2014 Valencia MotoGP Results
Spoiler Alert: 2014 MotoGP results from the Valencia Grand Prix in Spain listed below.
For the 16th-straight year, the Ricardo Turmo Circuit at Valencia hosted the MotoGP Championship. This year’s round also marked the 13th-consecutive time the season finale was held in Valencia – Spain’s third largest city.
Two stories were playing out ahead of Valencia MotoGP – the possibility of this year’s title holder Marc Marquez earning a record-breaking 13th victory in a single season, and the duel for second overall between the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP duo of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.
And when the 30-lap race was complete, the Repsol Honda pilot Marquez accomplished his feat, taking his 13th win of 2014 MotoGP. This surpassed the record of 12 race wins in a single premier-class season that Marquez tied with Mick Doohan two weeks ago at Sepang.
As for the second story at round 18 of 18, Rossi came out on top. The nine-time World Champion, who achieved his 50th-career MotoGP pole at Valencia, finished second in the race, allowing him to finish the season in second overall. Taking the final podium position was Marquez’s teammate, Dani Pedrosa, who is the most successful rider at Valencia with six wins.
“I am so pleased, especially for my brother! It is a very happy day, even more than in Motegi when I was crowned Champion. Today Alex took the Moto3 title that he deserved, and to cap it off I was able to close the year with a victory here in Valencia. I congratulate my brother for his season, because both him and Honda have done a great job this year! Now it’s time to celebrate in the way that the occasion deserves, because it will be difficult to repeat another season like this, Marquez says.
“During today’s race I was reminded of Aragon, because it was raining and there was a moment in which I considered whether or not to change the bike. In the end we stayed calm and today we were successful with our strategy. It was an ordeal which I enjoyed but suffered a bit at times! Thanks to the whole team for all their efforts this season!”
When Valencia MotoGP began, a light rain began to fall. This later would provide some difficulties for a few riders, including two-time MotoGP Champion Lorenzo.
Future Ducati Team rider, Pramac Racing Ducati’s Andrea Iannone, had an impressive start, getting to turn one ahead of Rossi and Marquez, who started from fifth on the grid. Behind, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, the Ducati Team duo of Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso followed.
On the second lap, the white flag came out, signifying that riders had the choice to switch to their rain bikes. The rain upset the rhythm of the overall race, though the top three – Iannone, Rossi and Marquez – seem unfazed
With 26 laps to go, Iannone had a 1.6-second lead over Rossi, with Marquez stalking closely. Behind, Lorenzo lost a few positions, falling back to eight. At this point, Crutchlow was in fourth ahead of Pedrosa.
Rossi and Marquez continued to close the gap on Iannone. Marquez passed Rossi with 21 to go, and began chasing Iannone. Marquez and Iannone battled for two laps – similar to their duels in 2012 Moto2.
With 20 to go, Marquez won this battle, and immediately began pulling away. On the following lap, Rossi and Pedrosa both made aggressive passes on Iannone, dropping the Ducati pilot back to fourth.
As Marquez, Rossi and Pedrosa pulled away, Iannone came under pressure from Lorenzo, who eventually made a pass. But both would make a crucial mistake on lap 19, deciding to switch to their rain bikes as the others remained on slicks.
Lorenzo quickly wore out the rain tires on his YZR-M1 set up for the wet, and was forced to retire on lap 26, suffering his second DNF of 2014 MotoGP including Qatar. As for Iannone, he would finish, but 22nd.
Up front, Marquez dominated, taking his record-breaking 13th win of 2014 MotoGP. The two-time MotoGP Champion finished 3.516 seconds ahead of Rossi, and 14.040 ahead of Pedrosa. En route to the win, Marquez also set a new Circuit Record (under race conditions) at Valencia – a 1:35.515.
The battle for fourth between Dovi and Crutchlow came down to the checkered flag. Dovi would finish fourth, 0.068 of second ahead of Crutchlow.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro finished sixth – the same position he finished the championship in his rookie season – 0.284 of a second ahead of his brother and top Open-class finisher, NGM Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro.
Rounding out the top 10 at 2014 Valencia MotoGP were LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl, Ducati Team wildcard rider Michele Pirro and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Scott Redding.
