Marc Marquez’s amazing MotoGP rookie run continued on Sunday with victory in the Indianapolis Grand Prix, the Honda rider’s fourth win of his debut season.
The 20-year-old Spaniard took over the lead on lap 13, diving under Jorge Lorenzo on turn two.
Marquez led the rest of the way, finishing the 27-lap race in 44 minutes, 52.463 seconds. His countryman and Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa was second, 3.495 seconds back.
Photo: AFP
Yamaha rider Lorenzo, the reigning world champion, was third, 5.704 seconds behind the winner.
Marquez began his first MotoGP campaign in April with a third-place finish in the season-opener at Qatar.
At the Circuit of the Americans race in Austin, Texas, later that month, he became the youngest rider in series history to win a pole and a race.
He has failed to reach the podium only once this year, after a crash at a race in Mugello in June.
With his win on Sunday he completed a sweep of the season’s three US races. He also won at Laguna Seca last month.
“I didn’t make such a good start, but I knew before the race that the most important part was toward the end of the race.” Marquez said, who notched his third straight win and fourth of the season.
He also won in Germany.
“I just tried to follow Dani and Jorge,” he said. “Then I tried to attack. Now we go back to Europe, and we would like to continue,” said Marquez, who became the first rookie to win three consecutive premier-class races since American Kenny Roberts in 1978.
Roberts’ wins came at Austria, France and Mugello.
Riders from Spain swept all three World Championship classes at Indy for the third time in four years. Esteve Rabat won the Moto2 race and Alex Rins won the Moto3.
Marquez leads the MotoGP standings after 10 of 18 races with 188 points. Pedrosa is second on 167 and Lorenzo third on 153.
For Lorenzo, the race marked a return to fitness after he was hampered by a broken collarbone.
Although fatigue was a factor for him late in the race, he now returns to the European circuits friendly to the YZR-M1 in full fitness and just 15 points behind Pedrosa in the standings.
Lorenzo’s teammate Valentino Rossi of Italy struggled early and managed to steal fourth place from Cal Crutchlow on the last lap.
The result keeps Rossi in fourth in the overall standings with 130 points, three clear of Englishman Crutchlow.
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