Marquez wins 10th successive race

MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez won his 10th consecutive race at the Indianapolis Grand Prix on Sunday, August 10, 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 10 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.

Australia’s Broc Parkes (PBM) was 15th, while two other Aussies took home points: Jack Miler (Red Bull KTM Ajo) for finishing third in a blanket Moto3 finish, while Anthony West (QMMF Racing Team) was ninth in Moto2.

FULL RESULTS AND STANDINGS ACROSS ALL CLASSES

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), who started well but faded to seventh. In finishing third Rossi becomes the first rider to score 4000 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) 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 10 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 four on 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) 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.

MOTO2
In a restarted race, pole man Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing) scored a runaway win, with Maverick Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) and Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert rider) joining the Finn on the podium.

A mistake from championship leader 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.

The initial race was cut short by a red flag due to a crash involving Azlan Shah (Honda Team Asia), West, Mattia Pasini (NGM Forward Racing) and Randy Krummenacher (IodaRacing Project).

The incident took place at turn 10 on lap four, with Pasini 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.

Simone Corsi (NGM Forward Racing) and Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) both finished in the top six. Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia), Alex De Angelis (Tasca Racing Moto2), West and Johann Zarco (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing) completed the top 10.

MOTO3
The race brought a first career win for Efren Vazquez, with Romano Fenati and Miller joining him on the podium.

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 GP!

Meanwhile, Miller has now extended his championship lead from 19 to 21 points.

“We’ve managed to score points that allow us to continue leading the world championship,” said Miller. “We finished the race without making stupid mistakes and I'm very happy about that. We have a good advantage over those behind us and that's good for us, but now we need to focus on Brno, where I think the bike will be much better suited to the track than here at Indianapolis.

“We knew the weekend was going to be a struggle, but at Brno think we have another good opportunity, so I'm already looking forward to next weekend."

A remarkable ride saw Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold) just miss the podium after he started 11th and dropped to the back of the field 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 10.

Australia’s second rider – and Miller’s Spanish house mate – Arthur Sissis was 21st on his Mahindra Racing machine.