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Marc Márquez

Marc Márquez Alenta (born 17 February 1993 in Cervera, Lleida, Spain) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is the 2010 125cc World Champion and the 2012 Moto2 World Champion. Márquez wrote history by being the youngest ever MotoGP pole sitter & winner in history at the 2013 Grand Prix of the Americas. He is the older brother of Álex Márquez.

125cc World Championship

Márquez made his championship debut on 13 April 2008 on the 125cc 2008 Portuguese Grand Prix at the age of 15 years and 56 days. He is the youngest Spanish rider to take a pole position or a podium in a motorcycle racing world championship. Márquez at the 2010 Dutch TT.

Márquez achieved his first podium on 22 June 2008 at the British Grand Prix at the age of 15 years and 127 days. For 2009, he was a factory KTM rider, and in the French Grand Prix achieved his first pole position at the age of 16 years and 89 days. He also took pole for the 2010 Spanish Grand Prix but disaster struck on lap one when the exhaust pipe fell off and went under the rear wheel, causing Márquez to crash heavily and injure his shoulder. His first win was on 6 June 2010 at Mugello. Further victories at Silverstone, Assen and Catalunya in the next three races saw Márquez become the youngest rider to win four successive races. His fifth win in succession at the Sachsenring was Derbi's 100th victory in Grand Prix racing, and Márquez became the first rider since Valentino Rossi in 1997 to win five successive races in 125cc racing.

He was less successful in the following races, dropping to third in the standings at one point behind Nicolás Terol and Pol Espargaró after being taken out by Randy Krummenacher at the first corner at Motorland Aragon. Four successive wins from Motegi onwards had moved Márquez into a 17-point lead over Terol with only one round to go. At Estoril, the race was red-flagged due to rain with Márquez running second to Terol. When returning to the grid for the second race, Márquez fell on the sighting lap and had to return to the pits. With repairs, Márquez started at the back of the field having not made it out of the pit lane before it closed five minutes prior to the start. Despite this, Márquez recovered to win the race and thus extend his lead before the Valencia finale. His tenth victory of the season moved him to within one of tying the record set by Rossi in 1997.[4] He would fall short of tying it as he took a measured fourth place at the final race in Valencia to become the second-youngest World Champion after Loris Capirossi.

Moto2 World Championship
Márquez at the 2011 Czech Republic Grand Prix.

Márquez moved into the Moto2 class for 2011 – the first of an expected two-year deal – as the sole rider of the new team Monlau Competición, run by his own personal manager Emilio Alzamora. Márquez started the season with a pair of accidents in Qatar and at Jerez, after contact with Jules Cluzel. He finished 21st in Portugal, before taking his first victory in the class at the French Grand Prix, recovering from a poor start that left him in ninth position at one point of the race. At his home race in Catalonia, Márquez finished second behind championship leader Stefan Bradl, before another fall at Silverstone, having started from his first Moto2 pole position. With Bradl taking his fourth victory in the first six races, Márquez trailed him by 82 points at the end of the weekend. Márquez made a mid-season surge up the championship standings, winning six of the next seven races to move within six points of Bradl in the championship standings.

In Japan, Márquez took his seventh pole position of the season but was beaten in the race by Andrea Iannone, but Márquez's second place finish combined with a fourth place for Bradl, allowed Márquez to take the championship lead by a point. At the Australian Grand Prix, Márquez was involved in an incident with Ratthapark Wilairot during free practice; Márquez crashed into the back of Wilairot after the session had been concluded, and for riding in an "irresponsible manner", was given a one-minute time penalty onto his qualifying time. The penalty ensured Márquez would start the race from last on the grid, but he made his way through the field and eventually finished the race in third place, albeit losing his championship lead to Bradl, who finished second.

Prior to the Malaysian Grand Prix, Márquez confirmed that he would remain in Moto2 for the 2012 season, after rumours of a move into the MotoGP class. Márquez's race weekend was hampered in the opening minutes of the first free practice session, as he crashed on a damp patch of asphalt. After sitting out two further practice sessions, Márquez completed two laps in the qualifying session, but his times were only good enough for 36th on the grid. He did not start the race, as he failed a medical examination prior to the warm-up on race morning. Márquez attended the final race of the season in Valencia, in the hope of being fit to compete, but withdrew due to his continued vision problems, giving Bradl the title.

On 12 July 2012, it was announced that Márquez had signed a two-year contract with the Repsol Honda team in MotoGP, replacing the retiring Casey Stoner alongside Dani Pedrosa, from 2013 onwards.

