Márquez remporte la première manche de la saison 2014 au Qatar

World Champion Marc Marquez started his MotoGP™ title defence with a victory in Qatar, beating Valentino Rossi in a close battle, with Dani Pedrosa coming home third.

Repsol Honda’s 21 year-old rider produced a gritty performance to take maximum points despite breaking his leg in preseason and missing the last two MotoGP tests.

In further drama Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo crashed out of the race lead at turn 15 on the first lap, meaning his season starts with a DNF after he had struggled with grip issues throughout the weekend.

Meanwhile, after eight laps the race was over for Stefan Bradl who had led the contest for several circulations. Coming from seventh on the grid and taking advantage of Lorenzo’s crash and some errors ahead of him Bradl was writing headlines for LCR Honda but perhaps the pressure of Marquez and Rossi on his shoulder was too much as the German slid off track.

Indeed, Marquez and Rossi then went on to have a great fight which went down to the last lap and saw the Spaniard outpace the Italian by 0.25s – with Pedrosa three seconds back to complete the podium.

An excellent ride for Aleix Espargaro saw him take fourth on his debut for NGM Forward Racing on their ‘Open’ Yamaha. Espargaro cashed in on crashes for Alvaro Baustista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) as they fell out of the podium hunt.

Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow did well in fifth and sixth respectively for Ducati Team, though Crutchlow finished 16 seconds behind his teammate after almost running out of fuel on his debut for the Italian factory.

A good first premier class race for Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) saw him beat fellow ‘Open’ Honda equipped rider Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) to seventh by a 0.035s margin.

The top ten was rounded out by Hayden’s compatriot Colin Edwards (NGM Forward Racing), riding his first race as a 40 year-old, and Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) who recovered well from a fall on the last corner of lap two.

A mistake from rookie Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) with five laps to go saw him drop down to 15^th and then pull into pits shortly after.

The riders will reconvene for the next race at the Circuit Of The Americas in three weeks’ time.

Marc Márquez, le Champion du Monde MotoGP™ 2013, se maintient au sommet du classement général à l’issue de l’ouverture de la saison 2014. Le jeune Espagnol s’est imposé sur Valentino Rossi et son coéquipier Dani Pedrosa à Losail, où Jorge Lorenzo et Stefan Bradl ont tour à tour chuté en tête de la course.

Phénomène de la saison 2013, Marc Márquez aura aussi été la sensation de la première manche du Championnat du Monde MotoGP™ 2014 ce week-end au Circuit International de Losail. Blessé un mois avant le Grand Prix Commercial Bank du Qatar, le plus jeune Champion du Monde de l’histoire de la catégorie reine avait créé la surprise samedi soir en décrochant la pole position et avait ensuite fait le pari de prendre le départ de la course sur le pneu dur, qu’il allait être le seul à utiliser.

La course allait être ponctuée par de nombreux rebondissements, et ce dès le premier tour. Parti comme une fusée de la cinquième position, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a, comme de nombreuses fois en 2013, réalisé le holeshot pour tenter d’imposer son rythme devant Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Márquez et Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) mais a attaqué trop fort et est tombé dès le premier tour. 

En tête suite à la chute du Majorquin, Bradl est lui aussi parti à la faute dans le septième tour, dans le virage n°4, laissant Márquez reprendre la première position devant Smith, Álvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) et Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), tandis qu’Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) était tombé dans le deuxième tour.

Rossi lançait alors son offensive pour s’emparer de la première position et la prenait juste avant la mi-course, tandis que Pedrosa se défaisait successivement de Bautista puis de Smith pour remonter en troisième position.

Rossi et Márquez se sont alors engagés dans un duel de haut vol qui a duré toute la seconde partie de la course et assuré le suspense jusqu’au drapeau à damier. Márquez a finalement eu le dernier devant un excellent Rossi, qui avait aussi fini deuxième au Qatar en 2013, lorsqu’il avait remporté son premier duel face au jeune Catalan. Ce dernier repartira de Losail avec un bilan absolument parfait : une pole, une victoire et déjà vingt-cinq points d’avance sur Lorenzo, le pilote qui avait repoussé son sacre jusqu’à la toute dernière course de la saison 2013.

