Repsol Honda's Marquez Takes Win, Pedrosa 3rd in MotoGP Qatar Season-Opener

Press Release www.repsolhondateam.com Grand Prix of Qatar Round 1 - Sunday, March 23rd 2014   Qatar - Race Report Weather conditions Clear Night 20°C Air temp 18°C Track temp 60% Humidity Double Repsol Honda Podium in Qatar as Marquez takes victory with Pedrosa in 3rd 2013 World Champion, Marc Marquez, has started the defence of his title in the perfect way; with a victory in the first race of the season. His teammate, Dani Pedrosa, completed a double podium for the Repsol Honda team with his 3rd place finish. It was a dramatic race with pole sitter Marc – the only rider to use the hard rear option tyre today – slipping back to 4th by the first turn and Dani, who started in 6th, dropping a spot to 7th. However, Marc started to settle in and made up a position before Jorge Lorenzo made an uncharacteristic mistake and crashed out, thus promoting the Repsol Honda duo a position each. Marc battled with Gresini Honda rider, Alvaro Bautista, for a few laps before passing him but then lost a position to Valentino Rossi. The two riders then began to chase down race leader, LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl. Dani also began to make progress and when race leader Bradl crashed out on lap nine, both riders were once again promoted a position, into 2nd and 4th respectively. The following lap, Dani passed Bradley Smith to take 3rd and then went after Marc and race leader Valentino Rossi. With some fantastic close racing, Marc finally made a move on Rossi on lap fourteen and led the race for the first time. Dani was still in a battle for 3rd with Bautista, with the two of them trading positions. Then on lap twenty-one – the penultimate lap – Marc and Rossi began to push for the win, passing each other on four occasions, Marc finally came out on top to take the victory and his first win since Aragon last year. With Bautista crashing out, the battle was over for Dani who celebrated third, taking the final spot on the podium. This first victory of the season marks Honda’s 250th in MotoGP, making them the first manufacturer to reach the milestone of 250 wins in the premier class of Grand Prix racing. Team Quotes 1st - Championship Standing: 1st - 25 points "I'm very happy with the result today. The 25 points are important but it’s also been an important race, because I was coming back from an injury that caused me to miss most of the pre-season. Also, this weekend there were a lot of riders up at the front, all with a great pace, and seeing how the race went, this win is a big one. The battle with Valentino was the best part of the race besides the win, I really enjoyed it!” 3rd - Championship Standing: 3rd - 16 points "Third place is a positive result. We've finished on the podium this weekend at a circuit that’s difficult for me, because it isn't well suited to my style. So it's a good way to start. We were close, but with the way the race went - with so many crashes - it was important to finish. So from here on in we will try to keep improving and try to fight for the win at the next race!” race results   Grand Prix of Qatar - Round 1 Pos. Rider Num. Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap 1 Marc Marquez 93 ESP 25 Repsol Honda Team HONDA 42'40.561 2 Valentino Rossi 46 ITA 20 Yamaha Factory YAMAHA +0.259 3 Dani Pedrosa 26 ESP 16 Repsol Honda Team HONDA +3.370 4 Aleix Espargaro 41 ESP 13 NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA +11.623 5 Andrea Dovizioso 4 ITA 11 Ducati Team DUCATI +12.159 6 Cal Crutchlow 35 GBR 10 Ducati Team DUCATI +28.526 7 Scott Redding 45 GBR 9 Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA +32.593 8 Nicky Hayden 69 USA 8 Drive M7 Aspar HONDA +32.628 9 Colin Edwards 5 USA 7 NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA +39.547 10 Andrea Iannone 29 ITA 6 Pramac Racing DUCATI +43.360 11 Hiroshi Aoyama 7 JPN 5 Drive M7 Aspar HONDA +46.595 12 Yonny Hernandez 68 COL 4 Pramac Racing DUCATI +46.688 13 Karel Abraham 17 CZE 3 Cardion AB Motoracing HONDA +50.581 14 Danilo Petrucci 9 ITA 2 IodaRacing Project IODA-SUTER +1'03.127 15 Broc Parkes 23 AUS 1 Paul Bird Motorsport PBM +1'14.386 16 Michael Laverty 70 GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport ART & PBM +1'32.593 17 Mike Di Meglio 63 FRA   Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI +1'36.085 18 Alvaro Bautista 19 ESP   Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA DNF 19 Bradley Smith 38 GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA DNF 20 Pol Espargaro 44 ESP   Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA DNF 21 Stefan Bradl 6 GER   LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA DNF 22 Hector Barbera 8 ESP   Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI DNF 23 Jorge Lorenzo 99 ESP   Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA DNF Rider standings Sunday, March 23rd 2014 Pos. Rider Num. Nation Points Team Constructor 1 Marc Marquez 93 ESP 25 Repsol Honda Team HONDA 2 Valentino Rossi 46 ITA 20 Yamaha Factory YAMAHA 3 Dani Pedrosa 26 ESP 16 Repsol Honda Team HONDA 4 Aleix Espargaro 41 ESP 13 NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA 5 Andrea Dovizioso 4 ITA 11 Ducati Team DUCATI 6 Cal Crutchlow 35 GBR 10 Ducati Team DUCATI 7 Scott Redding 45 GBR 9 Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA 8 Nicky Hayden 69 USA 8 Drive M7 Aspar HONDA 9 Colin Edwards 5 USA 7 NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA 10 Andrea Iannone 29 ITA 6 Pramac Racing DUCATI 11 Hiroshi Aoyama 7 JPN 5 Drive M7 Aspar HONDA 12 Yonny Hernandez 68 COL 4 Pramac Racing DUCATI 13 Karel Abraham 17 CZE 3 Cardion AB Motoracing HONDA 14 Danilo Petrucci 9 ITA 2 IodaRacing Project IODA-SUTER 15 Broc Parkes 23 AUS 1 Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 16 Jorge Lorenzo 99 ESP 0 Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA 17 Alvaro Bautista 19 ESP 0 Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA 18 Bradley Smith 38 GBR 0 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 19 Michael Laverty 70 GBR 0 Paul Bird Motorsport ART & PBM 20 Pol Espargaro 44 ESP 0 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 21 Hector Barbera 8 ESP 0 Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI 22 Stefan Bradl 6 GER 0 LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 23 Mike Di Meglio 63 FRA 0 Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI Copyright Free Images For more images please click here Circuit Information View circuit page at www.repsolhondateam.com Length 5.380 m / 3.343 miles Width 12m Left corners 6 Right corners 10 Longest straight 1.068 m / 0.664 miles Constructed 2004 Modified     Losail International Circuit Al Wusail,North Relief Road Doha, Qatar T: +974 4472 9151 F: +974 4472 9246   www.circuitlosail.com   Pole Position 1m 53.927s (170.003km/h) Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha, 2008) Race Lap 1m 55.153s (168.193km/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2008) Race Time 42m 36.587s (166.665km/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2008) 2012 Winner Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2013 Winner Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) If you have any questions please email press@hondaracing.co.jp   Honda Racing Corporation 3-15-1, Senzui, Asaka-shi, Saitama-Pref., 351-0024 Japan