MARQUEZ MAKES IT A PERFECT EIGHT AFTER DRAMATIC DUTCH TT

In true Assen style, the weather played a key part in today’s twenty-six lap race. As the riders left their garages for the starting grid, rain arrived and forced a delay to proceedings. Whilst some riders remained on the grid, Marc returned to the garage to evaluate the best course of action and to decide if they should start on slicks or wet tyres.He selected wet tyres and the race got underway at 14h20 local time.

Marc held his position from the start, and enjoyed an early battle with Dovizioso on the first lap, passing each other five times before passing him for the lead. The track began to dry quickly with a dry line emerging and on lap six most of the front runners chose to enter the pits to swap bikes for the dry set-up on slicks. They filtered back on track and began to rediscover their rhythm but Marc made a small mistake on lap eight and Dovizioso passed him to take the lead. On lap twelve rain flags were shown again and the bikes with wet set-up were prepared in the pit lane. Thankfully the weather held off and didn’t worsen, enabling the Repsol Honda riders to continue their chase.

Marc passed Dovizioso on the final turn and began to push, setting a fastest race lap (lap nineteen).

Marc has now won in every class at Assen – MotoGP (2014), Moto 2 (2012 and 2011) and 125cc (2010) – and he celebrates this eighth win in a row with his brother, Alex, who also won on his Honda in the Moto3 class earlier today. He now has a perfect 200 points from 200 and leads the Championship by 72 points over Rossi.

MARQUEZ TAKES HONDA’S 100TH MOTOGP WIN AFTER THRILLER IN CATALUNYA

It was an incredible race which started at a very high tempo in front of 92,845 spectators. Marc, third on the grid, fell to fourth on the first lap before Marc passed Dani into third on lap two, setting a new record race lap of 1’42.182 (beating Dani’s time of 1’42.358 from 2008). Valentino took the lead from Jorge Lorenzo on lap four and on lap six Marc and Jorge had a nice battle passing each other a few times, before Marc made it stick. Coming into turn one on lap seven Dani passed Jorge for third place and began to chase down his teammate Marc and on lap nine the two Repsol Honda riders passed each other twice, but Marc was able to hold onto second place.

Marc caught up with race leader Valentino and ran wide attempting a pass, briefly dropping down to third but the regaining second place immediately. Five laps later, on lap nineteen, Marc passed Valentino but saw a yellow flag, so he wanted to give back the position immediately. Dani also passed but realised something was strange so he followed Marc’s actions and conceded the position back, he kept close to the two riders battling and on lap twenty two he passed Valentino and chased down Marc.

On the final lap, both Repsol Honda riders displayed a masterpiece of riding as they passed each other four times before Dani made a small mistake and slightly touched Marc. He was forced to sit the bike up and ran slightly wide, allowing Valentino to pass him and claim second place as Marc won the race setting a new fastest race time with 42’56.914.

With his victory here in Catalunya, Marc has also become the youngest ever rider (21 years and 118 days) to win seven successive races in the premier class, taking the record from Valentino Rossi (23 years and 155 days) also riding a Honda. This victory marks the first time two brothers have won on the same day in the World Championship after Alex Marquez rode his Honda to victory in the Moto3 race earlier this morning.

Marc continues to extend his lead in the Rider’s Championship with 175 points. The next race will take place in Assen on the 28th June.

MARQUEZ MAKES IT SIX OUT OF SIX IN SPECTACULAR FINALE

From the start Marc dropped back to third briefly, but on lap three he passed Iannone and slotted in behind Lorenzo. Whilst closing the gap to Lorenzo, Marc recorded the fastest lap of the race on lap five (1’47.892) and the race began to find some rhythm, briefly.

Dani passed Dovizioso, Pol Espargaro and Andrea Iannone over the course of four laps, but Iannone – using the super soft rear tyre – was able to pass him back. During laps eleven to thirteen, the two riders battled for fourth position with Dani finally able to pass and open a gap on lap fourteen. Then on lap seventeen Marc made his move on Lorenzo. An epic battle ensued with the two riders passing each other a total of eleven times over the final seven laps, racing within inches of each other at one of the fastest tracks on the calendar. Marc made his final pass on the last lap and led to the chequered flag, beating Lorenzo by just 0.121s.

With today’s victory, Marc has become the sixth rider ever – and the first since Rossi in 2002 (also on a Honda) – to win six successive races in the premier class (along with Agostini, Hailwood, Surtees and Doohan). He is also the youngest ever rider to achieve this (21 years and 104 days) taking the record from Rossi (23 years and 148 days) when he took the sixth of seven successive wins in 2002. He has also equalled the number of career victories achieved by John Surtees, who won a total of seven World titles (four in the 500cc class and three in the 350cc class), making him the joint 14th most successful GP rider of all-time in terms of Grand Prix wins. With his tally of 150 points, Marc now extends his lead in the Championship by 53 points over second place Rossi (97), with Dani dropping to third place, just one point off the Italian.