Marc Marquez (Honda) maintains his perfect (8 wins in the first 8 rounds) 2014 campaign with another win at Assen earlier today. Mixed weather (started on a wet track that quickly dried) caused some other unusual results, with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) finishing second ahead of Dani Pedrosa (Honda). The rider who took his first ever Pole at Assen, Aleix Espargaro (Yamaha), finished in fourth.
Marquez’ points lead in the championship continues to mount. For additional details, results and points visit the official MotoGP site.
Aleix Espargo put in an impressive run, as did Dovi. Dovi seems to be able to manage the Duc much better than Crutchlow, I’m sorry to say as a Crutchlow fan. Aleix will be up on the podium soon enough. Pol may need another year, but he’ll be there too.
Marc is doing the best e can and knows. How can some people still think that he should stop doing that just to make things more interesting?
Races have been GREAT and so MM. I hope he keep on beating everibody. He is just plain GOOD!
Marquez is an unbelievably talented rider, but it would be more interesting if the races weren’t so predictable as far as overall winner goes. Dovi getting second was unexpected though.
The big question here is what’s up with Lorenzo??? He admits he was scared and having a bad day (even a champion can have one). But he is running consistently poorly since the beginning of the season. Did MM or Rossi crushed his spirit? Unusual for a 2 times world champion that is considered the smoothest rider out there.
Well he has gone on and on about the tires. That this seasons iteration from Bridgestone has not suited the M1 well at all so on and so forth. The other M1 riders have figured something out that may not be to 99’s taste tire wise.
That and MM is a beast. As much as I don’t like him or Honda I’ve got to admit they are awesome together.
Q: “Did MM or Rossi (crush) his spirit?”
A: Yamaha.
how can that be? I heard all along in 2012 that it was Spies and not Yamaha that caused his rear chatter, collapsing rear suspension and exploding engines. Yamaha wouldn’t do that would they?
Wait, what? Yamaha is paying JL millions AND to making him fail? Oh yeas, makes complete sense (NOT!)
that should read “and making him fail”
re: “Wait, what? Yamaha is paying JL millions AND to making him fail? Oh yeas, makes complete sense (NOT!)”
correct, NOT. exactly he’s already getting paid millions, which can quickly turn into MULTI-MILLIONS pissed down a rat hole trying to support a guy who starts the season -50. again, Yamaha only gives full support to one rider at a time. it is what it is. tough choices have to be made, and yes they will often conflict with YOUR personal desire to be “entertained”.
it sucks, but this shouldn’t be a new revelation…? well not for anyone paying attention…? this had already been pointed out well in advance of this. yeah, at first with ross, back with spies, then with Edwards, even WAAAY before any of this with checa/biaggi.
you’re only seeing the manifestation of a reoccurring theme. again, cannot stress enough the importance of having been paying attention.
Same argument I made to the Spies fans when they blamed Yamaha. Oh yes, they are paying him millions of dollars, and paying his crew, and his transport expenses around the world and making their product look bad by breaking down, just so an American won’t do well?
Makes perfect sense to me.
re: making their product look bad by breaking down, just so an American won’t do well?”
not that deep. unsupported things break. it’s what they do. no different than when our wife’s or gf’s car stops on the side of the road, and then when you ask her what happened…? at first she doesn’t know, but then she hits with you the little chestnut…
“oh yeah the check engine light’s been on a month”.
for some reason the browser does not allow me to reply to your last message about paying attention…
I wanted to say that you may be right Norm, I might not be paying attention, but, honestly, what EVIDENCE do you have? Sorry to be blunt but paying attention is not enough. There’s plenty of “obvious trends” and correlations that are nothing but coincidences. Norm can’t your be a case of “the interpretation that confirms my conjectures”?
#93 seems the smartest rider also, being able to pick the best tire combination and preserve them best…
Most boring season in the history of MotoGP. I had the race recorded, but when I read that Marquez and Honda had won yet again, I hit erase and went and got some exercise.
Your logic is ridiculous. There have been plenty of exiting racing this year.
Agree!
Don…you’re a dork.
Marquez running down the best riders in the world and passing them for the lead late in the race, boring? you should erase your timer.
I think I detect a hint of Don not being a Honda fanboy, to use an overworked phrase. People behind the winning team/riders tend to find the racing just fine while those that with their favored team/riders not in the winner’s circle find the racing “boring”.
Yes, for much of the first part of the race MM had to work fore it. I’m glad I recorded it.
This race was anything but boring! Even though the result of the race seems like another re-hash of every race this season, the race conditions really set this one apart.
Declared a Wet race, most riders on rain tires but a few on slicks. Then they change their minds just before start, then the track dries and everyone comes into the pits to swap bikes with dry slicks on them… When was the last time you saw pit stops in MotoGP? All the shuffling of positions and strategies was anything but boring.
Find the re-run and tape it again.
re: “When was the last time you saw pit stops in MotoGP?”
(whew, is that ever a loaded question)
A: Phil’s Isle 2013.
Another place where Marquez makes time..he hops from 1 bike to the other without touching the ground. Rossi dismounted one then remounted took a step or two and remounted the second bike? Every second counts.
I have to agree. I still give the races the benefit of the doubt but that usually involves seeing the first few laps, Marquez sprint off and fast forwarding the whole race.
