Marc Marquez finished third in 2013’s season finale at Valencia on Sunday to become the youngest premier-class champion in the history of motorcycle Grands Prix - a record formerly held by another Honda rider, Freddie Spencer.
Already the youngest race winner and pole-position holder in the senior class, the 20-year old from nearby Cervera also became the first rookie champion in 35 years, following in the footsteps of Kenny Roberts from 1978.
The South African riders wrapped up their season in the world arena with mixed results. Steven Odendaal on the Honda-powered Speed Up battled home 26th out of 30 finishers in the Moto2 race but Mahindra hotshot Brad Binder come home on the tail of a dramatic seven-way dice for sixth, finishing 12th, less than a second behind Alexis Masbou in sixth!
MOTOGP
Defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo to pulled his usual hot start to outdrag pole-holder Marquez into Turn 1, then slowed the pace as 2012 Valencia winner Dani Pedrosa, Marquez, Honda privateer Alvaro Bautista and Lorenzo’s Yamaha Factory team mate Valentino Ross jostled for position behind him.
The tipping point came on lap 10 as Pedrosa dived past Lorenzo but was instantly pushed wide at Doohan corner, handing Marquez the lead in a move that was still under review by Race Direction late that evening.
Lorenzo retook the top spot just a lap later, while Bautista pressured Rossi before dropping to fifth and the recovering Pedrosa moved up third - and was then waved through to second by Marquez on the lap 26.
THROWING STRATEGY TO THE WINDS
Well aware by now from his pit board that Marquez would take the title no matter what he did, Lorenzo threw strategy to the wins and put in the best five laps of the race to take his eighth win of 2013 (one more than Marquez) by an emphatic four seconds from Pedrosa and Marquez – and bequeath the Honda rookie his title by just four points, 334 to 330, with Pedrosa on 300 after banging elbows with his supposedly junior team mate all season.
Rossi signed off his partnership with long-time crew chief Jeremy Burgess with a lonely fourth, four seconds behind the new World champion and the same distance ahead of Bautista.
Honda privateer Stephan Bradl held off Yamaha Tech rider Bradley Smith for sixth, while the Ducati Team trio of Nicky Hayden (in his last ride on the Desmosedici), Andrea Dovizioso and test rider Michele Pirro.
RESULTS
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha – 46min10.302
2 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda +3.934sec
3 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda +7.357
4 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha +10.579
5 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda +14.965
6 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda +24.399
7 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha +29.043
8 Nicky Hayden (United States) Ducati +39.893
9 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati +53.196
10 Michele Pirro (Italy) Ducati +1min02.983
POINTS after 18 of 18 rounds
1 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda – 334
2 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha – 330
3 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda – 300
4 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati – 237
5 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha – 188
6 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda – 171
7 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda – 156
8 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati – 140
9 Nicky Hayden (United States) Ducati – 126
10 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha – 116
MOTO2
Newly crowned Moto2 World champion Pol Espargaro (Kalex) crashed out on lap eight when leading comfortably and he eventually finished 29th, while another Kaelx rider, Scott Redding, clinched second in the standings by finishing 15th at Valencia, riding through the pain barrier with his injured wrist.
Nicolas Terol (Suter) took full advantage of Espargaro’s error to clinch his third win of the season by a clear four-second margin, with team mate Jordi Torres second after passing Speed Up rider Jordi Torres with five laps to go.
There was more disappointment for Corsi as he was beaten to the line by Johann Zarco (Kalex) by just 0.001sec.
RESULTS
1 Nicolas Terol (Spain) Suter – 43min24.972
2 Jordi Torres (Spain) Suter +3.047sec
3 Johann Zarco (France) Suter +5.993
4 Simone Corsi (Italy) Speed Up +5.994
5 Esteve Rabat (Spain) Kalex +8.316
6 Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Speed Up +10.596
7 Thomas Luthi (Switzerland) Suter +11.219
8 Anthony West (Australia) Speed Up +12.334
9 Mattia Pasini (Italy) Speed Up +13.383
10 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Suter +14.609
26 Steven Odendaal (South Africa) Speed Up +1min04.667
MOTO3
The Moto3 title was decided on the last lap as KTM rider Maverick Vinales took thre race and the championship by just 0.186sec, with Jonas Folger (Kalex KTM) second, outsprinting Alex Rins (KTM) to the line by one thousandth of a second.
In a dramatic conclusion to the season Vinales had the last word with his first win since Le Mans – only his third victory of 2013 – before moving up to Moto2 in 2014.
There was heartbreak for works KTM rider Salom who went into the race as the championship leader, only to lose the front end in Turn 5 and crash out on lap 15; he remounted to finish 14th, while Jack Miller (FTR Honda) also crashed out in the final stages while fighting for a podium finish.
Alex Marquez (KTM) younger brother of the new premier-class champion, showed that it runs in the family with a determined ride to fourth, just holding off a late charge from Mahindra’s Efren Vasquez.
Alexis Masbou (FTR Honda) just got the best of an incredible battle for sixth with team mate Isaac Vinales, KTM privateer Ana Carrasco (in the third highest finish yet in a motorcycle Grand Prix by a girl, after Taru Rinne’s seventh in the 1989 German 125 Grand Prix and Tomoko Igaka’s seventh in the 1995 Czech 125cc Grand Prix), Philipp Oettl (Kalex KTM), Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra), Romano Fenati (FTR Honda) and South African teenager Brad Binder (Mahindra), all of whom finished within 0.92sec.
RESULTS
1 Maverick Vinales (Spain) KTM – 40min12.463
2 Jonas Folger (Germany) Kalex KTM +0.185sec
3 Alex Rins (Spain) KTM +0.187
4 Alex Marquez (Spain) KTM +13.666
5 Efren Vasquez (Spain) Mahindra +13.708
6 Alexis Masbou (France) FTR Honda +28.587
7 Isaac Vinales (Spain) FTR Honda +28.776
8 Ana Carrasco (Spain) KTM +28.794
9 Philipp Oettl (Germany) Kalex KTM +28.953
10 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) Mahindra +29.185
11 Romano Fenati (Italy) FTR Honda +29.347
12 Brad Binder (South Africa) Mahindra +29.507