Marc Marquez celebrates his 100th MotoGP race on Brno podium

At the Czech GP, Marc Marquez celebrated from the third step of the podium the special milestone of 100 MotoGP races, showing once again the reasons behind the impressive numbers of his still relatively short Premier Class career.

His 71st MotoGP podium out of 100 starts (71%) was the best result the young Spaniard could achieve today, so after sticking with Lorenzo and eventual winner Dovizioso until the last lap of the race, he ultimately settled for third. At the same time, he achieved his weekend goal of extending his Championship lead at a track where he did not feel totally comfortable. He arrived in the Czech Republic with a 46-point advantage on Valentino Rossi and left with +49.

The other statistics related to his special 100th MotoGP milestone are 40 wins (40%), 68 Pole positions (68%), and 42 race-fastest-laps (42%).

Teammate Dani Pedrosa, who started from 10th on the grid, continued to struggle in corner exits; only at the end of the race was he able to recover two positions and cross the finish line in eighth place.

Tomorrow, the Repsol Honda Team will remain at Brno for a one-day post-race test before moving on to Austria for next Sunday’s Grand Prix von Österreich at the Red Bull Ring Circuit.

Credit: HRC News

Marc Marquez about to reach the 100 MotoGP race milestone

Following two back-to-back wins and a two-week break, Marc Marquez now has the Czech GP on his radar, an event where he will hit the special milestone of 100 MotoGP races.

The landmark is a good occasion for a quick look at the amazing achievements the 25-year-old has tallied so far in his still relatively short Premier Class career. In the five seasons and 99 MotoGP races since his debut in the class at the 2013 Qatar GP, Marc has so far earned:

40 wins
70 podiums
48 pole positions
42 fastest laps
4 World Titles (the youngest-ever rider to win four premier-class World Championships)

The Championship leader looks forward to updating some of those statistics next Sunday, at a track where he won last year and where he attended a one-day private test in early July alongside teammate Dani Pedrosa, who has also been very successful at the Czech circuit through his career.

The Repsol Honda pair have achieved two 1-2 finishes at the Czech GP, in 2013 and 2017. Marc holds the Pole record of 1’54.596” (2016), Dani the Circuit record at 1’56.027” (2014).

At the Grand Prix České Republiky:

Marc Marquez has 3 wins: 1 x Moto2 (2012) and 2 x MotoGP (2013, 2017), plus an additional 3 podiums and 4 pole positions.

Dani Pedrosa has 4 wins: 1 x 125 (2003), 1 x 250 (2005), and 2 x MotoGP (2012, 2014), plus an additional 7 podiums and 2 pole positions.

 

Credit: HRC News

Marquez takes title at Sachsenring

Marc Marquez perfectly mastered a tactical race to take a stellar ninth straight win at the Sachsenring, after starting from pole position.

The reigning World Champion saved his tyres while following Danilo Petrucci and Jorge Lorenzo in the early phases, took the lead on lap 13 when he decided it was time to try and pull a gap and—in the latter stages of the race, when tyre consumption increased—managed his advantage.

Looking strictly at the numbers, today Marc took a second consecutive win from pole, his fifth victory this season, his 40th MotoGP success, and his 66th across three classes, extending his Championship lead over Valentino Rossi to 46 points with 10 races remaining. In addition, his ninth win at Sachsenring came after nine consecutive poles here, and in his 99th MotoGP race, at the season’s ninth round.

Never really comfortable with his bike’s setup during the weekend, Dani Pedrosa could only improve upon his starting-grid spot by two positions, ending the race in eighth place.

Now the Repsol Honda Team will enjoy a two-week break before heading to Brno for the Czech GP on 5 August.

 

Credit: HRC News

Dani Pedrosa announces retirement

Dani Pedrosa, of the Repsol Honda Team, has announced his retirement at the end of the 2018 season. At 4pm on Thursday 12/7/2018 at the German GP, the three-time World Champion ended speculation about his future and made the decision public, bringing his successful 18-year career to an end.

One of the most successful riders of all time, Pedrosa has the third most podiums, 54 wins and three World Championships to date before he prepares to hang up his leathers.

