Measured Marquez conquers elements in Assen

Marc Marquez continued his perfect 2014 form by winning the Iveco Daily TT Assen MotoGP race on Saturday. Teammate Dani Pedrosa secured third after a hard fought battle.

Difficult weather conditions had all the riders and teams working frantically on the grid as the rain came in. Both Repsol Honda riders took advantage of the two extra sighting laps to assess the wet tires, both choosing to start on them.

Marquez became involved in a heated battle with Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso as the track began to dry. Both riders entered the pits to swap bikes and tires at the same point. Marquez then made a mistake due to a cold tire, running wide. The subsequent laps had Marquez chasing Dovizioso, catching and passing him.

Meanwhile Pedrosa was fighting hard with pole man Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing). The two passing each other multiple times before the factory Honda rider broke away. Pedrosa eventually finished almost nine seconds ahead of Espargaro.

Marquez becomes the first rider since Giacomo Agostini in 1971 to win the first eight premier-class races of the year.

"I was very nervous before. The conditions are what no one wanted, very dangerous. We started on the right tires as we knew it would dry. To risk slicks was too dangerous. I made a small mistake after swapping. I was happy with second but then it started raining a tiny bit. After that I settled into a rhythm and I passed Andrea. It was still very hard, I had to stay 100% concentrated," commented Marquez.

He continued, "The team had everything under control which helped me a lot, seeing them calm kept me calm. They were so clever. The slick was too dangerous at the start, this was the key decision. I just concentrated on riding. It was hard going from wet to dry. But I felt better with each lap and I had a high pace throughout. I was able to push hard."

Pedrosa added, "At the beginning on the grid it was very stressful to make sure everything was correct. It was not easy to make the right choice, but the team was ready and we all stayed calm, able to maintain our focus. I had a very hard battle with Aleix, but a good one. In the wet I was going very soft to save the tires in case it rained again. This was not the best strategy but we made up for it. The feeling on the bike was not 100% but good enough for the podium."

Results

Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Time/Gap
1 25 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 43'29.954
2 20 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati +6.714
3 16 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda +10.791
4 13 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha +19.199
5 11 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +25.813
6 10 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Pramac Racing Ducati +29.003
7 9 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda +30.882
8 8 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +30.985
9 7 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Ducati Team Ducati +44.031
10 6 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda +48.662
11 5 23 Broc PARKES AUS Paul Bird Motorsport PBM +51.863
12 4 45 Scott REDDING GBR GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda +1'00.329
13 3 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +1'04.641
14 2 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Honda +1'05.980
15 1 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Octo IodaRacing Team ART +1'17.611
16 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Drive M7 Aspar Honda +1'19.753
17 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Drive M7 Aspar Honda +1'27.630
18 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Racing Avintia +1'28.142
19 0 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati 1 Lap
20 0 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Avintia Racing Avintia 1 Lap
21 0 70 Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 1 Lap
22 0 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 3 Laps
DNF 0 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 8 Laps