FOUR-MIDABLE MARC CHAMP AGAIN
HONDA’S Marc Marquez won his fourth MotoGP world championship in five years after title rival Andrea Dovizioso crashed out of a dramatic season-ending race in Valencia.
Marquez, 24, who started on pole position with a 21-point lead and also almost fell, finished third and safe in the knowledge he was the sport’s youngest four-time champion.
“It’s an amazing feeling. During the race I always tried to be calm, control the situation,” said Marquez of his wobble during the race.
“Suddenly I said, ‘Now is the ® time to push’ because I felt really good.
“But in turn one I lost concentration on the brake point. I braked too late. Marquez style until the end!”
Compatriot and team-mate Dani Pedrosa won the race with French rookie Johann Zarco second for the Tech3 Yamaha team after leading early on.
With Dovizioso in fifth place and unable to find a way past his Ducati team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, despite repeated team orders, Marquez looked in control until he misjudged his braking and ran wide with seven laps to go.
The Spaniard managed to stay on the bike as he ran wide into the gravel trap, dropping to fifth place and with Dovizioso ahead of him.
Happy
M Verstappen 1min 11.044secs – lap 64.
Both Ducati riders then fell a lap later, first Lorenzo and then Dovizioso. The Italian got back on track before retiring in the pits as Honda started the celebrations.
Marquez ended the season with 298 points to runner-up Dovizioso’s 261. “I’m happy because we tried until the end and it was open until 10 laps to the end,” said Dovizioso, who saw Marquez’s slide but could do nothing to take advantage.
“It was really on the limit from the first lap. At the beginning I wanted to overtake Jorge but in some corners I was slower.
“We both made a mistake but we have to be happy about the championship.” 1 L Hamilton (GB) .............. 345 2 S Vettel (Ger) .................. 302 3 V Bottas (Fin) ................. 280 4 D Ricciardo (Aus) ........... 200 5 K Raikkonen (Fin) ........... 193 6 M Vertsappen (Hol) ........ 158 7 S Perez (Mex) ................... 94 8 E Ocon (Fra) ..................... 83 9 C Sainz (Spa) .................... 54 10 F Massa (Brz) ...................... 42 1 Mercedes ........................ 625 2 Ferrari ............................. 495 3 Red Bull .......................... 358 4 Force India ...................... 177 5 Williams ........................... 82 6 Toro Rosso ....................... 53 7 Renault ............................. 49 8 Haas .................................. 47 9 McLaren ............................ 28 10 Sauber ................................ 5