Valentino Rossi: Marquez not Honda making difference

Valentino Rossi says it is the man and not the machine that is propelling Marc Marquez effortlessly towards a successful defence of his MotoGP world title in 2014.

The Spaniard was unstoppable again in Le Mans yesterday when he recovered from an early off-track excursion that dropped him to 10th to win for a fifth successive race from pole position.

With just five races of 2014 completed, the 21-year-old is already 42-points ahead of closest rival Dani Pedrosa, who could only finish fifth after encountering major front and rear grip issues for the third race in a row.

Italian Rossi claimed his third second position of the campaign behind Marquez and was asked whether the key to Marquez’s stunning success is his talent or the fact that the Honda RC213V has a technical advantage over the Movistar YZR-M1.

Rossi, who became the first rider in history to reach 150 premier class podiums, said: “I think it is more the rider because Pedrosa is a great rider but he arrived fifth and was four seconds behind.

“Pedrosa is very fast but is always struggling a little in the cooler conditions and when it is wet and cold and Marc is always in front and pushing. They have a small bike advantage compared to us but Marc is the only one able to squeeze the Honda at 100%.”