Derrière les deux héros de la soirée, la fin de la course a été aussi mouvementée que le début. Au coude à coude avec Bautista, Pedrosa semblait condamné à se contenter de la quatrième place avant que son compatriote ne chute, à trois tours de l’arrivée. Smith, qui occupait la cinquième position, était tombé deux tours plus tôt, juste avant que son coéquipier Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) ne soit contraint à finir sa première course en MotoGP™ aux stands en raison d’un problème technique.

Ces abandons faisaient les affaires d’Aleix Espargaró (NGM Forward Racing) et d’Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), qui complétaient le Top 5 à l’arrivée. L’Italien a fini à une demi-seconde d’Espargaró et avec plus de quinze secondes d’avance sur son coéquipier Cal Crutchlow (Ducati). Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini), Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar), Colin Edwards (NGM Forward Racing) et Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) figuraient aussi dans le Top 10 tandis que Mike di Meglio (Avintia Blusens) a fini dix-septième mais aura gagné en expérience en ralliant l’arrivée de sa première course en MotoGP™.

World Champion Marc Marquez started his MotoGP™ title defence with a victory in Qatar, beating Valentino Rossi in a close battle, with Dani Pedrosa coming home third.

Repsol Honda’s 21 year-old rider produced a gritty performance to take maximum points despite breaking his leg in preseason and missing the last two MotoGP tests.

In further drama Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo crashed out of the race lead at turn 15 on the first lap, meaning his season starts with a DNF after he had struggled with grip issues throughout the weekend.

Meanwhile, after eight laps the race was over for Stefan Bradl who had led the contest for several circulations. Coming from seventh on the grid and taking advantage of Lorenzo’s crash and some errors ahead of him Bradl was writing headlines for LCR Honda but perhaps the pressure of Marquez and Rossi on his shoulder was too much as the German slid off track.

Indeed, Marquez and Rossi then went on to have a great fight which went down to the last lap and saw the Spaniard outpace the Italian by 0.25s – with Pedrosa three seconds back to complete the podium.

An excellent ride for Aleix Espargaro saw him take fourth on his debut for NGM Forward Racing on their ‘Open’ Yamaha. Espargaro cashed in on crashes for Alvaro Baustista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) as they fell out of the podium hunt.

Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow did well in fifth and sixth respectively for Ducati Team, though Crutchlow finished 16 seconds behind his teammate after almost running out of fuel on his debut for the Italian factory.

A good first premier class race for Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) saw him beat fellow ‘Open’ Honda equipped rider Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) to seventh by a 0.035s margin.

The top ten was rounded out by Hayden’s compatriot Colin Edwards (NGM Forward Racing), riding his first race as a 40 year-old, and Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) who recovered well from a fall on the last corner of lap two.

A mistake from rookie Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) with five laps to go saw him drop down to 15^th and then pull into pits shortly after.

The riders will reconvene for the next race at the Circuit Of The Americas in three weeks’ time.

Le Champion du Monde MotoGP™ s’est imposé dans une superbe bagarre avec Valentino Rossi tandis que son coéquipier Dani Pedrosa a lui aussi fini sur le podium en prenant la troisième place.

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a remporté à Losail le 250ème triomphe de Honda dans la catégorie reine (500cc et MotoGP™) en battant Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) dans un duel d’anthologie. Malgré une blessure encore douloureuse qui l’avait privé d’une bonne partie de la pré-saison, le jeune prodige de Cervera a fait preuve d’énormément d’audace pour répondre à toutes les attaques du nonuple Champion du Monde et s’offrir la première victoire de la saison 2014. 

« Je suis très heureux du résultat d’aujourd’hui, » a déclaré Márquez. « Les vingt-cinq points sont importants mais la course a aussi été importante en elle-même parce que je revenais d’une blessure qui m’avait fait manquer la majorité de la pré-saison. Ce week-end, il y avait aussi beaucoup de pilotes devant, avec un excellent rythme, et au vu de la façon dont la course s’est déroulée, c’est une grande victoire. A côté de la victoire, la bagarre avec Valentino a été la meilleure partie de la course et j’ai vraiment adoré ! »

Moins en jambe que son coéquipier, Dani Pedrosa est néanmoins parvenu à retrouver sa place dans le groupe de tête au fil des tours et était troisième, juste derrière Márquez et Rossi, suite à la chute devant lui d’Álvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini). Le Catalan n’a pas eu son mot à dire dans la lutte pour la victoire mais prenait volontiers la troisième place, sur un circuit où il avait manqué le podium en 2013.

