Sunday, November 10, 2013

Márquez and Viñales Win World Championships

Jorge Lorenzo did all he could to win his second consecutive MotoGP title but it wasn't enough as rookie Marc Márquez was able to hold off his fellow Spaniard to become the youngest world champion and first rookie world champion since Kenny Roberts in 1978.

Lorenzo took the lead from the pole-sitting Márquez at the start as Márquez fell to third by the end of the opening lap. Márquez's Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa was second and put the pressure on Lorenzo for the lead and got it only to have slight contact with Lorenzo while battling for the position forced both to run wide and let Márquez through to the lead.

Lorenzo would quickly catch Márquez and retake the lead but he needed Márquez to finish at least fifth to have any shot at the title. Pedrosa fell to fifth after running wide but would work his way back around Valentino Rossi and Álvaro Bautista and eventually by Márquez to finish second.

Márquez would finish third, his sixteenth podium of the season and that would be enough to win the world championship by four points over Jorge Lorenzo. At 20 years, 266 days old, Márquez is the youngest world champion. He has won a title in three of the last four season, one in each class of Grand Prix Motorcycle racing. Márquez's final scoreline for his championship season will be six victories, sixteen podium, nine pole positions and an average finish of 1.55.

In Moto3, Maverick Viñales made a final corner pass for the victory and the championship as Viñales beat German Jonas Folger and fellow Spaniard Álex Rins. Viñales held off Rins by twelve points for the title. Pre-race championship leader Luis Salom fell while leading Viñales and Rins and could only recover to finish fourteenth and slip to third place in the final championship standings, twenty-one back of Viñales, who will be his teammate in Moto2 in 2014.

In the Moto2 season finale, 2013 Moto2 champion Pol Espargaró fell while leading and could only finish twenty-ninth while Nicolás Terol took his third win of the season over fellow Spaniard Jordi Torres and Frenchman Johann Zarco. Second place in the championship Scott Redding finished fifteenth after racing with a wrist injury. Both Espargaró and Redding will be graduating to MotoGP for 2014. Espargaró will be going to Tech3 Yamaha and team with Bradley Smith while Redding will run the "open" entry for Gresini Honda.