2014 Le Mans MotoGP Results

2014 Le Mans MotoGP Results

Spoiler Alert – 2014 MotoGP results from Le Mans Bugatti listed below

For the 27th time, Grand Prix racing headed to Le Mans. And under unusual sunny conditions Sunday at the French circuit that hosts the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans, the man who continues to top the headlines put in his most impressive performance so far this season.

The man – or should we say kid? – Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez. He entered Le Mans MotoGP with a perfect record, the 21-year-old Spaniard winning the opening four rounds from the pole.

The factory Honda RC213V pilot then led three of four free practices at Le Mans, and shattered the qualifying record by over six-tenths of a second. Marquez led warm-up, and carried this momentum into the 28-lap Grand Prix, taking his fifth win of 2014 MotoGP.

But this wasn’t an easy win for Marquez; he would fall back to ninth on the opening lap. After charging through the field, he would take the lead with 16 to go, eventually finishing over a second ahead of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi. Taking the final podium position – his first of 2014 – was GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista.

Starting from third on the grid, Ducati Team’s Andrea Doviziso got to turn one of 14 first at the 2.6-mile Bugatti circuit. He was followed by LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl, Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Pol Espargaro and Rossi.

On turn two ahead of the Dunlop chicane during the opening lap, Drive M7 Aspar Honda’s Nicky Hayden and Pramac Ducati’s Andrea Iannone contacted each other, and Hayden crashed out. A lap latter, Iannone lost the front of his GP14, also crashing out.

Not getting his usual good start, Marquez got bunched in the middle behind Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo. And heading into turn 8, known as Garage Vert, Lorenzo stood his bike up, forcing Marquez to run wide and fall back into ninth.

On the second lap, Bradl was battling with Dovi for the lead, but the 35-year-old Rossi – a nine-time World Champion – was putting on the pressure. Behind, Marquez took eight from his teammate Dani Pedrosa, who won at a wet Le Mans last season. And up front, Rossi took second from Bradl.

The Italian Rossi immediately attached his fellow countryman Dovi, and an intense battle began, the two swapping the lead a few times. But Rossi got the best of Dovi, and by lap three he was comfortably out front.

As for Marquez, he began picking off the riders ahead of him. First it was Bautista for seventh, then Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Bradley Smith for sixth, and  Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo for fifth. Meanwhile, Dovizioso struggled on the Ducati GP14, eventually falling back to eight with 20 to go.

Marquez passed Lorenzo at the Dunlop chicane, and duplicated the inside move on Bradl and Espargaro to get into second with 18 to go. Two laps later, Marquez was directly behind the YZR-M1 piloted by Rossi.

Rossi then made a mistake at the Blue esses, running wide. This allowed Marquez easily take the lead with 16 to go.

Marquez then began his usual front-position ways, and immediately opened up a gap. He would lead as much as 3.5 seconds during the final laps.

At race’s end, Marquez would finish 1.486 seconds ahead of Rossi, which was VR46’s third second-place finish of 2014 MotoGP. Taking the final podium position – his first of 2014 – was Bautista.

The rookie Pol Espargaro would take fourth, his best finish of MotoGP, just ahead of Pedrosa. Lorenzo continued to struggle aboard the factory YZR-M1, finishing sixth. Rounding out the top 10 were Bradl, Dovizioso, NGM Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro and Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Bradley Smith.

With Hayden crashing out on the opening lap, only one American finished the race – NGM Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards. The Texan had mechanical issues on the final lap, and would literally push his Yamaha across the line for 17th.

With his win, Marquez continues garnering records. He is now the youngest rider to win five consecutive races, taking the 1962 record held by Mike Hailwood (then 22-years old).

Marquez is now the first rider since Mick Doohan to win five successive races from the pole (Doohan won 10 successive races from the pole in 1997 aboard a Honda). Marquez also became the first rider since Giacomo Agostini (MV Agusta, 1972) to win the opening five races of the year in the premier class.

After five of 18 rounds, Marquez has a perfect 125 points, 42 ahead of teammate Pedrosa and 44 ahead of Rossi. Dovi is in fourth, 71 points behind, and Lorenzo fifth, 80 points behind.

The series now breaks for a week before heading to Mugello for the Grand Prix of Italy.

2014 Le Mans MotoGP Results:

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	93	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	159.5	44’03.925
2	20	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	159.4	+1.486
3	16	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	GO&FUN Honda Gresini	Honda	159.3	+3.144
4	13	44	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	159.3	+3.717
5	11	26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	159.3	+4.077
6	10	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	159.1	+7.088
7	9	6	Stefan BRADL	GER	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	158.8	+11.527
8	8	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	158.2	+22.103
9	7	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	NGM Forward Racing	Forward Yamaha	158.1	+22.626
10	6	38	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	158.1	+23.108
11	5	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	Ducati Team	Ducati	158.0	+25.780
12	4	45	Scott REDDING	GBR	GO&FUN Honda Gresini	Honda	157.2	+39.523
13	3	68	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Energy T.I. Pramac Racing	Ducati	157.0	+42.544
14	2	7	Hiroshi AOYAMA	JPN	Drive M7 Aspar	Honda	157.0	+42.736
15	1	17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Cardion AB Motoracing	Honda	156.2	+56.644
16		70	Michael LAVERTY	GBR	Paul Bird Motorsport	PBM	155.2	+1’14.123
17		5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	NGM Forward Racing	Forward Yamaha	154.8	+1’19.723
18		23	Broc PARKES	AUS	Paul Bird Motorsport	PBM	154.2	+1’30.934
19		63	Mike DI MEGLIO	FRA	Avintia Racing	Avintia	154.0	+1’34.521
Not Classified
		29	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Pramac Racing	Ducati	148.9	27 Laps
		8	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Avintia Racing	Avintia	141.8	27 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
		69	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Drive M7 Aspar	Honda		0 Lap

2014 MotoGP Point Standings after five of 18 rounds:

os.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Marc MARQUEZ	Honda	SPA	125
2	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	SPA	83
3	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	ITA	81
4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati	ITA	53
5	Jorge LORENZO	Yamaha	SPA	45
6	Stefan BRADL	Honda	GER	39
7	Pol ESPARGARO	Yamaha	SPA	38
8	Aleix ESPARGARO	Forward Yamaha	SPA	37
9	Bradley SMITH	Yamaha	GBR	34
10	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Honda	SPA	26
11	Andrea IANNONE	Ducati	ITA	25
12	Nicky HAYDEN	Honda	USA	23
13	Hiroshi AOYAMA	Honda	JPN	21
14	Scott REDDING	Honda	GBR	18
15	Yonny HERNANDEZ	Ducati	COL	16
16	Cal CRUTCHLOW	Ducati	GBR	15
17	Karel ABRAHAM	Honda	CZE	9
18	Colin EDWARDS	Forward Yamaha	USA	7
19	Danilo PETRUCCI	ART	ITA	2
20	Hector BARBERA	Avintia	SPA	2
21	Broc PARKES	PBM	AUS	1