Spain’s Marc Marquez won the Grand Prix of the Americas on Sunday, becoming the youngest rider to win a race in the sport’s elite MotoGP series.
The 20-year-old Catalonian, last year’s Moto2 world champion, triumphed over his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, with Yamaha factory rider Jorge Lorenzo in third.
Marquez started from pole position in just his second MotoGP race, and with a time of 43minutes, 42.123 seconds finished 1.534 seconds ahead of Pedrosa and 3.381seconds in front of Lorenzo, the reigning world champion and winner of the season-opening race in Qatar earlier this month.
Photo: EPA
Marquez had finished third in Qatar in his first MotoGP start and his qualifying performance on the new Circuit of the Americas made him the series’ youngest ever pole winner.
He will go into the next race in Jerez, Spain, in two weeks atop the world championship standings — level with Lorenzo on 41 points but leading as the most recent Grand Prix winner.
Marquez said he had not expected the victory to come so early in his MotoGP career.
“To be third in my first race in Qatar was a dream and now, to take the victory in the second race — that’s even better!” he added.
“The race was quite hard, especially in terms of physical condition towards the end, with corners like turn one. I had some problems with the front that I hadn’t had in practice, but even with that, I was able to push and keep up a constant rhythm — not so fast, but enough.”
Lorenzo, a four-time MotoGP world champion, notched the 100th podium finish of his career — 10 years after posting his first with a win in Brazil in 2003.
“I never thought to get this unbelievable number of podiums so today is a magic day,” he said.
Lorenzo said the Yamaha team made progress after qualifying, learning that taking the circuit’s hairpin corners in second gear rather than first gave them better acceleration.
It was not quite enough to challenge for the win.
“Just a little bit more, maybe two-tenths quicker, and I could have fought with Dani and Marc,” he said, offering his congratulations to the young winner.
“He is a phenomenon,” Lorenzo said.
While Marquez started from pole, it was the more experienced Pedrosa who seized the lead at the start. LCR Honda rider Stefan Bradl shot into second place, but was soon overtaken by Marquez, Lorenzo and Monster Tech 3 Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow.
Marquez clung tenaciously to Pedrosa, and made his move past into the lead on the 13th of 21 laps.
Crutchlow, who was not among the small group of riders to test at the new circuit before race week, was pleased with fourth, ahead of Germany’s Bradl and Italian Valentino Rossi.
Italian Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso, Spain’s Alvaro Bautista, American Nicky Hayden and Andrea Iannone of Italy rounded out the top 10.
Pedrosa congratulated his young teammate.
“It’s just a super start to the season,” he said. “I’m really happy with my second place and now I’m just trying to get better and better for the next round.”
All three of the day’s races went to Spanish riders. Nico Terol won the Moto2 race, while Alex Rins won the Moto3 race that was marred by a wreck by Dutch rider Jasper Iwema.
Rins triumphed in a furious five-lap finish after the re-start, while Iwema, who went spectacularly airborne after losing control coming out of a turn, was hospitalized after coming down on his head.
His RW team manager Jarno Janssen said the rider was “OK.”
“Jasper refused to go to hospital because he was feeling fine, but the doctors insisted,” Janssen said.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Shahzad Khan was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
OBJECTIVE REACHED: ’Now for us, it’s about getting healthy, making sure everybody is ready to go, and we can ramp up,’ the Atlanta Hawks’ C.J. McCollum said after the game The Atlanta Hawks on Friday secured an NBA playoff berth with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers as the Boston Celtics locked up the Eastern Conference second seed with a lopsided win of their own. C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks, who came into the contest at sixth in the East and still in danger of falling into the play-in tournament that would see the seventh-through 10th-placed teams battle for the last two playoff berths in each conference. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson scored 18 points apiece, and Dyson Daniels added a triple-double of 13
RSS