We have made it, to the final MotoGP race of the season at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain.
No country on earth offers more rounds of the motorcycle world championship, than Spain. They have four races each year. It's the season finale at Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Marc Marquez wants the new single season win record. Valentino Rossi wants second in the championship, having won pole for the race, and who is the oldest MotoGP pole winner. This is our last race report of the season, folks.
Marc Marquez, if he wins today, can break Mick Doohan's single season win record, of twelve. He could potentially win thirteen races in a season, today. Valentino Rossi is pulling a margin out over team mate Jorge Lorenzo, for second place in the points standings. They are separated by 12 points. From sixth through tenth, and eleventh through 20th, there's lots of points on hand. We are learning more about the Bridgestone tires. Lots of changes for the 2015 grid.
Suzuki are back as a wildcard and a full factory operation. Randy de Puniet, will race today. But, he will be with Suzuki in World Superbike, next year. Pol Espargaro has had therapy to help his broken foot. Yonny Hernandez rejoins Pramac Ducati. Hiroshi Aoyama will be Honda's test rider. Aoyama will be running his last race with his current team. Casey Stoner, has also been testing the new bike on both Bridgestone, and Michelin tires. 25 entries for next year, with sixteen factory options.
Five manufacturers will be on the grid. Aprilia and Suzuki, join Honda, Yamaha, and Ducati. This track is named for two-time 50cc titlist, Ricardo Tormo, who ran, and won championships, in the late 1970s and early '80s in the 50cc and 125cc classes. For the first time since France in 2010, Valentino Rossi, will start from pole. Jorge Lorenzo is behind Rossi. Marc Marquez can break another record, as mentioned above, for the modern era single season victory record.
Nick Harris has called MotoGP for 35 years. He's seen lots of champions. But, Marc Marquez is as good as anyone he's ever seen. There have been some wonderful races. Dani Pedrosa broke the unbeaten run of ten wins, after winning at Brno. Jorge Lorenzo had to wait for his first win, but it came in the 800th premier class GP at Aragon, Spain. Valentino Rossi, at age 35, with a new contract at Yamaha, won at his home race, at Misano, in Italy. Testing starts tomorrow. But, the race is going to be a sizzler.
We've got fifteen minutes before the race starts, folks. Valencia, is the third largest city in Spain. This track was built in 1999, as the Circuito Communitat Valencia. The track has 150,000 seats. Dani Pedrosa has won six races in all three classes, at this circuit, that has been on the calendar since 1999. The bikes spend lots of time in the corners, here at Valencia, as we ride along, with Marc Marquez. If you watch the MotoGP broadcasts on Fox Sports, you know what a fabulous sound these motorcycles make, with their monster, 1,000cc, four cylinder engines, howling at full speed around the race track.
Marquez ran a 1:31.7, less than a second off of Valentino Rossi's pole time. Stefan Bradl made it through to Q2. In the shootout, six tenths of a second, separated the top eleven riders. That's close! Pol Espargaro starts sixth, ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha team mate Bradley Smith, as Cal Crutchlow outqualifies Andrea Dovizioso. Marc Marquez slid off the road. Andrea Ianonne is second. Valentino Rossi, is on pole, for the first time in over four years.
Each of the fifteen previous race winners at Valencia, has come from the front row of the grid. This race sees Stefan Bradl in his last event for Honda, as well as the last for Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso, as team mates, and at Ducati. Keep your edge, watch out for tire selection, and get a good start. Can Marc Marquez complete the Honda title sweep? Can he win a 13th race? We're about to find out. Stand by for the start.
This race, is for bragging rights, for sure. The bikes are on track. We're ready, for the start. Freddie Spencer, is also joining Nick Harris, Gregory Haines, and Dylan Gray in the commentary booth. 101,000 fans here today. 30 laps the distance. Go! At the start, Rossi gets a good start, and Andrea Ianonne takes the lead. Marc Marquez is on the inside. The Ducati has great power off the line, and we see Andrea Ianonne in the lead. Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez are going for it. Marquez wants to put his two crashes behind him.
Is there rain? Let's hope not. They run through turn twelve as Randy de Puniet is pushing the new Suzuki hard already. There are spots of rain, but nothing serious. Marc Marquez's spare bike is out in pit lane. They have to change the bikes over to wets tires. Race Director Mike Webb is giving riders a choice. We know what happened earlier in Aragon when Pedrosa and Marquez crashed. Crutchlow sits up, and almost wrecks. The rain is getting heavier.
