MotoGP: Marc Marquez Ends Season With Record 13th Victory At Valencia

The 2014 MotoGP season ended this weekend as it began at Qatar, with Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez on the top podium flanked by Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa. With his season-ending win, Marquez set a new record for most victories in a single campaign in the top class, having equaled Mick Doohan's total of 12 wins in 1997 last time out in Sepang.

For Jorge Lorenzo, who was looking to put a lock on second in the 2014 standings, and Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone, the light rain that started to come down at the start of the race would later prove prove costly.

Rossi didn’t let the intermittent weather conditions slow him down and set a fastest lap of 1’32.437 on lap five. As things closed up at the front, fans were thoroughly entertained with a heated battle between Rossi, Marquez and Iannone. Sparks were flying from Rossi’s bike on lap 12 as Dani Pedrosa started to get into the mix. Six laps later rain threatened again, allowing the Doctor to reel in Marquez. Rossi kept his head down, but as the track dried again he came just short and finished in second place, 3.516 seconds behind the 2014 champion.

Lorenzo had an unlucky end to the 2014 season. Starting from fourth on the grid, he soon got caught up in a fight with rival Pedrosa. The Movistar Yamaha rider looked to be the stronger of the two until the rain began to fall. Lorenzo took a few laps to get a feel for the situation, falling back to seventh.

As the track started to dry, Lorenzo regained confidence and rose to fifth, having retaken Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso by lap nine. Four laps later the Spaniard arrived at the back of Iannone’s bike and won a hard battle with him before continuing his hunt for Pedrosa in third, until rain once again disrupted the race. Lorenzo struggled to get the bike stopped in the uncertain conditions and dropped down the order. He decided to come into the pits on lap 20 to switch to his wet bike and rejoined the race in 14th place. Unfortunately the gamble didn’t pay off. He dropped back to 21st and was forced to retire with five laps remaining as the conditions remained dry.

With his second place Valencia finish, Rossi gains 20 championship points, securing second in the championship, with 295 points total. Lorenzo finished third in the championship as his points total remained at 263.

Andrea Dovizioso beat his Ducati teammate Cal Crutchlow to the line for fourth place by just 0.068s in their final race together with Ducati.

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) was sixth in the race to confirm sixth in the championship in an excellent rookie season. Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) crossed the line 0.284s behind his brother in seventh, giving him seventh place overall in the standings.

Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), wild card Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) and Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) completed the top ten.

Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) was forced to retire during the early stages with a technical problem. Suzuki's MotoGP return also ended with Randy De Puniet ( Team Suzuki MotoGP ) in the pits.

Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) suffered a small crash, but was able to remount and recover to 14th.