Mugello MotoGP: Marquez knocks Lorenzo for six

Marc Marquez was forced to fight hard with fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo to make it six wins from six races in 2014 at Mugello.

Lorenzo and Marquez moved to the front of the pack early on in the race and pulled away from the rest of the field, although Marquez looked unable to make a move on Lorenzo.

Marquez left it late in the race to make his move, but Lorenzo retook the lead almost straight away. The duo fought hard to the flag, overtaking each other several times a lap in the most exciting MotoGP race of the season.

The race winning move came on the fast main straight on the final lap. Marquez slipstreamed past Lorenzo, who was unable to close the gap on the brakes and ran wide later on in the lap as he tried desperately to retake the lead.

Local hero Valentino Rossi will be kicking himself after a tyre mistake in qualifying saw him unable to bridge the gap to the leading duo from 10th on the grid. The Italian finished third in his 300th GP 2.688 behind Marquez.

Cal Crutchlow started well from the second row of the grid but was pushed wide in the first corner by Lorenzo. The Brit though did well to stay with the second group before the Ducati rider crashed out a couple of laps later.

The Brit’s Ducati then span across the track and Stefan Bradl was unable to avoid the factory Ducati. The resulting collision sent the German high over the handlebars of his LCR Honda and in to the gravel.

It was a disappointing race for the Brits as Tech 3 Yamaha rider Bradley Smith crashed out on lap three. Scott Redding finished 13th on his production Honda racer, battling with the factory Ducati of Michele Pirro.

1 25 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 173.8 41’38.254
2 20 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 173.8 +0.121
3 16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 173.6 +2.688
4 13 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 172.8 +14.046
5 11 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 172.7 +15.603
6 10 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 172.6 +17.042
7 9 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 172.6 +17.129
8 8 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 171.9 +27.407
9 7 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 170.9 +41.886
10 6 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati 170.7 +45.212
11 5 51 Michele PIRRO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 170.7 +45.433
12 4 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Honda 170.7 +45.831
13 3 45 Scott REDDING GBR GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 170.7 +45.839
14 2 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Drive M7 Aspar Honda 170.6 +46.834
15 1 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 169.1 +1’09.554
16  70 Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 168.5 +1’17.789
17  23 Broc PARKES AUS Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 167.4 +1’35.031
18  63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Avintia Racing Avintia 167.3 +1’37.501