« La troisième place est un résultat positif, » a affirmé Pedrosa. « Nous avons fini sur le podium ce week-end, sur un circuit qui est difficile pour moi parce qu’il ne convient pas vraiment à mon style. C’est donc un bon début. Nous étions proches mais étant donnée la façon dont la course s’est déroulée, avec beaucoup de chutes, l’important était de finir. Nous allons maintenant essayer de continuer à progresser et de nous battre pour la victoire lors de la prochaine course ! »

Marquez ahead of rivals as first Sepang test concludes

Repeating his dominance of the first two days, Marc Marquez concluded the first Sepang test of the 2014 preseason ahead of his rivals, thanks to a rapid early best time.

The MotoGP™ World Champion Marquez wasted no time on the final test day at the Malaysian venue, laying down a superb 1’59.533 marker in the cooler temperatures of the morning. His pace-setting lap was marginally quicker than the previous best Sepang test time of 1'59.607, registered by Casey Stoner also on the Honda prototype in 2012.

Marquez later produced a strong performance in a race simulation with 15 consecutive laps under the 2’01 mark.

The early running had seemed more like a qualifying practice than a test session with the top riders battling each other for top spot in a time attack.

Nine-times World Champion Valentino Rossi set his own personal best Sepang test time of 1’59.727, whilst Jorge Lorenzo clocked the third best time of the day with a notably quick 1’59.866 effort on just his second lap.

Like Marquez, both Yamaha Factory riders later produced longer runs as they too worked on tyre durability and fuel consumption in preparation for their battles this year with the incoming ‘Open’ class machines – which will have a 24 litre fuel limit compared to the 20 litre capacity of the Factory entries.

Showing the potential of the new ‘Open’ bikes was the consistently impressive Aleix Espargaro on the FTR Yamaha of NGM Mobile Forward Racing, with his 1’59.998 best time coming on the seventh of 43 laps. The older Espargaro brother’s pace is one of the talking points of the week and he was able to lap nearly two seconds quicker than his teammate Colin Edwards who concluded Thursday’s session 14th.

LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl (+0.579) was close behind Forward Racing’s Espargaro in fifth, despite falling at turn one early on Thursday. That was of course the corner where he fractured his ankle in October’s Grand Prix, but on this occasion he was unhurt and immediately remounted.

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa made a slower start and also had an off track excursion early in the morning, but later moved towards the business end of the timesheet, going up to sixth place with a 2’00.223 lap in the afternoon.

A decent time for Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso (2’00.370) put him seventh on Thursday, the Italian producing one of Ducati’s best ever Sepang test times. Indeed Dovizioso’s time was a 0.776s improvement on his Wednesday best and was 0.7s faster than his new teammate Cal Crutchlow’s final time, as the Englishman ended up 12th.

Both Ducati riders expect machine upgrades for the second Sepang test later this month.

Like his older brother Aleix, rookie Pol Espargaro also impressed, finishing as the faster of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 riders in eighth place, 1.122s down on Marquez’ best time.

Fellow Tech 3 man Bradley Smith was 11th overall, though he may not have been shooting for out and out pace on Thursday and will hope to improve his competitiveness if the team can secure access to the Yamaha seamless shift gearbox early in 2014.

The top ten was completed by Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, with both riders just over a second off the pace. Drive M7 Aspar’s Nicky Hayden and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Scott Redding were 13th and 21st respectively and will both hope to go faster on the new RCV1000R before the season starts.

Suzuki Test Team rider Randy de Puniet will also continue his work throughout the year in testing as he looks to close a three second gap to the front with the evolving Suzuki machine. He was 17th on the timesheet.

The majority of riders broke for lunch shortly before 2pm local time as the heat increased, with more race simulations and longer runs a key focus after the initial morning runs. The data from those longer runs are crucial for fuel economy calculations for the ‘Factory’ bikes in particular, as they have one litre of race fuel less than 2013.

A new Bridgestone tyre was also tested by the riders this week - a similar construction to that used in Valencia testing in November, with a compound slightly adapted to suit the Sepang heat. The Japanese tyre supplier will therefore hoped to have gathered useful data for improved performance in 2014.

For full lap times of all the riders see the Sepang 1 test results page. The premier class riders will be back in action at the Sepang International Circuit for further testing from 26th to 28th February.