World champion Marc Marquez (Honda) won his 13th MotoGP race of the year earlier today at Valencia, breaking the all-time single season win record previously held by Mick Doohan. Finishing second today was Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi, who claims the runner-up spot in the championship. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) finished third.
During the race, Marquez decided to remain on slicks despite light rainfall during a portion of the race, which was ultimately the correct decision.
Pictured above are all three GP champs this year, including Esteve Rabat (Moto2), Marc Marquez (MotoGP) and Alex Marquez (Moto3). The Marquez brothers are the first siblings to win Grand Prix titles in the same year since Grand Prix racing began in 1949.
For additional details, results and points, visit the official MotoGP site here.
btw, I would be remiss if I forget to mention the lil’ self-sendoff done by Colin Edwards at the end of the Fox sports broadcast. if you blinked you missed it.
Despite the most common announcement from Fox was “This huge race development just happened during the commercial break”, coverage was pretty good this year.
Particularly I have to say I miss having Freddie Spencer in the commentator booth. It was great to hear his voice with Nick Harris.
Fast Freddie was a good announcer and has great insight as to what is really happening. Spain has a strangle hold on Moto racing. We need DMG to go over there and level the playing field, maybe mix in a little NASCAR mentality. That knock down those pesky Spaniards.
Spain and Italy both support motorcycle road racing. They have programs for their youth and groom them from a very early age. You will see little but Spaniards and Italians in MotoGP for the forseeable future. If an American father has a promising young roadracer, his best move for the kid would be to move to Spain.
re: “his best move for the kid would be to move to Spain…”
…renounce citizenship and be assimilated by the BORG!
When JJ Abrams takes on the Borg concept, we are all screwed! Borg will be vicious.
Re: “We need DMG to go over there and level the playing field, maybe mix in a little NASCAR mentality. That knock down those pesky Spaniards.”
Yellow flag! “Debris” on the track!
US racing simply needs to attract more investment so it can return to being a de-facto professional sport that can cultivate and promote world-class talent. Right now there’s note even enough money in it to keep the best guys interested in racing (Blake Young?).
re: “money”
just so we’re all clear, this MONEY he speaks of…? it ultimately comes from YOU/ME/WE/US.
if we haven’t “come off it” (then NO) they won’t have it. it’s literally that simple.
speaker, you have the floor.
“US racing simply needs to attract more investment”
They need to figure out how to get more consumers to attend races or watch them on TV, or the investment will never come. Investors are going to demand less risk this time around: there are too many more profitable places to stick their money.
I don’t know what the answer to that conundrum is, but I hope they figure it out.
First we they have to figure out how make make many more people interested in street motorcycles. Once the joy of riding a street bike is realized, then the enjoyment of watching someone else ride one very fast can be realized.
re: “They need to figure out how to get more consumers to attend races or watch them on TV”
re: “First we they have to figure out how make make many more people interested in street motorcycles.”
therein lies the rub, solving this problem (long term) first starts with acknowledging that motorcycling is inherently LIMITED in it’s appeal. even me (Norm G) has had to personally come to grips with this fact over the years. true story.
Norm I had the same epiphany… In 1972 I went into the motorcycle industry thinking someday America would be like Europe, crowded with motorcycles everywhere. In 1989 I left the industry in 1989 after coming to the realization that no matter how much it costs, Americans would rather drive behemoth vehicles that keep them warm, cool, dry and entertaining with electronic gizmos in the dash, headliner and back of the seats. The only Americans that are going to ride motorcycles, are the ones that truly WANT to ride motorcycles.
re: “The only Americans that are going to ride motorcycles, are the ones that truly WANT to ride motorcycles.”
^ this.
The last thing anybody (fans, not race promoters) need is any NASCAR mentality.
re: “The last thing anybody (fans, not race promoters) need is any NASCAR mentality.”
whoa whoa, lets think about this for a moment. our ignorance/prejudice towards NASCAR and it’s fanbase might be blocking us from learning something here (well not me, my brain’s 100 years ahead on the evolutionary timeline).
when i look at NASCAR fans i see a collective who attend their events EN MASSE, support their drivers/competitors, and don’t balk at leaving their money behind.
to see anything else suggest (to me anyway) one has YET to adapt and overcome the ills of tribalism, jealousy, envy, etc.
It has been better. My peeve in regards to all motorcycle coverage and Fox is not keeping the camera on the rest of the field as they cross the finish line. There have been many races for lower positions that come down to the wire that are not seen because either a commercial has to happen or we have to see friends and family of the victor hug each other in the pits. I don’t like that.
If you aint first, you’re last (in Hollywood NASCAR vernacular.)
In the end it was out of Millers hands, but he did his best and I hope his career just keeps getting better.
The most promising takeaway from this season has to do with Rossi’s attitude heading into next season. If you will recall, at this time last year he was worried about whether he could be competitive enough in 2014 to want to continue racing. His goal was merely to snag some podiums and again feel like he’s one of the top four consistent frontrunners. There were no thoughts of competing for the championship. Compare and contrast those doubts to his post-race comments on Sunday. Now he is openly talking of wanting and needing to take that next step: beating Marquez, and winning his tenth world title.
Of course that may not happen, but I sure do like the idea of a championship-motivated Valentino Rossi focusing all his thoughts on beating just one guy. It sure beats hearing him expressing doubts as to whether he can still even compete on level terms with the likes of Dani Pedroza, much less Jorge Lorenzo. Knowing now that he can in fact beat #99, which is something he hadn’t done in a long while, frees him up to set his sights squarely on beating #93.
Similarly, at this time last year Marquez was only worried about Dani and Jorge. He’ll be singing a different tune, heading into 2015.
Well said!