“Next year I won’t compete in the Championship, I’ll finish my career in MotoGP this season. It’s a decision I’ve thought about for a long time and it’s a hard decision because this is the sport I love but despite having good opportunities to keep racing, I feel like I don’t live racing with the same intensity as before and I now have different priorities in my life.”

“I would like to express how fortunate I feel to have had this experience and these opportunities in my life, it’s been an amazing life to have been racing for such an important team and in front of all the fans. I achieved way more than I expected and I’m very, very proud of what I’ve done in the sport. I’ve fulfilled my dream of becoming a racer and that’s something that I didn’t expect when I was a kid watching TV, watching riders in the World Championship. I would like to take this time to say thanks to Dorna and to Honda for giving me this opportunity way back in 1999, and to all my sponsors who’ve been with me throughout my career. I would like also to say thanks to my family, and to all the fans who supported me throughout my career and through the thick and thin, who helped me sending so many messages to overcome difficult things in the past.”

As we previously reported, Dani Pedrosa will be replaced by Jorge Lorenzo for 2019. 

For now we’ve got the German GP to keep us entertained. The action kicks off at Sachsenring this weekend.

Credit: MotoGP News

Marquez takes the win at Assen, in one of the best GP races of all time

The 70th Dutch TT at Assen will probably long be recalled by bike fans around the world as one of the best MotoGP races in the series’ history; the eight protagonists for a podium finish in yesterday’s 26-lap battle will definitely remember it that way.

The fight began when the lights went off and only ended when the chequered flag established the top-3 riders who fought in the closest top-fifteen of all time.

By that point, Marc Marquez had finally pulled a two-second gap on the chasing group, but until around three laps from the end he had been fighting tooth-and-nail with Rins, Viñales, Dovizioso, Rossi, and Lorenzo, without a moment’s pause.

The World Champion ultimately prevailed over all his opponents to take his 65th career win and his 39th in MotoGP, extending his advantage in the world Standings to 41 over Valentino Rossi.

Dani Pedrosa struggled to find a good pace in the early phases and was unable to make up ground from his back-of-the grid start. Step by step, he improved his speed and ended the race in 15th place.

 

Credit: HRC Team News

Marc Marquez scores podium in Catalunya, Pedrosa fifth

Yesterday Sunday 17th June 2018 in MotoGP, Marc Marquez took an important second-place finish in Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló, Catalunya, Spain, which enabled him to extend his Championship lead to 27 points over runner-up Valentino Rossi.

With a great start, Marc got into and through the first turn ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, who passed him on the following lap. Marquez who, outside of two non-point-scoring finishes, has so far never finished worse than second this season, stuck to the countryman for the first 9 laps of the race, looking for a chance to fight for the win. After realizing that it was too risky maintaining Lorenzo’s pace, he settled for the 20 points and a second-place position.

After a good start from the fourth row, Dani Pedrosa was able to maintain a decent pace despite struggling with a lack of grip, defending fifth position over Maverick Vinales on the final lap.

Today Monday 18th June, the Repsol Honda Team will remain in Catalunya for a one-day testing session.

Pedrosa departs, Lorenzo signed

It’s been a busy 24 hours for the HRC team in the Moto GP.

Yesterday, June 5th, Dani Pedrosa and HRC announced that they will be parting ways at the end of the 2018 Moto GP season. Pedrosa has ridden for HRC for 18 years and the ending agreement was mutual.

Although their paths will diverge, HRC and Dani Pedrosa have enjoyed a successful relationship: since 2006, when the Spaniard joined the Repsol Honda Team, he has earned 31 victories and was runner-up in the MotoGP Championship on three occasions.

This departure left a opening for a new teammate for No.93 Marz Marquez. Today 6th June 2018 HRC announced the signing of Jorge Lorenzo, the three-times MotoGP World Champion. Lorenzo will join the Repsol Honda Team for the 2019 and 2020 season.

HRC are confident that bringing two great champions with great talent together will make a stronger team and contribute to the development of HRC.

Credit: Honda Racing Corporation

Marc Marquez takes victory at Jerez

Repsol Honda’s current champion Marc Marquez took a stunning second win of the season this weekend in the Gran Premio Red Bull de España. This is the rider’s second win at Jerez.  With 16 laps to go Marquez passed Lorenzo of Ducati and then took the title.

Things did not go as well for Dani Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow of Honda who both crashed out prior to finishing.