Unstoppable Marquez equals Doohan as most successful Honda rider

A tenth win of 2019 for Marc Marquez wrapped up the Constructors Championship for Honda after an inch-perfect ride in Japan.

Victory for Marc Marquez at Honda’s home round in Motegi earned Honda the Premier Class Constructors Championship for a record 25th time. As a result, Honda claim both the Riders and Constructors Championships in the same year for the 20th occasion as they celebrate the 60th Anniversary of competition. It also marks Honda’s 70th Constructors Championship across all classes.

Launching perfectly off the line, Marc Marquez went around the outside of his competition to lead through the first corner. Fabio Quartararo tried to respond to the pace of the eight-time World Champion, but within just three laps Marquez had an advantage of over one second and followed it up with successive flying laps. By lap 13 the gap had grown to two seconds and the reigning World Champion switched his attention to managing the race. Crossing the line 0.870s ahead of Quartararo after easing his pace in the closing laps, the Repsol Honda Team rider continued his perfect record of top-two finishes in 2019. The victory is the tenth 2019 and his fourth in a row, the first time Marquez has achieved four-straight wins in the premier class since 2014.

 

Taking his 54th win in the premier class, Marc Marquez draws level with the legendary Mick Doohan as the most successful premier class Honda rider. The 14 podiums, 13 of them in succession, of 2019 also move Marc Marquez to 350 World Championship points, just 33 points shy of Jorge Lorenzo’s all-time premier class points record of 383 with 75 points still to play for.

Making his 200th premier class start, Jorge Lorenzo battled through a difficult start to the Japanese GP. Lorenzo crossed the line in 17th position and while not satisfied with the result, is pleased with his improved feeling and pace aboard the Honda RC213V in the closing laps. The finish saw Lorenzo reduce the margin between himself and the race winner to its smallest margin since his return from injury – a trend he will look to continue at Phillip Island in just a week’s time.

The MotoGP World Championship now heads directly to round 17, the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island from October 25 to 27.

2019 Repsol Honda Team livery revealed in Madrid

Marc Márquez and Jorge Lorenzo were joined by Repsol Honda Team legends Mick Doohan and Alex Crivillé to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Repsol Honda Team.

The two world champions were joined by the world’s press at Repsol’s headquarters in Madrid to unveil the livery in which they will chase the 2019 crown.

Having taken eight of the last nine world championships in the premier class, Marc Márquez and Jorge Lorenzo form a perfect team to celebrate the 25thanniversary of HRC and Repsol joining forces. The first riders to run in these now iconic colours, Mick Doohan and Alex Crivillé, were also able to join the special presentation to share their memories from 1995 onwards.

The riders were joined on stage by Tetsuhiro Kuwata, Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) Director, and Antonio Brufau, CEO of Repsol who both outlined and emphasized their plans for continual success. Carmelo Ezpleta, the CEO of Dorna and Begoña Elices, the General Director of Communications and board member at Repsol were also in attendance.

From the Honda NSR500 of Doohan and Crivillé to the RC213V of Márquez and now Lorenzo, the HRC machines have taken 168 victories in the premier class, 14 World Championships, 427 podiums, 182 fastest laps and 177 pole positions together with Repsol, forming not only the most iconic pairing in Grand Prix racing, but also the most successful. Among these accolades, the Repsol Honda Team have also produced four dominating titles for Mick Doohan, the first Spanish 500cc World Champion in Alex Crivillé (1999) and the youngest MotoGP™ champion in history – Marc Márquez. Now they celebrate their 25th anniversary and aim for even more success in the future.

Marc Marquez will now begin his final preparations for the Sepang Test (February 6 – 8) where he and the RC213V will debut the 2019 livery for the first time on track. Meanwhile, Jorge Lorenzo is set to commence an intense physical therapy routine in order to be as fit as possible for the Qatar Test (February 23 – 25). Finally the 2019 MotoGP™ season begins in under the floodlights in Qatar (March 07 – 10).

Marquez wins spectacular Aragon battle to take his sixth win this season

On a sunny and hot Sunday at Aragon Marc Marquez took a gamble and won, choosing a soft rear tyre over a more familiar hard spec, in the end winning a fantastic three-way battle with title contender Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Lannone and extended his Championship lead to 72 points with five races to go in the 2018 MotoGP season.

Today’s brilliant success is not only Marc’s fifth at Aragon and sixth win this season, but also his 67th career victory and 41st in MotoGP, meaning that he is now tied with Mike Hailwood (41) for fourth place on the list of riders with the most GP wins with Honda, behind Jim Redman (45), Dani Pedrosa (54), and Mick Doohan (54).

Dani Pedrosa took a solid result in fifth place, displaying a good pace during the entire race and finishing close to the front group.

In less than two weeks the Repsol Honda Team will fly to Thailand for the first race in the Country to be held at the Buriram International Circuit.

Credit: HRC News

Marquez dominates at Le Mans for superb victory hat-trick

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team RC213V) roared to his third consecutive MotoGP victory yesterday at sun-soaked Le Mans to boost his quest for a fifth MotoGP World Championship crown in his sixth season in the premier-class.

This latest success for the 25-year-old Spaniard is his 38th MotoGP victory, which moves him to fifth equal in the all-time winners list, alongside Honda’s 2011 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner, with only Jorge Lorenzo, Mick Doohan, Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi ahead of him.

Marquez made a steady start to the race, completing the first lap in fifth position, then waited until his tyres were delivering optimum performance before he began pushing towards the front. Marquez now holds a 36-point championship lead over Maverick Vinales, who won last year’s French GP but finished seventh yesterday.