MotoGP

Márquez tested the Honda RC213V for the first time in Valencia after the end of 2012 championships lapping just over a second slower than his teammate and compatriot Dani Pedrosa who topped the time sheets .[20] Márquez was again impressive during the first official MotoGP testing at Sepang where he finished the first two days of testing at third position just behind Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo and ahead of Valentino Rossi in fourth before swapping places with Rossi on the final day .[21] Márquez also did a race simulation during the closing stages of the session and his timings were consistent and phenomenal for a rookie. Márquez continued his impressive form in the private test of Honda at Austin where he topped the timesheets all the three days.

Márquez started the 2013 season strongly with a podium finish at Qatar. He qualified sixth ahead of Valentino Rossi. He made a bright start and was soon up into third position behind the eventual winner Jorge Lorenzo and his teammate Dani Pedrosa. Márquez later went past Pedrosa and took second position but was soon overtaken by Rossi. Márquez fought bravely and went past Rossi at the first corner inside out but eventually finished third behind Rossi. Márquez said he was so happy fighting Rossi whom he had referred to as his idol.

At the second round of the championship at the new Circuit of the Americas, Márquez beat his team mate Dani Pedrosa in a race-long duel. He made a break with three laps to go after a small mistake from Pedrosa to become the first winner at the new track. In doing this Márquez became the youngest ever MotoGP race winner at 20 years 2 months and 5 days old, beating Freddie Spencer's 30 year old record. The result left Márquez leading the championship (although he was tied at 41 points with Yamaha Factory Racing's Jorge Lorenzo, Márquez led the championship due to being the most recent race winner).

Márquez slipped during the third free practice session without getting injured or damaging his bike and eventually qualified third fastest for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. Márquez finished the race in second position behind teammate Dani Pedrosa and helped a Honda one-two for the second consecutive race. The race was highlighted by Márquez's pass on Lorenzo. Márquez was involved in a last lap dual with Jorge Lorenzo. At turn 13, named after Jorge Lorenzo, Márquez braked so late that he dived past Lorenzo making a rash contact and pushing him wide. Lorenzo finished third. This incident was similar to Rossi's infamous pass on Sete Gibernau at the same corner in 2005. Lorenzo was furious and refused to shake hands with Márquez after the race. Márquez later apologized to Lorenzo stating that he would also have been angry if someone else had did that to him and hoped that his relationship with Lorenzo will improve in the future. Many riders said that the move was fairly aggressive, but given the fact Jorge left a large gap into the corner, qualified as a racing incident and nothing more.[22] Márquez is well known for his aggressive moves right from the start his 125cc and Moto2 days.

At Round 4 of the championship the French GP at Le Mans Márquez took the second pole of his short MotoGP career just 0.030 faster than Yamaha Factory Racings Jorge Lorenzo. Márquez suffered a bad start to the race and spent many laps in the lower half of the top 10 however by mid-race he began to find his rhythm and progressed forward. Márquez overtook Andrea Dovizioso with only 2 laps to go in the race to claim his fourth podium finish in his first 4 top class GPs, which equals the record of Max Biaggi from 1998.

Márquez endured a tough weekend at Mugello for Round 5. After crashing his Repsol Honda on Friday morning Márquez crashed again on Saturday afternoon on the Mugello main straight at over 200mph; the fastest MotoGP crash of all time recording over 25Gs, he had a third crash on Saturday morning practice but recovered to qualify on the 2nd row for the race. After a good start to the race Márquez was running 3rd in the opening stages behind Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa after Pedrosa started to slow at around half race distance Márquez made a superb overtake on his team mate to take 2nd, but he suffered his 4th crash of the weekend with only 3 laps to go in the race. This was his first non-finish since joing the premier class at the beginning of 2013.

At the Catalan GP at Barcelona Márquez qualified 6th on the back of row 2 but a great start left him in 3rd at the end of lap 1, he settled in 3rd and looked comfortable for most of the race until Pedrosa's pace in 2nd position started to fade and Lorenzo started to pull a small gap at the front. Márquez seemed to have better pace than his compatriots in front but was unable to pass his team mate, on the 2nd to last lap he attempted a pass into turn 4 and nearly got the move done but had a huge wobble and nearly had his 2nd crash in as many races, losing around 1 second to Pedrosa. He managed to stay upright and charged back to Pedrosa's rear wheel on the last lap but again was unable to pass, he finished the race in 3rd place. During the race he set his 4th fastest lap and 5th podium finish of the 6 races so far this season.

