Jorge Lorenzo wins at Valencia as Marquez becomes MotoGP™ World Champion

Having already made himself the youngest premier class race winner and pole-sitter as well as registering numerous other records, Marquez now becomes the youngest ever World Champion and takes the mantle away from Freddie Spencer.

At the same time, the 20-year-old from Cervera, Catalunya becomes the first rookie World Champion for 35 years, following in the footsteps of Kenny Roberts from 1978.

Lorenzo made his plan clear over the opening laps. Having shot through into the lead, the title winner of 2010 and 2012 attempted to slow the pace as last year’s victor Pedrosa ran second from Marquez, Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing). Having avoided incidents on a selection of occasions, tipping point came on Lap 10 as Pedrosa overhauled Lorenzo but was instantly pushed wide at Doohan corner, leaving Marquez in the lead. The overtaking maneuver is being reviewed by Race Direction and a decision will be made post-race.

Lorenzo retook the top spot just a lap later, while Bautista pressured Rossi before dropping to fifth and the recovering Pedrosa rose to third before being waved through by Marquez on the 26th tour. By this point, knowing Marquez would still become World Champion, Lorenzo put the power down to win for the eighth time this year (two more victories than Marquez) by almost four seconds. Pedrosa collected his 13th rostrum of the season, with Marquez sealing the world title in a comfortable third.

Elsewhere, Rossi signed off his partnership with long-time Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess in fourth place, ahead of Bautista as LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl finished sixth from Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Bradley Smith and Ducati Team trio Nicky Hayden (in his last race for the Italian marque), Andrea Dovizioso and Michele Pirro. Aleix Espargaro finished 11th in the last event to feature the CRT label, while Cal Crutchlow crashed out of his final Grand Prix with the Tech3 outfit.

Six riders failed to make the finish: Damian Cudlin (PBM), Lukas Pesek (Came IodaRacing Project), Yonny Hernandez (Ignite Pramac Racing), Randy de Puniet (Power Electronics Aspar), Andrea Iannone (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) and the aforementioned Crutchlow, while Remus Racing Team wildcard Martin Bauer successfully completed the distance on his second MotoGP™ appearance.

Attention now turns to pre-season testing in Valencia, starting on Monday and to be streamed live and interactively on motogp.com. The 2014 campaign will kick-off in Qatar on Sunday 23 March, with Marc Marquez heading to the Losail International Circuit as the 26th premier class World Champion.

Moto2: Nicolas Terol takes great win at home race

Terol took a great victory at his home race in the GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana Moto2™ contest, with teammate Jordi Torres second and Johann Zarco third, after a photo finish with Simone Corsi.

New Moto2™ World Champion Pol Espargaro crashed out on lap eight when leading comfortably and he eventually finished in 29th position. Meanwhile Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding clinched second in the standings, finishing 15th in the race, riding through the pain barrier with his injured wrist.

 

Terol clinched a third win of the season by a clear four second margin, taking full advantage of Espargaro’s error. The race winner’s colleague Torres made it a great day for the Aspar Team Moto2 team, coming home second after overtaking NGM Mobile Racing’s Corsi with five laps to go.

 

There was more disappointment for Corsi as he was beaten to the line by French Came IodaRacing Project man Zarco by just 0.001s.

 

Esteve Rabat (Tuenti HP 40), Alex de Angelis (NGM Mobile Forward Racing), Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing), Anthony West (QMMF Racing Team), Mattia Pasini (NGM Mobile Racing) and Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert) all finished in the top ten.

 

Hafizh Syahrin, a wild card rider for Petronas Raceline Malaysia, crashed out early in the race, as did Rafid Topan Sucipto (QMMF Racing Team). Japanese rider Kohta Nozane, a JIR Moto2 substitute, also suffered a DNF, but all riders were uninjured in the final race of the Moto2™ season.

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Moto3:  Maverick Viñales wins race and title at Valencia

The Moto3™ title was decided on the last lap at the GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana with Maverick Viñales winning the race and the championship, as Jonas Folger came home second and Alex Rins third. Luis Salom crashed earlier in the race and finished 14th.

In a dramatic conclusion to what has been an intriguing Moto3 title battle it was Team Calvo’s Viñales who had the last word, taking his first win since Le Mans – only his third victory of 2013 – before he moves up to Moto2™ next season.

Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) missed out in the final stages as Viñales made his move, with German Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 rider Folger coming through for second place on the final straight. If he stays in Moto3 next year Rins will surely get another title shot.

There was heartbreak for Red Bull KTM Ajo man Salom who crashed out on lap 15, dropping the front end at turn five, having gone into the race as the standings leader. Meanwhile Jack Miller (Caretta Technology – RTG) also hit the deck in the final stages when fighting for a podium finish.

Alex Marquez  (Estrella Galicia 0,0) finished fourth and again showed why he should be a regular podium and victory contender in 2014, whilst Efren Vazquez (Mahindra Racing) finished in the top five, having started tenth.

The top ten for the final race of the season was completed by Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold), Isaac Viñales (Ongetta-Centro Seta), Ana Carrasco (Team Calvo), Philipp Oettl (Interwetten Paddock Moto3) and Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing).

Niklas Ajo walked away from a high speed crash at turn 3, whilst Livio Loi hit the deck on lap 14 after clashing with Francesco Bagnaia and John Mcphee was also unable to finish the race following an early accident. All riders escaped unhurt.