Photo by Gold & Goose
Jorge Lorenzo won the race in Motegi Sunday, but his victory was slightly overshadowed by second-place Marc Marquez earning enough points to clinch the 2014 MotoGP World Championship. While he couldn’t hold pace with Lorenzo, Marquez did what he had to do and won out in a scintillating battle with Valentino Rossi and then was able to hold on to finish 1.638 behind Lorenzo for second to score his second straight world championship, appropriately enough at Twin Ring Motegi, a track built by Honda.
The Grand Prix of Japan, round 15 of the 18 race MotoGP Championship, saw 42,856 fans in attendance hoping to see a bit of history made.
Rossi led the 24-rider field into the first turn. Andrea Dovizioso ran second for the first half of the lap, but then it was Lorenzo moving up to make it a Yamaha one-two. Series leader Marquez, starting off the front row for only the second time this season, was caught up in traffic in the first turn, but quickly he began to move ahead and ran fifth in the early going.
Cal Crutchlow was the first to crash out of the GP on lap two.
On lap three Marquez moved by Andrea Iannone and was steadily closing on the leading trio.
On lap five Lorenzo made an aggressive late dive on the inside of Rossi to take over the point. Dovizioso looked for a moment like he might try to go too, but Rossi cut off his line at the last second. Dovi meanwhile was now being hounded by Marquez.
Once out front Lorenzo put the hammer down and began to slowly gap the other three in the lead group. By lap eight he was 0.827 seconds ahead of Rossi, having added nearly a half second in a single lap.
On lap nine Marquez made his move to third, getting past Dovi. Now he was looking at the tailpipe of Rossi. At this point of the race if he passed Rossi he would have enough points to clinch the championship. Rossi was sure to fight as hard as possible to keep the Honda rider behind him.
By lap 11 Marquez looked very eager to get by Rossi. Rossi was being pushed hard enough by the would-be champ that they actually closed the gap by a tenth on Lorenzo.
Mid-stages and it was Lorenzo building up his lead again. Rossi was tentatively holding off Marquez for second. Pedrosa closed in on Dovizioso and needed to get by him if he was to have any chance to close in on the leaders. He made just that move on lap 13 and cleared about two second behind the Rossi-Marquez battle.
With ten laps to go there was exciting exchange between Rossi and Marquez that saw Marquez squeeze into second, only to be repassed by Rossi a few turns later. While they sparred it allowed Lorenzo to push his lead to over two seconds.
On lap 16 Marquez again went to second and this time Rossi had no reply. This was the pass that gave Marquez the points he needed to secure his second straight title.
Nicky Hayden came back from a morning crash, which might have put his healing wrist to a test, and had a good race battle, pulling away from Scott Redding late to secure 14th.
In the closing laps Lorenzo remained solid and kept his lead steady at about 2.5 seconds. Marquez seemed to sense trying to chase down the leader might be too risky and since the championship was his with a second, he had no real incentive to push the limits. He was actually closed on in the final laps by Rossi and Pedrosa, but was able to pick up his pace enough to hang on to the all-important runner-up finish.
Marquez and his Repsol Honda team were jubilant after the race.
“It’s special,” said Marquez, the youngest ever back-to-back champion. “People think the championship was easy and that I’m always smiling, but it was hard. There was pressure. I made a few mistakes in the last races but it’s great to win the championship at Honda’s home circuit.”
For Lorenzo it marked his second straight victory. He seemed happy to be on a late-season roll.
“Finally we’re back after a difficult season,” said Lorenzo, who tied the legendary Mick Doohan with 54-career GP victories. “We won in Aragon but here we expected more. I had to overtake some riders and was in second came very soon. I decided to pass Valentino and was then at the limit. Marc was fast and was catching me a lot. Marc is a deserving champion because he’s been the best this year.”
Rossi seemed happy with his effort. “I try the maximum with Marc at the end,” he said. “I want to try and keep up in the championship. But he was too strong in braking. It’s a shame as Marc and Jorge were faster than me. I think it’s the highest level weekend of the season, always on the pace. I’m worried because Jorge recovers a lot and is just three points behind. It will be difficult but also fun!”
The series moves next weekend to Australia’s Phillip Island.
Grand Prix of Japan MotoGP results from Motegi, Oct. 12, 2014
1. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 42m 21.259s
2. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 42m 22.897s +1.638s
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 42m 23.861s +2.602s
4. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 42m 24.416s +3.157s
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 42m 35.612s +14.353s
6. Andrea Iannone ITA Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 42m 37.912s +16.653s
7. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 42m 40.790s +19.531s
8. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 42m 41.074s +19.815s
9. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 42m 44.834s +23.575s
10. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 42m 56.946s +35.687s
11. Aleix Espargaro ESP NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 43m 1.927s +40.668s
12. Katsuyuki Nakasuga JPN Yamalube Racing Team with YSP (YZR-M1) 43m 12.286s +51.027s
13. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 43m 12.352s +51.093s
14. Nicky Hayden USA Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 43m 17.051s +55.792s
15. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici) 43m 20.348s +59.089s
16. Scott Redding GBR Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RCV1000R) 43m 20.767s +59.508s
17. Alex De Angelis RSM NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 43m 37.806s +76.547s
18. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART) 43m 49.280s +88.021s
19. Mike Di Meglio FRA Avintia Racing (Avintia) 43m 50.729s +89.470s
20. Broc Parkes AUS Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART) 43m 54.512s +93.253s
21. Yonny Hernandez COL Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) DNF +38.741s
22. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (RCV1000R) DNF +38.741s [
23. Danilo Petrucci ITA IodaRacing Project (ART) DNF +38.741s
24. Cal Crutchlow GBR Ducati Team (Desmosedici) DNF +38.741s