Work quickly. Get the wet bikes ready. This is critical for the crews. The riders are not too concerned yet. In practice, with the sun out, there was concern about the asymmetric tires. We see Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow battle for fifth. Crutchlow is ahead of Dovizioso. It is now pouring with rain. Crutchlow is pushing. Are they ready? Not yet. The spare bikes need another minute. This is a tough call. Valentino Rossi runs second. The rain is now starting to subside a bit. Lets hope the race settles down.
Jorge Lorenzo is hesitant. He seems rattled by the conditions. That makes sense. A rider cannot be comfortable thinking, "oh great! I have to make up time, on a wet track!" Now, it has stopped raining. We start lap five as Marc Marquez runs fastest lap. Rossi is a second up the road. Fast lap is in the 1:53 range. Will Jorge Lorenzo pick up the pace? He did OK in qualifying. Not great. Lorenzo is trying to push. Lorenzo had selected the asymmetric tires, but then, changed his mind.
Rossi resets fast lap at 1:32.437. There's a long way to go yet. Aleix Espargaro, Bradley Smith, and Scott Redding run in the back half of the top ten. Dani Pedrosa moves ahead of Cal Crutchlow and he's a fraction quicker than Marc Marquez in the Grand Prix so far. Marquez steals fast lap. Dovizioso passes Crutchlow. Scratch that. Dovizioso passes again. You always want to beat your team mate. That's motorsport. Competition all the way. Bradley Smith passes Aleix Espargaro. Here comes Jorge Lorenzo. He's sixth.
They run into turn fourteen. No rain yet. Andrea Ianonne wants a win. He's looking for win number one, leading now. He's going to push like no tomorrow, and see what happens. Marc Marquez is about to set a new lap record. Rossi and Marquez are almost right on Ianonne's tail. Andrea, look out. You are being hotly pursued, sunshine, by two of the best in the business. The rain is now gone. We can get down to business, and just race now, it seems.
Ianonne has an injured left arm. But, he's going really well. Marquez slides under Rossi for second as Jorge Lorenzo passes Andrea Dovizioso. His tires are fading. Freddie Spencer says, "don't change anything. Let the race come to you. Be patient." This is exactly what Ianonne has done. Now, Marc Marquez is giving him all he can handle. These two blokes fought for the Moto 2 title a few years ago. Ianonne is not giving up. He has beaten Marc Marquez in Moto 2. This is hot racing, for sure. It just tightens up, and then, there's a gap.
Charge. Push like no tomorrow. But, don't rule out Dani Pedrosa. Yonny Hernandez is out. He had similar problems, with tires, as in Brno, Czech Republic, back in August. Marquez pulls out a lead. Oh! Valentino Rossi passes Ianonne. Wow. These guys are going for it. Sparks are flying off the rider's boots. This is world championship motorcycle racing, at it's best. Dani Pedrosa goes inside and passes Ianonne. Pedrosa has won Valencia races, three times.
The gap is 1.1 seconds. At the end of the lap, it could change. Valentino Rossi picks up 5/10ths of a second. Rossi is applying the blowtorch to Marquez. Marquez can tend to make mistakes, if he's pushed hard. Watch your pit board. Oh no. Randy de Puniet is out of this race. A fraught return for Suzuki. But, they'll be back next year, with two bikes. We have sixteen laps left. The rain has disappeared now. We're not even halfway through this race yet, chaps. Ooh. This is close racing between Lorenzo and Ianonne. No visible damage to Randy de Puniet's Suzuki. But, it's going to be a hard road.
Next year, Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro, will ride the bikes. Jorge Lorenzo passes Andrea Ianonne. He makes really clean passes. The bike is very stable, as he smoothly hits the brakes, and settles the bike down. There's still a long way to go. Bradley Smith runs eighth. Marc Marquez ekes out the gap. It's 1.2 seconds. We're past halfway on lap 16 of 30. Stefan Bradl, Alvaro Bautista, Scott Redding, and Nicky Hayden, are the remaining points scoring riders.
Ianonne is off the road. He overshoots the corner, and plows through the gravel trap as long as the bike isn't busted. Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa are scrapping. A shame for Ianonne as he drops down to seventh place. These lean angles are amazing. This track at Ricardo Tormo, demands that you as a rider, are easy on the throttle. You have to be very deliberate. You can't carry speed to make it up. Precision is a huge part of riding this course. Rossi is still being pursued by Pedrosa. He thinks about it. But he can't get there. Marc Marquez leads by 2.1 seconds on lap 18.
