargaro battle, and Bradley Smith is in this scrum, too. Stefan Bradl and Andrea Dovizioso are also up there as the bikes race into turn nine. Lorenzo passes Dovizioso. Lorenzo and Dovizioso run the harder tire.
Lorenzo has the position. Marc Marquez is sixth. Some of these boys are going to have to recover. Lorenzo has. Stefan Bradl wants by Dani Pedrosa. They race back up into turn four. Oh no! Aleix Espargaro and Alvaro Bautista have both crashed. It's game over for both. Poor Aleix Espargaro. He's out, again, after taking out his aggression on the bike at Philip Island a week ago. Valentino Rossi is right behind Dani Pedrosa. Marquez goes by Dovizioso as the Honda and the Ducati almost touch.
Oh no! Dani Pedrosa loses the bike, and he's out of it! Marquez runs fast lap. Pedrosa loses the front end and the two-time Malaysia winner in 2012 and 2013, has a pear shaped race this year. It's the two Yamaha's leading. Marc Marquez is setting new lap records. Marquez is closing up on Rossi under braking. Lorenzo leads this race right now, chaps. There's only one factory Honda now. Bradley Smith and Yonny Hernandez are a bit farther down as Lorenzo runs wide. Lorenzo is still leading.
But, it's as close as you like. Marc Marquez has been crashing, but, he wants a twelfth win. These cats are earning their money today in this sweltering Malaysia heat. Lorenzo is on the hard compound tire while Rossi and Marquez run the medium compound Bridgestone. Lorenzo has never won a MotoGP race at Sepang, nor has Marquez. Rossi has won at Sepang, six times. Yonny Hernandez is in eighth and Hiroshi Aoyama is tenth. But, poor old Cal Crutchlow is out. It's been game over for him in the last three races.
Rossi wants Lorenzo into the corner and... not this time. The Bautista and Espargaro crash, is a question mark as to who crashed into who. Marquez has to win today, and at the finale in Valencia in two weeks. With Dani Pedrosa out, Lorenzo will have breathing room in the championship. They fly up to turn four, again. Andrea Dovizioso and Stefan Bradl are still running in the top placings. Bradl has had a good weekend so far. They run into the braking zone at turn nine. Yamaha team manager Lynn Jarvis believes they are equal to Honda. At least that is what he has told the Italian press.
Fourteen laps to go now. We work lap six. Nicky Hayden is out of this race now! Ugh! Hayden is the 2006 MotoGP world champ. Dani Pedrosa is back up, but he's caboose on the field and has no chance at second in the championship chase. Michael Laverty is running in the points and Alex de Angelis is also up there. Lorenzo leads Rossi and Marquez. This has been an intense race for the whole time. In the hot conditions, it's not hotter than it was yesterday in practice and qualifying. Watch the drop off on the front tire, towards the end of the race.
Has Marc Marquez got anything left in the locker? Lorenzo deliberately runs wide into the left hand turn, chopping across Valentino Rossi. Rossi is pushing Lorenzo, and wants to get by. Rossi has to conserve the medium tires. He wants to let Lorenzo do the heavy lifting. Or, not? Rossi is right up on lorenzo. Dani Pedrosa is way back in 15th. Marquez is coming, and coming fast. He wants by Rossi. The three best riders in the world are going at it hammer and tongs. Eleven laps to go. Another epic MotoGP race, chaps. We've seen many this year.
Rossi is definitely having a go. Lorenzo is pushing, and pushing hard. Here comes Rossi! He's in the lead now! Oh! Lorenzo wants it, but can't get it. Rossi runs wide and slams the door in Lorenzo's face, and here's Marquez! Marquez is right on Lorenzo's tail. He runs wide and gets through. Lorenzo comes back, but he can't quite make it. Eleven laps down. Halfway. Eleven to go. Rossi wants back-to-back GP wins for the first time in five years.
These boys are not giving each other an inch. Marquez is closing on Rossi. Lorenzo is dropping back a bit. We saw some tire drop off at Philip Island, and we are seeing the same thing here. Rossi and Marquez have found the sweet spot with the medium tire as Rossi runs wide. Marquez leads. But Rossi is still going for it. Rossi tries to get by a wide Marquez bike. Nope. Not now. Rossi has to go for it, and he almost touchs Marquez! This is a humdinger! Rossi needs to attack. Push, push, push, sunshine.
Rossi may be able to pass. Here he coms on the brakes. Nope. Left, and then, flick it right going uphill. Dani Pedrosa is now 12th. Rossi tries Marquez again, steaming down the straight. Eight laps left now. Marquez is pushing. Whoa. Marquez runs wide again. The crowd is going nuts! They are very much Rossi fans. Dani Pedrosa is back into eleventh spot. But, he's not going to make second in the championship. Rossi attacks Marquez for the lead. Into turn nine. The slowest corner on the track.
Rossi is really pushing. Rossi made his debut here in Grand Prix racing in 1996. Rossi goes in deeper, and poor old Dani Pedrosa crashes again! Game over. Six riders have retired now. We have sixteen finishers, apparently. We had fourteen at Philip Island last Saturday. Just six laps to go now. This race is going to come down to the wire. Pol Espargaro passes big brother Aleix for sixth in the championship. Lorenzo is going to finish third. Marquez leads the way with five laps left. Rossi wants number three. Marquez wants win number twelve.
Marc Marquez struggles with mid corner speed in the faster corners. Turn fifteen is the favorite overtaking spot on this track. Four laps to go. Andrea Dovizioso has lost two spots. Bradl and Smith go by. Could Dovizioso have a problem with his Ducati? He may have brake fade, and he's adjusting his right hand braking from the left hand side of the bike. Stefan Bradl and Bradley Smith are going to finish well. Marquez is opening a gap on Rossi, and it looks like he's going to make it to the end.
Three laps left now. We're 18 of 20 into this one. Jorge Lorenzo is losing time on the hard compound Bridgestone tire. Dovizioso is passed by Pol Espargaro. Hector Barbera is ninth, having passed Alex de Angelis. Hiroshi Aoyama has had some trouble, going off, and then, rejoining. Marc Marquez will seal the constructors world title for Honda, and the team title for Repsol Honda. Marquez is going to tie Mick Doohan's record of 12 wins in a season. Oops. It will seal the constructors title, but not the teams title. We're into the penultimate lap. Two left. Marquez has not won since Silverstone in England, back in early September.
Andrea Dovizioso continues to fall down the order. Marquez will get his first MotoGP win at Sepang, and his second win at the track, having won the 125cc race in 2010. One lap, 3.5 mils to go, for Marquez's record equaling 12th win. Stefan Bradl is being hounded by Bradley Smith in the tussle for fourth. Smith is not close enough to Bradl. The harder tire might be coming in just at the end of this race. Lorenzo is closing on Rossi and we see Smith closing on Bradl, too.
This is a hot scrap for fourth. These two need a spot, but also, need points. Marquez will get his 12th win. Marquez is back on the top step of the podium!
#93 Marc Msrquez ESP. Honda
Bradl goes for it, and gets the fourth spot over Smith after Smith runs wide. After his crash, Pol Espargaro finishes sixth. Yonny Hernandez did well, along with Dovizioso, Hector Barbera, and Scott Redding. Hiroshi Aoyama is eleventh, Michael Laverty, Mike DiMeglio, and a couple other riders finish. Marquez is now equal with Mick Doohan, who was a five-time champion in the 500cc class.
...And then, there was one. We will have one race remaining in MotoGP 2014, in Valencia, Spain, in two weeks time.
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