Marquez romps to fifth title
Marc Marquez has stormed to a nail-biting victory in Japan to capture his third straight MotoGP world championship as Ducati rival Andrea Dovizioso crashed out.
The Spanish star has now won five championships in motorcycling’s premier class, putting him level with Australian legend Mick Doohan.
Marquez, still just 25, trails only the Italian pair of Valentino Rossi, who won the last of his seven championships in 2009, and Giacomo Agostini, whose record eighth came in 1975, in the all-time list.
“I feel really, really good,” whooped Marquez after Dovizioso’s late spill confirmed his eighth win of the season.
“I already imagined that it will be (decided) here, but the important thing is that when you have the first chance, you do it.
Marquez started from sixth on the grid at Motegi yesterday, but quickly knifed through the field and was third by the end of the first lap.
Marquez finally overtook Dovizioso with a daredevil move on lap 21 of 24.
Dovizioso, who needed to complete a pole to flag victory to keep alive his fading championship hopes, crashed out on the penultimate lap in a desperate last push, ending this year’s title race.
Marquez was mobbed by his team mechanics after crossing the line to seal his coronation with three races left. In a match that ended with both players on their knees after the final point, sixth seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia beat Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur in a tough three-setter to win the Kremlin Cup yesterday. “She was crying because she won. I was crying because I was cramping,” tweeted Jabeur. The 21-year-old Kasatkina had to battle back from a set down to win 2-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4. After clinching the match, Kasatkina fell to the court and wept for joy. Then, still wiping her tears, she walked round the net and the two hugged before leaving the court together.