MARQUEZ BAGS MOTEGI FOR FIFTH WORLD TITLE
Honda rider romps to victory as Dovizioso crashes
HONDA’S Marc Marquez stormed to a nailbiting victory in Japan Sunday to ca pture his third straight MotoGP world championship as Duc ati rival Andrea Dovizioso crashed out.
The Spanish sensation 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 victory 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 but quickly knifed through the field and was third by the end of the first lap.
He flirted with disaster on lap 14, however, after overtaking Dovizioso at turn nine before running wide at the next corner and spitting up dirt and dust as he battled to control a violent wobble.
That heart-in-mouth moment allowed Dovizioso to retake the lead, but Marquez continued to swarm all over the Italian, finally slashing past him 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.
Fellow Honda rider Cal Crutchlow finished runner-up after Dovizioso’s fall with Alex Rins (Suzuki) edging out Rossi (Yamaha) to round out the podium.
Meanwhile, three-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo will miss next weekend’s Australian race after sitting out the Japanese round with injury.
Ducati said the Spaniard, who fractured his wrist at the previous race in Thailand, will aim to return at the penultimate weekend in Malaysia at the start of November.
Malaysia’s Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah notched his second top-10 finish of the season, crucially keeping him in contention for the Rookie of the Year award.
Hafizh’s only other top-10 finish this season came at the second round in Argentina where he was placed ninth.
The result sees the Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider marginally closing the gap with rookie rival Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) who finished a spot behind in 11th (+25.931s). The duo had started from 16th and 17th.
Morbidelli still leads the rookie standings with a four point advantage over Hafizh (second).
Hafizh, who is now 17th in the overall MotoGP standings with 34 points, said: “I’m really happy to be in the top-10. This is what I always want for myself and now we’re inside the top-10 for the second time, so I’m really delighted.”