Jorge Lorenzo is almost three seconds behind Dani Pedrosa. Replay shows the rain. But thankfully, it went away. Oops. No way. We're back with more rain. False alarm. It's spitting with rain again. Marquez and Rossi remain 1-2. Drama in pit lane! Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Ianonne are going to switch bikes. We have more rain. False alarm indeed! Rossi is now 1.3 seconds behind Marquez. He's coming. The Ducati's run fourth and fifth. Dani Pedrosa is running on his own at the moment. Lorenzo and Ianonne rejoin the race togethe.r But, Lorenzo and Ianonne are 16th and 19th, respectively.
The conditions are starting to settle down again. The rain has now arrived. There are other wet parts of the track. But, time is of the essence. We have ten laps left. Jorge Lorenzo runs a 2:09 lap. He follows Alex de Angelis. Marquez has a gap over Rossi, but Dani Pedrosa is losing time to Rossi. Dovizioso and Crutchlow will battle as team mates for nine more laps, before they go their separate ways. Who will get fourth spot? Crutchlow really wants to beat Dovizioso. He's a real determined chap. But, he finished on the podium in the rain, at Aragon in Spain. Rain in Spain. Say what?
Lorenzo is nine seconds slower than Marquez. Ugh. This isn't good for Lorenzo. Aleix Espargaro flies in sixth spot. Pol Espargaro is running behind his brother. Stefan Bradl is also racing in his final event for LCR Honda. Scott Redding and Michele Pirro are ninth and tenth. Pirro, is on a third factory Ducati. Lorenzo is coming. He's going to have to go by Michael Laverty. The wet tire option is softer. Problem for Lorenzo, is, he's going to trash his tires. Crutchlow and Dovizioso still scrap for fourth.
This is a fair old dust up. Hector Barbera is running his last race on a Honda. But, Hiroshi Aoyama and Karel Abraham will both get the new bike in the test session, tomorrow. Danilo Petrucci is coming. He'll be on a Pramac Ducati next year. More rain is coming. It is getting marginally heavier now. Rossi's spare, wet weather bike is ready. But, it might not be necessary. Five laps remain now, in the 2014 MotoGP season. Rossi is 2.2 secodns behind. Jorge Lorenzo pits again, but, he is going a lap down, with the shredded tire. Lorenzo, straight into the garage. Game over.
The rain tire gets obliterated in the dry. It doesn't last for two or three dry laps. The Espargaro brothers are still scrapping. Ianonne is in the race. But, he's 22nd... caboose on the field. Marc Marquez is still stronger. Rossi can't catch him. Rossi will be the runner up to Marc Marquez in the world championship. Years ago, that wouldn't have been dreamed of, while Rossi was having a fraught time, riding for Ducati. The factory Ducati's still battle each other.
Crutchlow is not on the upgraded bike, as Dovizioso is, for obvious reasons. Three laps to go in the season. Marc Marquez will be the first rider in history, to win 13 races in a season in the whole, 65 year history, of MotoGP. Whoops. We've got more fighting for fourth, between the Ducati team mates. Dani Pedrosa has faded. Pol Espargaro leads Aleix Espargaro. This is sixth and seventh in the championship. Bradley Smith will be eighth.
Dovizioso moves ahead of Crutchlow. We're almost done with this race, and with this season. Freddie Spencer does not mind his records being broken by Marc Marquez. He has always raised his game in the races this year. What could have Marc Marquez had done on a 500cc bike? That would have been fun, with riders like Freddie Spencer, Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, and others. Marc Marquez passes Mike DiMeglio and Broc Parkes. Parkes won't be back in MotoGP next year. Half a lap to go in the season.
In 66 years of MotoGP, Marc Marquez will be the first rider, to win 13 races. Valentino Rossi gets another 20 points. But, he'll be second to Marquez. One corner to go for the world champ. He's winning his 13th rac! Marquez does it!
#93 Marc Marquez ESP. Honda
Dovizioso nips Cal Crutchlow in the Ducati battle for fourth. ...And so, the 2014 MotoGP season, comes to a close. Marquez is the winner, and the world champion. Marc Marquez passes Mick Doohan, for the single season win record. It's burnout time for Marc Marquez! He lights up the rear tire. The season is now complete. So long, everyone. See you next year. 2015 should be awesome! We'll see you, at the races.
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