{"id":372,"date":"2016-10-17T16:11:48","date_gmt":"2016-10-17T20:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonmotorsport.com\/?p=372"},"modified":"2022-06-16T16:34:57","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T20:34:57","slug":"marc-marquez-claims-fifth-world-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2016\/10\/17\/marc-marquez-claims-fifth-world-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"Marc Marquez Claims Fifth World Championship; Rossi & Lorenzo Tumble"},"content":{"rendered":"

MotoGP<\/strong> kicked off the flyaway races in Motegi<\/strong> this weekend. The title fight saw\u00a0Valentino Rossi<\/strong> and\u00a0Jorge Lorenzo<\/strong> face issues as Honda<\/strong>‘s\u00a0Marc Marquez\u00a0<\/strong>claims fifth World Championship. This is\u00a0Marquez’s third MotoGP title, the two previous being 125cc<\/strong>\u00a0and Moto2<\/strong>, respectively.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Moto2 paddock saw the weekend’s big news. Swiss rider Dominique Aegerter<\/strong> had signed a deal with the Leopard<\/strong> team for 2017. However,\u00a0the CarXpert Interwetten<\/strong> team, in a surprise move, has terminated the rider\u2019s contract. As a result, Spanish rookie Iker Lecuona<\/strong> was granted a seat for the remainder of the 2016 season.<\/p>\n

Marc Marquez Claims Fifth World Championship; Rossi & Lorenzo Tumble<\/h2>\n

Moto3:<\/h3>\n

Home rider Hiroki Ono<\/strong>\u00a0claimed pole position for the weekend event. Alongside him, Italian rider Andrea Migno<\/strong> and newly crowned Moto3 World Champion<\/strong> Brad Binder<\/strong> of South Africa. However, Ono was demoted to fourth after he was caught for irresponsible riding in Free Practice One. Migno inherited pole, which sawBinder and Italian rider Enea Bastianini promoted to second and third. The start of the race saw\u00a0Spanish rider Jorge Navarro<\/strong> lose control of his bike and wipe out Scotland\u2019s John McPhee<\/strong> and Argentina\u2019s Gabriel Rodrigo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The race saw several riders lose the front end of their bikes. The most significant was that of Spanish rider Aron Canet<\/strong> and Italian rider Andrea Locatelli<\/strong>.\u00a0Incidents plagued both riders,\u00a0going\u00a0down in the same corner in separate instances. The two Pull & Bear Aspar Mahindra<\/strong> riders made up for a dismal qualifying session from 12th<\/sup> and 23rd<\/sup> to run with the leading group. Italy\u2019s Francesco Bagnaia<\/strong> was even up to the top three positions, but later fell down the field to finish sixth. Spanish teammate Jorge Martin<\/strong> was up among the top ten positions despite nursing an injury. Ultimately, Martin retired\u00a0due to\u00a0the pain being too much to bear.<\/p>\n

Back at the front, a fierce battle brewed between Bastianini and Binder. Meanwhile, Ono fended off the two Sky VR46<\/strong> bikes of Migno and Italy\u2019s Nicolo Bulega<\/strong>. A dive-bomb by Migno failed and the Italian dropped it in the gravel. At the head of the field, Bastianini pulls off a last gasp pass of the reigning world champion claimed a close victory. Ono delighted the home crowd with third place. That delight soon turned into heartbreak as he is disqualified for being underweight. That promoted\u00a0Bulega, celebrating his 17th<\/sup> birthday, onto the podium.<\/p>\n

Moto2:<\/h3>\n

French rider Johann Zarco<\/strong> shattered the lap record to seize pole position for Motegi. Swiss rider Tom Luthi<\/strong> and Italian Franco Morbidelli<\/strong> join him on the front row. England\u2019s Sam Lowes<\/strong> was fourth and Spain\u2019s Alex Rins<\/strong>,\u00a0who was one point behind Zarco in the championship, had a torrid qualifying and started 22nd<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

At the start of the race, Luthi sprinted into the lead as\u00a0Zarco, Morbidelli, and Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami<\/strong> battle alongside him.\u00a0Zarco moved a step closer when Rins dropped it in the gravel. Lowes, too, would slide off course.\u00a0The champagne would remain on ice because Luthi fended off Zarco\u2019s challenge to snatch a well-deserved victory. Morbidelli broke Japanese hearts as he took the final podium spot from Nakagami. The other point scorers were: Nakagami, Germany\u2019s Sandro Cortese<\/strong>, Italy\u2019s Simone Corsi<\/strong> and Mattia Pasini<\/strong>, Spain\u2019s Julian Simon<\/strong>, Germany\u2019s Marcel Schrotter<\/strong>, Belgium\u2019s Xavier Simeon<\/strong>, Spain\u2019s Xavi Vierge<\/strong>, Italy\u2019s Luca Marini<\/strong>, Malaysia\u2019s Hafizh Syahrin<\/strong>, Japan\u2019s Tetsuta Nagashima<\/strong>,\u00a0and Spain\u2019s Isaac Vinales<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

MotoGP:<\/h3>\n

Italy\u2019s Valentino Rossi, Spain\u2019s Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo locked out the front row, in an all out battle for the championship by the three contenders. A few riders were missing on the grid this weekend. Italian rider Andrea Iannone<\/strong> was still injured, so Spanish rider Hector Barbera<\/strong> was called in to replace him. In Barbera\u2019s place was Australian rider Mike Jones<\/strong>. Spain\u2019s Dani Pedrosa<\/strong> broke his collarbone during practice and was substituted by Japanese rider Hiroshi Aoyama<\/strong>. Yamaha also fielded a test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga<\/strong> from Japan.<\/p>\n

Off the line, Lorenzo got away well and led Rossi and Marquez. But Marquez soon hit the front and there was no looking back. Rossi was the first one to crack and took a tumble, thus eliminating his chances of a tenth world championship. A few laps later, Yamaha\u2019s chances of a world championship went up in a cloud of dust when Lorenzo also binned it into the gravel. All that was left was for Marquez to stay upright until the end. With that, Marc Marquez claims\u00a0fifth world championship, his third in MotoGP. Rossi and Lorenzo\u2019s misfortunes promoted Andrea Dovizioso<\/strong> and Maverick Vinales<\/strong> onto the podium spots. The other point scorers were Spain\u2019s Aleix Espargaro<\/strong>, England\u2019s Cal Crutchlow<\/strong>, Spain\u2019s Pol Espargaro<\/strong> and Alvaro Bautista<\/strong>, Italy\u2019s Danilo Petrucci<\/strong>, England\u2019s Scott Redding<\/strong>, Germany\u2019s Stefan Bradl<\/strong>, Japan\u2019s Nakasuga, Colombia\u2019s Yonny Hernandez<\/strong>, England\u2019s Bradley Smith<\/strong>, Spain\u2019s Tito Rabat<\/strong>, and Japan\u2019s Aoyama.<\/p>\n

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