MotoGP: Unstoppable Márquez smashes 43-year record at Assen
Monday, June 30, 2014 @ 10:15 AM
MARC Márquez continues to break records with his seemingly unbeatable performances in MotoGP – this time becoming the first rider to win eight races on the trot since the iconic Italian, Giacomo Agostini in 1971.
Despite missing out on pole for the second week running, the 21-year-old reigning champion sailed past the chequered flag with a 6.7-second margin on his nearest rival, Italy's Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati).
A rain-soaked 26 laps at the Iveco circuit in Assen, The Netherlands, meant careful judgment of speed and bends were crucial, and Márquez, who took the championship title in his rookie year and looks set to repeat the performance in 2014, showed a faultless strategy from the start, pulling into the lead by lap seven after passing his compatriot Aleix Espargaró (NGM Forward Racing) who was first off the grid, then easing ahead of Dovizioso.
Márquez's team-mate and fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) took third just behind the Italian after successfully passing and then holding off Espargaró, who had to work hard for his commendable fourth place.
A miscalculated tyre strategy meant Italy's Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) fell back to fifth, whilst the two relative newcomers from Great Britain – Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Cal Crutchlow (Ducati) – came eighth and ninth, behind Italian Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) and Spain's Álvaro Bautista (Honda Gresini) but ahead of Germany's Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda).
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