You have to blame the media a little as well. They are so besotted with constantly championing Marquez and exalting him as the second coming that they fail to give any ‘sugar’ to the other riders.
They did it with Rossi meaning that the likes of Gibernau, Stoner and Lorenzo always felt they were racing against Rossi and virtually all of the fans.
Confidence does play a part in racing and hence building up more than one rider helps create a more balanced and in turn more entertaining race/season.
that Honda boffin moonlights as Sumo in his free time.
Well Dani is 5’2″, Marquez is like 5’5 or 5’6″ that would make the Honda rep about what 5’9″ ?
6′-7″, 325.
Marquez is following our new protocol perfectly.
Code word: Fuzzy Bunny = Let others feel they have a chance, then crush their spirits.
Lol
Your diabolical scheme is working perfectly my lord!
I wonder if the Yamaha brass are going to chew on JLo the way they supposedly did to Spies? If anybody has night sweats, it’s got to be JLo. This is troubling as I expected him to stand on his hind legs and fight.
This comment got the coveted “Your comment is awaiting moderation”. Is there some nun running this show?
I’m wondering if Spies is wondering the same thing?
having 2 championships on his resume doesn’t hurt JL, but you still have to wonder…
About 3 races in, I pointed out that, barring a serious crash, the championship was over. Several people had a good laugh, but it was obvious then that this man and machine combo was going to be dominant this year. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see his Honda was significantly faster than the competition. Add to that, possibly, the most talented rider, and this season was over before it began.
Re: “It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see his Honda was significantly faster than the competition.”
That’s the thing, it (and he) isn’t. He’s winning by much narrower margins that have been typical. I can’t even remember a race where he lapped any of the other riders. He’s faster/better for sure but I’m finding myself very impressed by how well he’s managing these closer wins.
I will say the Yamahas have closed the gap since the first few races, but Marquez still seems to be able to put the hammer down and pull away whenever he really needs to. Maybe Honda is telling him to let the competition stay close? They have to be concerned about whatever rule changes they may create next year, if they dominate too much.
At the first round when Marquez was setting qualifying times on hard tires and coming off an injury — that clinched the season for me. What’s more impressive to me about what Marquez is doing right now than the records set by Doohan and Rossi is that Marquez is dominating champions (including Rossi), not riders like Luca Cadalora and Sete Gibernau.
Somewhere in the middle of Texas today Ben Spies is sipping a few extra Lone Star beers…
I’d say somewhere on Lake Como actually, otherwise I bet you’re right.
oh yeah, there was a “swimming pantomime” included in today’s festivities.
How fast was he going when he pulled that little stunt do you think Norm? I was cringing the whole time hoping it wasn’t about to end in tears.
re: “How fast was he going when he pulled that little stunt do you think Norm?”
if had to guess…? highways speeds. not much faster than your typical scofflaw stunter would use running road-blocks in the mid-west…?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfIs5Mhmr_c
Rain…how to ruin a perfectly good MotoGP. Man what a bollox that was.
On another. Ote that’s Ducatis second trip to the podium. One more and the penalties begin. Wonder if there will be Tram orders..no better than 4 th from now on.
Dang.. On another note and Team orders. Sorry for the clerical errors.
re: “Wonder if there will be Tram orders”
no, you had it right. somebody’s getting “railroaded”.
Poor Crutchlow may never get a chance to stand on the steps. He’s now having the Stoner/Rossi night sweats. ” Oh, what did I do?”
Except Stoner is talented enough to ride around the bikes issues and post up a championship for the Italians like the genius he was… I really wish he’d come back.
re: “Mixed weather (started on a wet track that quickly dried) caused some other unusual results, with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) finishing second ahead of Dani Pedrosa (Honda). The rider who took his first ever Pole at Assen, Aleix Espargaro (Yamaha), finished in fourth”
ok, but what of the Factory Yamaha pairing of Ross and Jay…?
those 2 unfortunately blew qualifying like an Armstrong trumpet solo (P12/P9), so come the subsequent “well is it wet or innit” CHAOS of the race…? they couldn’t get arrested. note, this was the round everybody had Ross booked for a win.
Marquez is absolutely unbeatable at the moment. It’s an incredible spectacle to watch. The kid is damn good and the situation begs the question: where will his next real challenge come from? I can see him being untouchable right through to Michellin taking over as tire supplier. It’s amazing.
Never expected Lorenzo to collapse as he has. 8^ 0
Not good at contract negotiations time., and he says his contract is being held up because Yamaha won’t come up with enough money. He’d better start showing them something. I know he has 2 WC’s but Rossi is making him look bad ( who is also in contract negotiations) and he has 9 WC’s.
jay’s best option is to roll with it. Ross will be gone in 2 years, as such brand VR46 was likely going to get prioritized regardless. fan-sumers will be tuning in for “the last days and times” story line and Yamaha will want to capitalize on that.
however, once Ross is outta the way, his team lead status will be restored and “farm team Paul” will be second seat. despite of the lies transmitted to the outside world, jay (of all people) knows Yam internally runs a “Rule of 2” team structure. he’s only benefited from it…?
his choice, but my recommendation is to just be patient. if misery is what he seeks…? then by all means, go ride the Duc or the Zook and get your fill.