Round 7 at the Assen TT Márquez had a good Friday placing 3rd and 1st in the first day's sessions; on Saturday he suffered a huge highside in morning practice causing small fractures of his little finger on his right hand and also his left big toe. He declined medical assistance at the scene of the accident and remounted his spare bike to take part in FP4 on Saturday afternoon eventually placing first in that session. Márquez qualified 2nd fastest on the front row of the grid for the race lining up behind Britain's Cal Crutchlow. In the race Márquez had an average start running in 3rd-4th position in the early laps of the race; after being passed by Valentino Rossi he began to slowly increase his pace compared to his team mate and passed Pedrosa in the latter stages of the race. This was followed but a late race charge from Crutchlow, nearly passing Márquez into turn 1 of the last lap but running wide and allowing Márquez a bit of space until the end of the race.

Round 8 took place at the Sachsenring for the German GP, following the injuries to main rivals Pedrosa and Lorenzo, Márquez took his 3rd MotoGP pole position in his 8 race career. After an average start he finished lap 1 in 4th place behind Bradl, Rossi and Aleix Espargaro. He worked his way to the front to lead by the end of lap 5 and was never again headed despite a strong late race charge from Briton Cal Crutchlow to win by 1.5sec. During the race Márquez posted his 5th race fastest lap of the 8 races so far this season.

At Round 9 in the USA at Laguna Seca Márquez started his first race weekend at Laguna Seca finishing the first day of practice with the fastest lap, he continued this impressive form the following day leading the times in both of Saturday's free practice sessions. Márquez narrowly missed pole position by 0.017 of a second to Stefan Bradl after a crash during the 2nd qualifying session. During the race Márquez made another average start dropping behind Valentino Rossi and leader Stefan Bradl in the early laps. At the famous corkscrew turn on lap 4 Márquez, having had a faster run out of the previous corner, ran around the outside of Rossi coming into the corkscrew and was run wide by Rossi mid-corner. Márquez replicated the overtake that Rossi made on Casey Stoner at the same corner in 2008 to pass the Italian and give chase to Bradl. The gap closed quickly at first but Márquez followed Bradl until lap 19 when he made a pass into the last corner, the gap gradually extended in Márquez' favour over the next few laps and he won his 3rd GP of the year to extend his championship lead to 16 points over Dani Pedrosa. The win also marked the beating of another of Freddie Spencer's records as Márquez is now the youngest rider to win back to back races in the Premier Class of GP racing.

Round 10 took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the USA. Márquez started the weekend strongly topping both sessions on Friday, this was followed up on Saturday with Márquez being fastest in both Free Practice sessions and grabbing Pole Position in the qualifying session also by a huge margin of 0.5 seconds from Jorge Lorenzo. His form continued on Sunday morning with the fastest time in the morning Warm Up session. In the race Márquez made an average get away and dropped from 1st to 3rd by the first corner behind Lorenzo and Pedrosa after following his teammate for the early laps Márquez made his move on Lap 8 on the outside of Pedrosa in turn 5. On lap 12 Márquez made a pass on Lorenzo for the lead, Lorenzo and Pedrosa were able to keep pace with the rookie for a few laps but towards the latter stages the gap opened out and Márquez took his 4th win of the year by just over 3 seconds. During the weekend Márquez become the youngest rider to top the time sheets in every session of a GP weekend. He also became the youngest rider to win 3 races back to back in the Premier Class beating another of Freddie Spencer's records. He has equaled Kenny Roberts' record of 4 wins in a rookie season. He also made his 7th fastest lap in his first 10 races in MotoGP.

Round 11 of the championship was held at Brno, Czech Republic. The race saw an intense battle between Márquez and Lorenzo. Lorenzo made a great start off the line and lead the race at the first corner. Márquez’s ride was a mixture of patience, aggression and defense. The 20-year-old had been annoyed during qualifying, but ran second behind Lorenzo as the reigning champion scorched off the start line. The pair proceeded to swap places on various occasions, with the final pass coming at Turn 3 with just under four laps to go. This is the first time a rider has won four consecutive races since Valentino Rossi in 2008. Márquez also set another record by becoming the only rider to win 5 races in the rookie season. He also set his 8th fastest lap this season. The victory takes Marquez to 213 points, 26 ahead of Pedrosa and 44 ahead of Lorenzo.

to be continued...

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_M%C3%A1rquez