The only rider to crash was Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Bradley Smith, but the Brit was able to remount and finish 14th behind the only American currently competing in GP racing – Drive M7 Aspar’s Nicky Hayden.
Sadly for de Puniet, who joins the Crescent Suzuki Team in World Superbike next year, the Frenchman was forced to retire with tech issues on the GSX-RR with 17 laps remaining. Also forced to retire due to tech issues was Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Yonny Hernandez.
The riders remain at Valencia for the traditional post-season testing, allowing riders to get the first official shakedown of their 2015 machinery. Many riders have changed teams, creating for an exciting 2015 season, which is also the final season for Bridgestone as a spec-tire manufacturer before the switch to Michelin in 2016.
2014 Valencia MotoGP Results:
Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 154.4 | 46’39.627 |
2 | 20 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 154.3 | +3.516 |
3 | 16 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 153.7 | +14.040 |
4 | 13 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 153.5 | +16.705 |
5 | 11 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Ducati Team | Ducati | 153.5 | +16.773 |
6 | 10 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | SPA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 152.4 | +37.884 |
7 | 9 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | NGM Forward Racing | Forward Yamaha | 152.4 | +38.168 |
8 | 8 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 152.2 | +41.803 |
9 | 7 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 152.0 | +45.710 |
10 | 6 | 45 | Scott REDDING | GBR | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | Honda | 151.7 | +51.191 |
11 | 5 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 151.4 | +56.512 |
12 | 4 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Octo IodaRacing Team | ART | 151.4 | +57.000 |
13 | 3 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Drive M7 Aspar | Honda | 151.4 | +57.262 |
14 | 2 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 151.3 | +57.517 |
15 | 1 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | JPN | Drive M7 Aspar | Honda | 151.3 | +58.775 |
16 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | Honda | 151.3 | +58.864 | |
17 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Honda | 151.1 | +1’02.389 | |
18 | 15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | RSM | NGM Forward Racing | Forward Yamaha | 150.4 | +1’15.795 | |
19 | 70 | Michael LAVERTY | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | PBM | 149.8 | +1’26.309 | |
20 | 23 | Broc PARKES | AUS | Paul Bird Motorsport | PBM | 149.3 | +1’37.212 | |
21 | 63 | Mike DI MEGLIO | FRA | Avintia Racing | Avintia | 149.3 | 1 Lap | |
22 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 145.4 | 1 Lap | |
Not Classified | ||||||||
99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 148.6 | 6 Laps | ||
14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Team Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | 147.7 | 18 Laps | ||
68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing | Ducati | 150.0 | 21 Laps |
2014 MotoGP Championship Final Point Standings:
Pos. | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | SPA | 362 |
2 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | ITA | 295 |
3 | Jorge LORENZO | Yamaha | SPA | 263 |
4 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | SPA | 246 |
5 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati | ITA | 187 |
6 | Pol ESPARGARO | Yamaha | SPA | 136 |
7 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Forward Yamaha | SPA | 126 |
8 | Bradley SMITH | Yamaha | GBR | 121 |
9 | Stefan BRADL | Honda | GER | 117 |
10 | Andrea IANNONE | Ducati | ITA | 102 |
11 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Honda | SPA | 89 |
12 | Scott REDDING | Honda | GBR | 81 |
13 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Ducati | GBR | 74 |
14 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | Honda | JPN | 68 |
15 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | Ducati | COL | 53 |
16 | Nicky HAYDEN | Honda | USA | 47 |
17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Honda | CZE | 33 |
18 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | SPA | 26 |
19 | Michele PIRRO | Ducati | ITA | 18 |
20 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ART | ITA | 17 |
21 | Alex DE ANGELIS | Forward Yamaha | RSM | 14 |
22 | Colin EDWARDS | Forward Yamaha | USA | 11 |
23 | Broc PARKES | PBM | AUS | 9 |
24 | Michael LAVERTY | PBM | GBR | 9 |
25 | Mike DI MEGLIO | Avintia | FRA | 9 |
26 | Katsuyuki NAKASUGA | Yamaha | JPN | 4 |
27 | Leon CAMIER | Honda | GBR | 1 |