Posted on 11th August 2014
IMS success for unstoppable Marquez as he wins tenth successive race
MotoGPâ„¢ World Champion Marc Marquez won his tenth consecutive race on Sunday at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, with Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi joining him on the podium.
The victory saw Repsol Honda's Marquez become the first rider since Mick Doohan in 1997 to win ten successive premier class races. It was also the 100th win for a Spanish rider in the premier class and the 500th win for Spain across all categories.
On Lap 11 of the first MotoGP contest at the modified Indianapolis track, Marquez took advantage as Lorenzo joined the battle with Rossi for the lead, the World Champion squeezing through to take over at the front and not looking back – eventually finishing just under two seconds clear at the front.
Lorenzo got the better of his teammate Rossi for second, after the Italian had held the lead in the early stages fending off a challenge from Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), who started well but faded to seventh. In finishing third Rossi becomes the first rider to score 4,000 premier class points.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) finished fourth as he came through from eighth on the grid, gambling on a harder front tyre.
Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) rode well to finish fifth with his teammate Bradley Smith crossing the line sixth after suffering a heavy crash on Saturday in which he aggravated an old finger injury.
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) was 20 seconds behind his seventh placed teammate Dovizioso in eighth, with Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) just behind Crutchlow at the finish in ninth. Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive M7 Aspar) completed the top ten but there was bad luck for his substitute colleague Leon Camier who retired with six laps to go.
There were also retirements for Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) and Danilo Petrucci (IodaRacing Project) due to technical issues. In addition, at Turn 4 of lap one Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) crashed out with Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing).
On lap 13 Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) and Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) clashed as Bradl crashed out and Espargaro's bike was badly damaged forcing him to pull off track, having initially tried to continue.
Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) stopped with a problem on lap 17, having been well placed in eighth.
MotoGPâ„¢ Race Classification
1- Marc Marquez. SPA. Honda. 42:07.041
2- Jorge Lorenzo. SPA. Yamaha. +1.803
3- Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha +6.558
1st OPEN
9- Scott Redding GBR Honda +40.507
Moto2â„¢: Kallio cruises to victory in restarted Indy contest
In a restarted Moto2™ race at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix pole man Mika Kallio scored a runaway win, with Maverick Viñales and Dominique Aegerter joining the Finn on the podium.
Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team) held his nerve to charge to victory around the modified Indianapolis Motor Speedway track in a shortened 16-lap contest, with the initial race cut short by a red flag due to a crash involving Azlan Shah (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), Anthony West (QMMF Racing Team), Mattia Pasini (NGM Forward Racing) and Randy Krummenacher (IodaRacing Project).
The incident took place at Turn 10 on lap 4 of the first race with the red flag coming out as Pasini was initially unconscious after the crash as medics quickly arrived. Pasini walked away and was taken to hospital for precautionary scans, whilst Krummenacher's machine was damaged and he was unable to participate in the restarted race despite the best efforts of the Octo IodaRacing Team.
The race was restarted for 16 laps with the riders in their original grid positions and Kallio repeated the great start that had seen him build up a lead of over two seconds in the original race.
He would eventually cross the finish line 1.38s ahead of impressive rookie Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40), whilst Technomag carXpert rider Aegerter's good form continued in third.
A mistake from Tito Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) with two laps to go under pressure from Viñales dropped him from second to fourth, allowing Kallio to close to within seven points of the championship leading Spaniard in the standings.
Simone Corsi (NGM Forward Racing) and Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) both finished in the top six. Meanwhile, Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia), Alex De Angelis (Tasca Racing Moto2), West and Johann Zarco (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing) completed the top ten.
In the restarted race there were crashes on the first lap for Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2), Josh Herrin (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing) and Julian Simon (Italtrans Racing Team) at Turn 1. All riders were ok but Jonas Folger (AGR Team), Xavier Simeon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Luis Salom (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) were also caught up in the accident.
Simeon subsequently crashed out four laps later, and Salom and Franco Morbidelli (Italtrans Racing Team) would then collide on lap 6 of the restarted contest. Salom finished 26th whilst Morbidelli was unable to continue.
Thitipong Warokorn (APH PTT The Pizza SAG) crashed in the final stages but remounted to finish 27th.
Moto2â„¢ Race Classification
1- Mika Kallio FIN Kalex. 26’07.410
2- Maverick Viñales. SPA Kalex +1.380
3- Dominique Aegerter. SWI. Suter. +1.696
Moto3â„¢: Vazquez takes first career victory at Indianapolis
The Moto3â„¢ race at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix brought a first career win for Efren Vazquez, with Romano Fenati and Jack Miller joining him on the podium.
In the first race at the modified IMS track a great battle saw a front running group pull away in the early laps with the lead changing hands throughout the 23 lap contest, only for Vazquez (SAXOPRINT RTG) to secure maximum points for the first time – in his 116th Grand Prix ride.
Italian rider Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46) had held the lead in the final stages but missed out by 0.065s on the finish line in second place, whilst Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took third to keep his title challenge going.
A remarkable ride saw Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold) just miss the podium after he started 11th and dropped to 30th on the first lap, incredibly fighting back to contest the lead – eventually finishing fourth.
Spanish teammates from the Estrella Galicia 0,0 outfit Alex Rins and Alex Marquez finished fifth and sixth respectively, with Rins holding the lead at the half way stage after coming from 12th on the grid.
Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing), Juanfran Guevara (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3), Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) and Jakub Kornfeil (Calvo Team) completed the top ten.
John McPhee (SAXOPRINT RTG) crashed out at Turn 4 on lap one, pushing Niklas Ajo (Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo) and Masbou off, though Masbou was able to recover whilst Ajo would later crash out himself.
There were crashes too for Gabriel Ramos (Kiefer Racing), Alessandro Tonucci (CIP Mahindra) and Matteo Ferrari (San Carlo Team Italia), though none of them were seriously hurt. Francesco Bagnaia (SKY Racing Team VR46) retired due to a technical issue.
Moto3â„¢ Race Classification
1- Efren Vazquez SPA Honda 39’12.977
2- Romano Fenati ITA KTM +0.065
3- Jack Miller AUS KTM +0.219
Photos courtesy of motogp.com
Great Valentino Rossi piece by www.grahamandleigh.co.uk
