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Not even Alfred Hitchcock could have imagined a finale like this. In Valencia Marc Marquez makes World Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing history for the sixth time and is crowned World Champion. Despite his 21 point advantage over Andrea Dovizioso, the Spaniard made sure to complicate matters for himself in the grand finale on the Ricardo Tormo circuit. With eight laps left in the race, number 93 went wide on turn 1 and barely saved his bike from going down. However, Marc proved to be a feline, staying astride his Honda and managing to re-enter the track in fifth place.
At that time he had been ahead of the Ducatis ridden by Lorenzo and Dovizioso who had the golden opportunity to pull ahead, but on the next lap, both the ‘Reds’ astonishingly ended up in the gravel, first the Majorcan and then the Italian, serving up the title on a silver platter for number 93: “It is a fantastic feeling – the world champion Spanish rider said – At that moment I risked crashing because I lost my concentration for an instant. I am obviously happy and my compliments to Ducati and Dovi for the healthy rivalry.”
With Marquez champion and the two GP17 machines out of the race, the spotlight shifted to the battle for first place where, on the last lap, Pedrosa found a way past Zarco, taking home the win: “I felt very much at ease with the front – Dani analysed – At a certain point, I realised that I could do it, despite the fact that Johann was a tough nut to crack. I must say that my manoeuvre proved to be effective.”
There was a touch of disappointment on the Tech3 rider’s face: “I thought that I could win the race – the Frenchman said – I asked the team not to send me any messages because I wanted to keep a clear mind. Dani was very good and smart.”
In this Ducati hara-kiri, Rins capitalised to bring home fourth place ahead of Rossi and Iannone; Miller finished seventh ahead of Crutchlow, Pirro and Rabat. Viñales was only twelfth ahead of Petrucci.
