MotoGP Valencia 2017: In an epic finale, Marc Marquez clinches fourth MotoGP World Championship title in five seasons; while Dani Pedrosa emerged victorious

With a 21 point lead going into the final race of the season in Valencia, Marc Marquez is poised to win the championship. Despite running wide on Lap 23 which reduced his pace by a lot, the Spaniard managed to edge forward from the competition and finished in the third position, behind fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa and Frenchman Johann Zarco. Marquez ended off the season with a total of 298 points – behind closest rival Andrea Dovizioso, with 261 points.

 

 

Leading the race from pole position was Marquez. In the first few laps, Dani Pedrosa prevented fellow racers such as Ducati Andrea Dovizioso and Yamaha rookie Johann Zarco from advancing. Subsequently, the aforementioned riders, as well as Ducati rider Jorge Lorenzo, formed a lead group. Despite leading from the start, Marquez was unable to hold on for long, as Zarco overtook Marquez on Lap 4.

 

Mid-race, at Lap 13, Lorenzo constantly intercepted Dovizioso from moving forward. Thus, he was given a coded instruction ‘Suggested Mapping 8’. He ignored it, and a few laps later, he was shown a pitboard to allow Dovizioso to move ahead, which he disregarded as well.

At Lap 23, Marquez attempted to overtake Zarco, which resulted in him running wide in turn 1. Thankfully, he managed to remain on his bike and avoided a crash which may cause his championship title to go up in smoke.

“During the race I was trying to be calm and control the situation, but then I thought now it is time to push because I felt really good,”

“In turn one I lost concentration on the brake point, I broke too late and you know (it was) Marquez-style until the end.”

-Marquez

 

 

With six laps remaining at Lap 24, Lorenzo crashed at Turn 4. A while later, Dovizioso ran wide which led to him crashing out as well.

At the last lap of the race, Pedrosa managed to pull ahead off Zarco, robbing him of his first MotoGP win in the rookie season by a mere 0.337 seconds.

 

 

"It is an amazing feeling,"

"In the race I tried to be calm and control the situation. In turn one I lost concentration on the braking point.

"I would like to congratulate Dovi and the Ducati team."

-Marquez

With another world championship title under his belt, Marc Marquez now has four championship titles in five seasons. He was also the MotoGP world champion in the years 2013, 2014, and 2016.

 

(Images: MotoGP)