REPSOL Honda’s Marc Marquez has continued his winning streak at the seventh MotoGP round in Catalunya finishing half a second in front of Valentino Rossi.
Despite leading for the majority of the race, Movistar Yamaha’s Rossi found himself in a tricky position with the two Repsol Honda men, Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, putting on the pressure only for the Doctor to make a last-minute mistake.
The Repsol Honda team-mates were at play as 21-year-old Marquez luckily survived Pedrosa touching his rear wheel in the closing few laps which cost the older Spaniard second position.
Rossi’s Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo crossed the line in fourth by 4.540s unable to keep up with the pace of the leading three.
Stefan Bradl finished fifth, but did manage to stick with the leading four up until mid-race. Both Bradl and Pedrosa are just about coming back to fitness after arm-pump surgery was performed at the beginning of May.
The two Espargaro brothers followed each other round the Catalunya circuit to finish in sixth and seventh. The older brother, Aleix, showed his younger brother Pol how it was done finishing two seconds ahead of him.
Andrea Dovizioso finished top Ducati in eighth as his team-mate Cal Crutchlow was forced to retire due to a mechanical fault. Andrea Iannone finished a respectable ninth with Bradley Smith finishing in tenth – 8.654s behind his rookie team-mate Pol Espargaro.
Thanks to Marquez’s seventh consecutive win of the 2014 MotoGP season, it has ensured that Honda have reached their milestone of 100 wins in the MotoGP four-stroke era.
Writing yet more history, Marquez and his younger brother Alex Marquez, who rides in the Moto3 Championship, won their Grand Prix races on the same day.
Race results:
1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team 42:56.914
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 42:57.426 (+0.512)
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 42:58.748 (+1.834)
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 43:1.454 (+4.540)
5. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP 43:8.062 (+11.148)
6. Aleix Espargaro* ESP NGM Forward Racing 43:11.127 (+14.213)
7. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43:13.041 (+16.127)
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team 43:13.089 (+16.175)
9. Andrea Iannone ITA Pramac Racing 43:14.954 (+18.040)
10. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43:21.695 (+24.781)
11. Yonny Hernandez COL Pramac Racing 43:34.067 (+37.153)
12. Scott Redding* GBR Go&Fun Honda Gresini 43:39.835 (+43.299)
13. Nicky Hayden* USA Drive M7 Aspar 44:40.213 (+43.407)
14. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team 43:52.071 (+55.157)
15. Hiroshi Aoyama* JPN Drive M7 Aspar 43:56.105 (+59.191)
16. Broc Parkes* AUS Paul Bird Motorsport 43:57.820 (+1:00.906)
17. Michael Laverty* GBR Paul Bird Motorsport 43:58.198 (+1:01.284)
18. Colin Edwards* USA NGM Forward Racing 44:3.035 (+1:06.121)
19. Hector Barbera* ESP Avintia Racing 44:22.109 (+1:25.195)
20. Michel Fabrizio* ITA IodaRacing Project 44:37.579 (+1:40.665)
DNF. Mike Di Meglio* FRA Avintia Racing
DNF. Cal Crutchlow GBR Ducati Team
DNF. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini
DNF. Karel Abraham* CZE Cardion AB Motoracing
