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SUDIPTO GANGULY
MOTEGI TWIN-RING, Japan - Spaniard Marc Marquez retained his MotoGP World title with second place at his team Honda's home, the Motegi circuit, in the 2014 Japanese GP on Sunday (Oct 12).
The 21-year-old stretched his championship lead over second-placed Italian Valentino Rossi of Yamaha and his Honda team mate and compatriot Dani Pedrosa to an unassailable 82 points with three races remaining.
FIVE YEARS, FOUR TITLES
Twice former World champion Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha won the race, 1.638sec ahead of Marquez, who overtook Rossi with eight laps remaining and held off the Italian to secure the title.
Pedrosa was fourth.
Catalan Marquez has now won four World titles in five years. He won the 125cc title in 2010, the Moto2 in 2012 and back-to-back MotoGP titles.
Starting fourth on the grid with Rossi and Pedrosa ahead of him, the Honda rider made a decent start and overtook Yamaha's Pol Espargaro, Pedrosa and Andrea Iannone of Pramac Racing in the opening laps to get closer to the front group.
SAMURAI SPECTACLE
He then passed Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso, who had started on pole, and overtook Rossi on the second attempt to take second. Rossi tried a late assault to stay in the championship hunt but Marquez was too quick.
Marquez, who in 2013 became the youngest MotoGP champion at the age of 20, stopped on his victory lap and was presented with a ceremonial sword by a Samurai warrior flanked by two kimono-clad women. He used it to cut free a giant white balloon with '1st' emblazoned on it before donning a gold shirt to commemorate the win and lapping the track.
The local crowd were quick to show their appreciation for the, effectivel, home-town win.
He waved the sword above his head towards his supporters before returning it to the Samurai and remounting his bike to complete the lap of honour.
The Spaniard took his season tally to 312 points with Rossi and Pedrosa on 230. Lorenzo is on fourth, three points further back. A race win is worth 25 points.
2014 Japanese MotoGP result
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 42min21.259
2 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda 42min22.897
3 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 42min23.861
4 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 42min24.416
5 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati 42min35.612
6 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati 42min37.912
7 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda 42min40.790
8 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Yamaha 42min41.074
9 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha 42min44.834
10 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda 42min56.946
11 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Yamaha 43min01.927
12 Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Japan) Yamaha 43min12.286
13 Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) Honda 43min12.352
14 Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda 43min17.051
15 Hector Barbera (Spain) Avintia 43min20.348
MotoGP points standings
Points standings after the 2014 Japanese MotoGP
1 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda - 312
2 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha - 230
3 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda - 230
4 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha - 227
5 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati - 153
6 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Yamaha - 117
7 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Yamaha - 116
8 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati - 102
9 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda - 96
10 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha - 92
11 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda - 79
12 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Ducati - 63
13 Scott Redding (Britain) Honda - 60
14 Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) Honda - 54
15 Yonny Hernandez (Colombia) Ducati - 39
Moto2 result
1 Thomas Luethi (Switzerland) Suter 42min50.219
2 Maverick Vinales (Spain) Kalex 42min51.428
4 Johann Zarco (France) Caterham Suter 42min58.016
5 Mika Kallio (Finland) Kalex 42min58.691
6 Julian Simon (Spain) Kalex 42min59.100
7 Franco Morbidelli (Italy) Kalex 43min01.422
8 Hafizh Syahrin (Malaysia) Kalex 43min07.728
9 Richard Cardus (Spain) Tech 3 43min08.643
10 Xavier Simeon (Belgium) Suter 43min11.411
11 Jordi Torres (Spain) Suter 43min12.865
12 Jonas Folger (Germany) Kalex 43min13.522
13 Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) Kalex 43min16.296
14 Gino Rea (Britain) Suter 43min16.927
15 Luis Salom (Spain) Kalex 43min19.140
Moto2 points standings
1 Esteve Rabat (Spain) Kalex - 294
2 Mika Kallio (Finland) Kalex - 256
3 Maverick Vinales (Spain) Kalex - 224
4 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Suter - 143
5 Thomas Luethi (Switzerland) Suter - 141
6 Johann Zarco (France) Caterham Suter - 117
7 Simone Corsi (Italy) Kalex - 100
8 Franco Morbidelli (Italy) Kalex - 72
9 Luis Salom (Spain) Kalex - 67
10 Sandro Cortese (Germany) Kalex - 66
11 Anthony West (Australia) Speed up - 65
12 Marcel Schroetter (Germany) Tech 3 - 57
13 Jonas Folger (Germany) Kalex - 52
14 Sam Lowes (Britain) Speed up - 49
15 Julian Simon (Spain) Kalex - 46
Moto3 result
1 Alex Marquez (Spain) Honda 39min26.830
2 Efren Vazquez (Spain) Honda 39min27.187
3 Brad Binder (South Africa) Mahindra 39min27.314
4 John McPhee (Britain) Honda 39min27.502
5 Jack Miller (Australia) KTM 39min27.991
6 Danny Kent (Britain) Husqvarna 39min28.626
7 Romano Fenati (Italy) KTM 39min32.757
8 Enea Bastianini (Italy) KTM 39min32.855
9 Niccolo Antonelli (Italy) KTM 39min33.357
10 Alex Rins (Spain) Honda 39min33.516
11 Isaac Vinales (Spain) KTM 39min33.818
12 Karel Hanika (Czech Republic) KTM 39min45.543
13 Francesco Bagnaia (Italy) KTM 39min45.587
14 Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Malaysia) Honda 39min46.072
15 Alessandro Tonucci (Italy) Mahindra 39min46.494
Moto3 points standings
1 Alex Marquez (Spain) Honda - 231
2 Jack Miller (Australia) KTM - 206
3 Alex Rins (Spain) Honda - 194
4 Romano Fenati (Italy) KTM - 174
5 Efren Vazquez (Spain) Honda - 174
6 Alexis Masbou (France) Honda - 140
7 Isaac Vinales (Spain) KTM - 121
8 Enea Bastianini (Italy) KTM - 116
9 Danny Kent (Britain) Husqvarna - 103
10 Brad Binder (South Africa) Mahindra - 101
11 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) Mahindra - 93
12 Jakub Kornfeil (Czech Republic) KTM 78
13 John McPhee (Britain) Honda - 66
14 Francesco Bagnaia (Italy) KTM - 45
15 Niklas Ajo (Finland) Husqvarna - 45