+1
Rossi is amazing for his past achievements, and even more so for his recent ones! When everyone else was scratching their heads at MM and the way he just blew past the fast “aliens”, Rossi (and Lorenzo) must have really put their heads together to pick their movements up a notch, and really compete with MM. Rossi was better at it right away, Lorenzo struggled early in the season, but really got it turned up later.
It will be great to see all three of them (and Pedrosa, if he is still interested) to really go head to head next season!
The onus now is on Yamaha. Rossi has proven to the Tuning Fork boffins that he is in it to win it, so now it’s on them to give him (and Jorge, too) a fighting chance by bridging the acceleration/braking chasm that currently exists between the M1 and RC213V.
re: “now it’s on them to give him (and Jorge, too) a fighting chance by bridging the acceleration/braking chasm that currently exists between the M1 and RC213V.”
“can’t get there from here”. (old filling station owner along RT85 New Mexico voice)
Re: “the acceleration/braking chasm that currently exists between the M1 and RC213V.”
I’m not seeing that when I watch. I think it’s tire wear related to setup. The Yamaha seems to match the Honda on power & braking until the tires start going down. Rossi trades fast times with Marquez through the 1st half of the race then fades. Others have displayed this more dramatically (Iannaone, Dovizio, Lorenzo) when they’ve been fast early.
Except that both Rossi and Lorenzo have been singing the same, consistent refrain for two years now: “The Hondas have us covered on corner entries and exits. They’re more stable under braking. They can brake harder, and later, then they gap us on acceleration, every time.”
Yamaha closed the gap a bit the second half of the season, but they still were not competitive on the tracks with longer straights. I think Yamaha will have a very difficult time catching Honda in the power department, in one season, but the thing I’ve learned watching MotoGP is that things can change substantially from one year to the next, especially as it relates to handling. Next year’s Hondas may have trouble with tire wear. You just never really know.
Marquez is a great rider, quite possibly the best. I raised the question, earlier this year, whether or not he would have been as dominant had he been on a Yamaha with Rossi and Lorenzo on Hondas. He may still have won a championship, but I don’t believe he would have won nearly as many races on a Yamaha. A lot of people seem to give the rider all the credit when, in fact, it is the combo of man and machine that really determines who wins at this level.
I don’t think there is any doubt that Marquez and Pedrosa win fewer races if they swap rides with Rossi and Lorenzo. I mean, come on.
re: “they still were not competitive on the tracks with longer straights.”
which make up almost half the series now. everything’s BIG in Texas…? yup and the 1200 meter straight at COTA lives up to the billing.
re: “it is the combo of man and machine that really determines who wins at this level.”
we’re quickly approaching a decade and a half into the 21st Century. its all about the RISE OF THE MACHINES.
Overall, it was a good season for the MotoGP fan!
I am now very depressed. Season’s over. The cold weather is setting in here in the North. Sad, very sad.
Aye…this
The racing was pretty decent the second half of the season, for the most part, after a boring first half. Marquez still won more than his share, but at least we had some fairly competitive races at the front.
Enjoyed the MotoGP season very much! Marquez proved he is without peer this season. Rossi proved once again he still has it. Yesterdays race between Crutchlow and Dovisioso was entertaining. Good to see Pedrosa on the podium again. Congrats to the Marquez brothers, that’s pretty cool. ..and to Rabat although I don’t follow Moto 2 or 3. I did watch the Moto 3 race and it was like watching bumble bees pouring out of a hive. Don’t know how they keep from knocking each other over like bowling pins.
All in all, it’s been fun and I’m sad to see it come to an end. What will I do at 4 or 7 a.m. Next Sunday? Lol
re: “What will I do at 4 or 7 a.m. Next Sunday?”
Macau GP, Abu Dhabi F1, 12 rounds of BSB on Velocity (round 6 just recorded, check your local listings). enjoy.
mickey, for all you do, this 48th Macau grandprix is for you…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUzAZCZV9dQ#t=41
0:17…
wait for it! wait for it!
Perfect timing Norm. I rode my ST 1300 yesterday morning (15 th day riding out of 16 in November…I try to ride every day). This morning we got 5″ of snow. I hate snow. Housebound! Ugggggggg
After I plow the drive I will sit down and watch this.
it looks as though MM in the photo is on a bike that doesn’t appear to have slicks…
guess they wheeled out the “rain” bike real quick…? of note, this is the first time I’ve seen this shot done with the crowd in the background. usually it’s tumbleweeds. pretty cool to let the fans “photobomb”.
Good spotting! Could be the rain bike like Norm G says, or sometimes I’ve noticed teams using a set of rain tires for just rolling the bikes around the paddock. Either way, a little hint that this wasn’t the setup he just crossed the finish line with. 😉
I like the crowd in the background as well!
The great thing about MOTO GP is that these riders really have a level of class that is missing in other forms of motorsport. I would specifically mention NASCAR, but that kind of goes without saying.
Great year for MotoGP, right down to the final Sunday!
re: “the runner-up spot”
euphemism for FIRST LOSER…?
re: “The Marquez brothers are the first siblings to win Grand Prix titles in the same year”
was quite the barn burner in Valencia town centre. the last name “Pedrosa” no longer gets a word in edgewise.
Norm, the party isn’t in Valencia…. it’s in a little town outside of the track called Cheste. I went there a few years ago for the Valencia round and I have never witnessed a party like that. The party only slows a little when the sun comes up. Seeing as it’s a Spanish mop up in all three classes, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that town burn to the ground!
re: “the party isn’t in Valencia… it’s in a little town outside of the track called Cheste”
correct, but then there’s the problem of people not knowing from Cheste…? 🙂
tell someone you’re visiting Barber and they’d think you’re going to Birmingham right…? not so much, you’re actually going to Leeds (20 miles east).
same for VIR. why the SAM HILL am I in Milton NC…?