2014 Sepang MotoGP Results | Malaysian Grand Prix Recap

2014 Sepang MotoGP Results

Spoiler Alert: 2014 MotoGP Results from the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang International Circuit listed below.

The Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang International Circuit marked a sigh of relief for many – it was the final of three back-to-back “fly-away” rounds in the 2014 MotoGP Championship.

But the 22-rider grid – lacking Pramac Racing Ducati’s Andrea Iannone, who was unfit to ride following a crash during Friday practice – was met with sweltering temperatures. This provided additional challenges besides the demands that arrive with a grueling three-race period.

One rider seem unfazed by these issues – Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez. The 21-year-old Spaniard, who clinched his second-straight MotoGP title at Motegi – the beginning of the three-race stretch – earned his 12th win of the season Sunday at round 17 of 18.

This ties Marquez with Mick Doohan’s record of 12 premier-class wins in a single season. The feat arrived after Marquez took the pole Saturday, which was his 13th of 2014 – a new record for a single-season in the premier class, ousting the previous three-way record held by Marquez, Casey Stoner and Mick Doohan (all three set on Repsol Honda machinery).

Joining Marquez on the Sepang MotoGP podium before over 80,000 fans was the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP duo of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.

“This was one of the toughest races of the year for me physically and I’m happy to have equalled Mick Doohan’s record! We knew to expect this kind of weather in Malaysia but it was especially hot today and we all found it hard to finish the race,” said Marquez, who took his first win since Silverstone.

“Halfway into the race the pace slowed down because I think everybody needed to take a breath! I’m happy with how I handled the race, because the first corner was a bit of a nightmare but I was able to come back to the front and stay there, whilst I cooled down my tires and brakes. I started to attack with 10 laps remaining, then made the difference when there were five laps to go.”

When the race began, Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa – who won at Sepang in 2012 and 2013 – took the lead. Marquez started from pole, but contacted Lorenzo on the opening corner, falling back to eighth.

Pedrosa was quickly overtaken by Lorenzo, and then crashed on the last of 15 corners on the second lap. He was able to rejoin the grid in 12th. Behind, Rossi was up into second followed by Marquez, who quickly moved through the field. The three leaders on their Factory machines continually opened a gap on the remaining riders.

Midway through the 20-lap race at the 3.444-mile circuit, the nine-time World Champion Rossi passed Lorenzo for the lead. Marquez followed suit, also passing Lorenzo. A lap later, Rossi made a mistake, allowing Marquez into the lead.

From there Marquez, opened up a lead, and went onto to win by 2.445 seconds ahead of Rossi. Lorenzo would finished third, 3.508 seconds behind.

Marquez’s win broke Yamaha’s winning streak of four-straight races, and also allowed Honda to clinch the Constructor’s title in MotoGP.

Though Pedrosa matched the speeds of the lead group, he would only move up a position to 11th before crashing a second time with seven laps to go. This time Pedrosa was not able to restart, and suffered a DNF – his second straight with the mishap at Phillip Island.

The battle for fourth was occurring over 20 seconds behind the podium finishers, and only between two riders – LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl and Monster Yamaha TEch3’s Bradley Smith. Smith had caught Bradl on the last lap, but ran wide on the final corner. This allowed Bradl to finish fourth, followed by Smith.

Bradl would cross the line 21.234 seconds behind Marquez, and Smith 22.283 seconds behind. The next closest finisher was Smith’s teammate Pol Espargaro, who finished in a lonely sixth, 34.668 seconds behind Marquez. Pol impressed, considering he rode with a broken bone in his foot from a crash in the third free practice.

Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati’s Yonny Hernandez finished seventh after a nearly crashing into Pol Espargaro midway through the race. He was followed by Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso in eighth, who ran as high as fourth but suffered technical issues on his GP14.2. His teammate Cal Crutchlow also suffered mechanical issues, which caused his third-consecutive DNF in as many races.

Completing the top 10 were Avintia Racing Ducati’s Hector Barbera and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Scott Redding.

Many others suffered DNFs. Both NGM Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista crashed at turn one of the second lap.

The sole American in all of GP motorcycle racing, Drive M7 Aspar’s Nicky Hayden, lost the front of his RCV1000R while chasing  teammate Hiroshi Aoyama with 14 to go. Hayden crashed out, and though as his teammate also crashed, Aoyama was able to remount and finish 11th.

Cardion AB MotoRacing’s was the next, crashing out with nine laps to go. Danilo Petrucci (Octo IodaRacing Team) retired with five laps to go, having been in a point scoring position.

Once again, Marquez won in record-breaking fashion. He set a new pole lap at Sepang of 1:59.7912, and a new Circuit Record (under race conditions) of 2:01.150.

The battle for second in the point standings is now between Rossi and Lorenzo. The Italian Rossi has 275 points, 12 ahead of Lorenzo.

The series now breaks for two weeks before the final round at Valencia – the fourth race held in Spain. The action gets underway Friday, November 7 with free practice ahead of the Grand Prix of Valencia held Sunday, November 9.

2014 Sepang MotoGP Results:

2014 MotoGP Championship Point Standings (after 17 or 18 rounds):