When Marc Marquez won his 10th consecutive MotoGp at Indianapolis, his dominance in the event was already a foregone conclusion. In MotoGP history, the 21-year old Spaniard created a new landmark that looked difficult to be broken. His 10th August commanding victory in the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix track was an unrelenting show of superiority over everyone else in MotoGP. In his trademark way, Marquez led in his Repsol Honda to finish the race 1.803 seconds, ahead countryman Jorge Lorenzo, who rode the Yamaha. Spain was a proud nation that day as Marquez’s win signaled the 100th race win for a rider from Spain in motorcycle’s top class racing. If all categories were to be included, Spain also recorded the 500th win for Spanish riders in the entire FIM-sanctioned road-racing categories.
Marquez’s victory equaled the record of Mick Doohan, who had also recorded modern-era’s 10 consecutive victories in 1997 season. At the end of Indianapolis MotoGP, Marquez added further to his championship lead over his Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa to 89. Pedrosa finished fourth and 10 seconds behind Marquez. Next man Valentino Rossi dropped 93 points behind while Lorenzo is way back at 133 on the fourth place. Marquez’s win also embellished his amazing record in USA, where he had won 7 Moto2 events dating back to 2011, when he was just 18 years old. In addition to his four victories in Indianapolis, he has also won at the Circuit of the Americas and Mazda Raceway, Laguna.
On August 24, 2014, season’s 11th MotoGP race was held at Brno in the Czech Republic. Marquez had won the pole during the practice sessions before the main event. He was the top favorite for the first podium finish and all set to record his 11th win this season to break Mick Doohan’s record of 10 consecutive victories. No one doubted his credentials on race day but as fate would have it, his long winning streak was shattered by his Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa. Beginning at the fifth place on the grid, Pedrosa went into the lead after overtaking Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo with 17 laps remaining. While Pedrosa moved ahead, he was chased by Valentino Rossi as well. But Rossi had to remain content with the third position as Lorenzo was right behind Pedrosa at the chequered flag. Marquez was trying for his record-breaking 11th consecurive MotoGP win but despite starting on pole, he dropped to sixth place early in the race. He did his best, and near the finish line, rallied to the third spot. However, Rossi did better than him and beat Marquez to the third place. Pedrosa did 22 laps of 5.403-kilometer each in 42:47.80 minutes to win his career’s 26th MotoGP title. On second place, Lorenzo was 0.410 seconds behind his Movistar Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi’s difference with Pedrosa was 5.259 seconds. Marc Marquez was a disappointed man to finish fourth, 10.454 behind Pedrosa.
With Pedrosa’s win at Brno, the manufacturer Honda established a new record for the longest sequence of successive wins since the MotoGP class was introduced in 2002. Therefore for Honda, even after Marquez’s setback, team Honda still held the 100% win record for 2014 thus far. After Brno, Marc Marquez was philosophical when he said that the loss had taken a weight off his shoulders as people would stop asking him if he could win every race. He confessed that he didn’t feel comfortable at Brno and his bike set-up was far from perfect.
With the prestigious British Grand Prix at Silverstone MotoGP scheduled for August 31, 2014, Marquez is still the runaway leader with 263 points. His Repsol-Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa is second at 186 and Rossi, third on 173. Including Silverstone, seven races still remain this season. The outlook for Silverstone is still quite bright for Marquez despite the setback in the Czech Grand Prix. Last year, Marquez was locked in a head-to-head duel with Jorge Lorenzo, before losing out to the Yamaha rider. Marquez was close behind by less than one tenth of a second.
This year, Marquez will strive for his first victory at Silverstone to join the celebrated riders of the past. Valentino Rossi is the world’s most experienced rider to contest the 500cc or MotoGP class as he rides his 246th Grand Prix race at Silverstone by surpassing 245 starts by Alex Barros. Rossi was the champion, when Marquez was still a toddler and over the years the celebrated Italian has recorded 80 GP victories, 154 podium finished and 49 pole positions. He has also had 68 fastest race laps and 7 world titles. Though Rossi has never won at Silverstone, the coming Sunday could change that. As per the MotoGP media, however, Marc Marquez looks the most favorite despite his loss in Czech Republic on August 24. There are many talented riders in the MotoGP class these days but the overwhelming opinion is that Marquez will bounce back at Silverstone.
