MotoGP 2014: Superb Marc Marquez Wins Again in Austin and Gets Best Start in History

The superb Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has added his second victory of the season at the Grand Prix of The Americas after a race that he dominated throughout his 21 laps.

Dani Pedrosa gave Honda a one-two and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) completed the podium. Double MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) finished 10th after being penalised for jumping the start before the lights went out.

World champion Marquez left all rivals breathless again on the track in Austin, Texas, where he starred from beginning to end.

The Spaniard was at the front from the early stages, followed by Pedrosa, Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) and Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team).

But the most surprising development was Lorenzo's self-elimination for the second straight race. After being penalised had no chance of coming back, and was way out of contention for the top positions.

At the middle of the race, Marquez maintained a lead of two seconds over Pedrosa, but as the laps went on, the youngster increased his lead to a maximum of six seconds. He almost suffered a scare in the last lap as he temporarily lost his line, but eventually crossed the finish line with a margin of five seconds over teammate and compatriot Pedrosa.

Marquez's margin was more than 15 seconds on third-placed Dovizioso, who reached his first podium with Ducati – also the first podium for the Italian factory since the Grand Prix at Misano a year a half ago.

Further back, an off-colour Valentino Rossi was far from the performance he exhibited in Qatar. After dropping from sixth to the lower end of the top ten on lap one, the Movistar Yamaha rider battled through the pack to challenge Iannone for third by the middle stages. But the nine-time world champion then fell back to finish eighth.

Alvaro Bautista fell halfway through the race, his second drop in the Championship. Britain's Scott Redding also fell with two laps left.

For Marquez, who claimed his first career MotoGP premier class win at the Circuit of the Americas last year, the records keep tumbling. The 21-year-old became the first driver to win the first two races of the year from start to finish since Mick Doohan did it in 1995.

The riders will reconvene for the next race at the Argentina Grand Prix in two weeks' time (on 27 April) in the new Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo circuit.

The Americas MotoGP 2014 Results

1. Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda 43'33.430

2. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 43'37.554

3. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati 43'54.406

4. Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda 43'56.220

5. Bradley Smith (Britain) Yahama 43'56.393

6. Pol Espargaro (Spain) Yamaha 43'59.997

7. Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati 44'01.687

8. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 44'18.949

9. Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Yamaha 44'21.035

10. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 44'22.541

11. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 44'34.165

12. Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) Honda 44'37.384

13. Yonny Hernandez (Colombia) Ducati 44'40.763

14. Karel Abraham (Czech Republic) Honda 45'01.402

15. Hector Barbera (Spain) Avintia 45'05.806

16. Michael Laverty (Britain) PBM 45'05.973

17. Danilo Petrucci (Italy) ART 45'12.606

18. Mike Di Meglio (France) Avintia 45'25.392

Not classified

Scott Redding (Britain) Honda 40'28.681 2 laps

Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 36'17.593 4 laps

Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Ducati 26'02.114 9 laps

Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda 18'47.805 12 laps

Broc Parkes (Australia) PBM 17'29.053 13 laps

World Championship Classification

1. Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda

2. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda

3. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha

4. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati

5. Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Yamaha

6. Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati

7. Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda

8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda

9. Bradley Smith (Britain) Yahama

10. Pol Espargaro (Spain) Yamaha

11. Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Ducati

12. Scott Redding (Britain) Honda

13. Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) Honda

14. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha

15. Yonny Hernandez (Colombia) Ducati

16. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha

17. Karel Abraham (Czech Republic) Honda

18. Danilo Petrucci (Italy) ART

19. Hector Barbera (Spain) Avintia

20. Broc Parkes (Australia) PBM