Marquez claims fourth MotoGP world crown
Cheste, Spain - Spain's Marc Marquez sealed his sixth world championship and fourth in the premier MotoGP category with third place at the season-ending Valencia GP on Sunday.
Holding a commanding 21-point lead in the championship from Andrea Dovizioso, Marquez was guaranteed the title with a top-11 finish or if Dovizioso failed to win the race. And Dovizioso's fate was sealed when he crashed out five laps from the end.
Marquez's Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa won the race from France's Johann Zarco in second. Starting from pole, Marquez waved Zarco through on the fourth lap to rule out any chance of an untimely early crash.
However, he couldn't resist an attack on the Frenchman to try and win the championship in style with eight laps to go and ran wide, dropping him down to fifth.
Yet, Ducati's hopes of usurping Marquez were quickly undone as Jorge Lorenzo and then Dovizioso both crashed out. Up front Pedrosa and Zarco were left to battle it out for the race win in a pulsating final few laps.
Ultimately though the Spaniard came out on top on home soil to deny Zarco his first MotoGP win and round off a perfect day for the Honda pair. At just 24, Marquez is the youngest ever rider to win four premier class world titles after just five seasons in MotoGP - adding to two other world championships at lower levels.