Marquez seals record 13th MotoGP win

Newly crowned world champion Marc Marquez powered to victory in the season-ending Valencia MotoGP to set a new record of 13 wins in a year.

The 21-year-old Spaniard led from the 11th lap on his Honda and crossed the line in a time of 46 minutes 39.627 seconds, ahead of Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa.

Italian Rossi continued his strong finish to the season and was guaranteed second place in the drivers’ championship after Jorge Lorenzo retired from the race having dropped back to 18th position.

Lorenzo decided to change tyres with the threat of rain in the air but the move failed to pay off as there were only a few drops.

Marquez clinched his second successive world title in Japan last month and has now beaten the record for victories in a season which he shared with Australian Mick Doohan who won 12 races in 1997.

“I’m really happy with how it went, almost more so than when I won the championship in Japan. This was the cherry on the cake,” Marquez told reporters.

He was also pleased for his brother Alex who won the Moto3 championship earlier in the day at the Valencia track.

“It is a great year for my family. During the race at times I was thinking about my brother as he said to me I had to do well.”

Standings (Top-5):

1. Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda 362
2. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 295
3. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 263
4. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 246
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati 187