Marquez is the 5th time world champion

Marc Marquez has won the 2016 MotoGP World Championship at the Twin Ring Motegi track in Japan. This is the Spaniard’s 3rd MotoGP championship with two other in championships in both Moto3 and Moto2 under his belt.

Photo courtesy of Repsol Honda

The 23-year-old qualified second on the grid before the race, leading with a total of 248 points in the championship, 52 points ahead of Valentino Rossi and 66 points ahead of the 2015 MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo. Marquez’s win was one of the most unlikely considering the battle for the championship in this season.

 Marquez had a good start which allowed him to steal the lead from Rossi before the first corner of the 2.983 mile circuit. However, by the second corner Marquez was pushed back to third position with Lorenzo in first, before overtaking Rossi in the fourth corner.

The battle for second was getting feisty between Marquez and Rossi with Marquez aggressively overtaking Rossi every opportunity he got.

Eugene Laverty crashed out on lap 22 of the 24 lap race, but caused no inconvenience to other racers.

Marquez then boldly overtook Lorenzo, showing the crowd that he was on the charge and achieving the fast lap of the race thus far with a time of 1:45.577.

On the following lap Rossi overtook Lorenzo on the same corner Marquez made his move, pushing Lorenza into third position after his extensive lead from the start.

Jack Miller was the next racer to then go down on the first corner of lap 18, his 4^th crash of the season.

Valentino Rossi was the next rider to crash on turn 10 of the track, his right leg stuck under his Factory Yamaha bike. Rossi, however with the help of marshals, was able to get up and restart the bike, re-entering the race in 19^th position. But after all the effort, Rossi pulled into the pits with some bike problems evident. The cause of the crash was just a front end of the bike wash-out, causing him to go off track and into the gravel.

Hector Barbara was the next rider to crash out of the race on lap 16.

Looking back at the championship leader board, with Rossi out of the race and with the possibility of Lorenzo finishing 5^th, Marquez fast gaining the championship. Andrea Dovizioso currently in 3^rd and Aleix Espargaro in 4^th chasing down Lorenzo.

However, with Lorenzo being battered and bruised after a horrific crash during the qualifying stage before race day in Japan, a question mark was hanging over his head wondering if he could keep up the pace as Dovizioso started closing in on the current champion.

The battle for 4^th place was then the focus during lap 17 between Espargaro and Maverick Vinales. Vinales won the battle overtaking Espargaro and grabbing the last podium position.

It was only when Lorenzo then crashed out of the race, five laps before the end of the race, that Marc Marquez’s championship win was made final.

Marquez took the win for the first time ever in Japan with a time of 42:34.610, followed by Dovizioso in second, behind by 2.992 seconds. Vinales finished in third.

This is what Marquez had to say about his win in Japan: "It's incredible! Before the race I didn't expect to be Champion, and I said that here it would be impossible. However, when I saw that Rossi was out of the race, I decided to push hard for the victory. I was riding my hardest, and when there were three laps to go, I read on my pit board that Lorenzo was also was also out; on that same lap, I made mistakes in four or five corners, as it was difficult to stay focused! I'm very happy because this title is very special considering some of the crashes I had last year, and also because it came at Motegi, Honda's home. Honda has worked so hard this year, and you could see the fruits of that effort also at this track, where we've struggled in the past. I myself also improved during the season; for instance, I learned how to better use the front Michelin tyre. It has been a demanding year, but a fantastic one. It's great for my team, and of course I don't want to forget my grandmother, who passed away this year and would be very happy with this World Championship. Now we can just enjoy it and go into the last three races with maybe a more 'Marc Marquez' style.''

When interviewed by SuperSport correspondents, Rossi said, "First of all, I would like to say that I'm OK, fortunately no problems. On the other hand, it's a shame, because I was quite strong and I had a good pace. Unfortunately, my start was not fantastic and I lost positions to Marquez and Lorenzo. After that, Marquez was a bit faster than me to overtake Lorenzo, I lost a bit more time behind Lorenzo, but the pace was good. I was able to push a lot to try and catch Marquez but unfortunately I lost the front. Sincerely, I felt nothing - not too fast, too wide or too deep - but I lost the front and logically I made a mistake."

When asked about the Australian race at Phillip Island, Marquez told crash.net that "It's fantastic to arrive at Phillip Island with no pressure for the championship as the track is one of my favourites in the calendar along with Austin and Aragon. It's so fast and flowing and you really have a lot of fun riding there. One of the main issues to take into account there is the weather. It's usually very cold during this period of the year ad always windy, something that you feel a lot, especially at the end of the final straight. You have to find a setup to make the bike as stable as possible. We'll try to win some more races before the end of the year as there are also the Constructors and the Team titles to think of."

The next MotoGP race will be held at the Australian Grand Prix in Phillip Island on Sunday, 23rd of October.

South African Wins Moto3 Championship

Brad Binder has won the 2016 Moto3 World Championship at the Aragon Grand Prix in Spain. The South African is the first to win for his country since Jon Ekerold in 1980, 36 years ago.

Brad Binder proudly waving the South African flag on the podium (Picture: Getty Images)

The 21-year-old qualified fifth on the grid before the race, leading with a total of 229 points in the championship, 111 points ahead of Jorge Navarro. Binder needed either a second place finish or race win in order to become world champion.

Binder had a good start which gained him a position up by the fifth corner of the track. Soon after, he made his way up to third before the end of the opening lap, with Spaniard Jorge Navarro leading the pack and Italian Enea Bastianini in second position.

Gabriel Rodrigo then started chasing Binder down for third place, but Philipp Oettl was the one to make a bold move and separate the two, overtaking Rodrigo and slipping in behind Binder. It didn’t take Oettl long to then overtake Binder, forcing him to trail behind in fourth place.

The battle then continued between Binder and Oettl, with Binder relying on a slipstream in order to keep up with Oettl’s pace. However, after Oettl and Bastianini ran slightly wide, Binder was able to grab second position behind Navarro, but then passed him on the main straight of the track at the end of lap 9, the halfway mark of the race. Binder then led the race with a battle between Oettl, Bastianini and Navarro taking place behind him. But just as Binder thought he was safe, Bastianini overtook him on the corner while Ottel fell behind into tenth place. The two championship contenders continued to battle it out until the penultimate lap, when Navarro overtook them as they both ran wide.

It wasn’t until an extremely tense and exciting last lap of the race that Binder’s championship win was truly reliant on Binder’s skills as a rider. Binder, Navarra and Bastianini all showed dedication towards their fight for the championship, almost head-to-head on the final corner, but it was Navarro who took the win with a time of 39:56.973, followed by Binder in second, behind by only 0.030 seconds. Bastianini finished in third.

Brad Binder told The Times that he would have liked to win the championship with a race victory, however, he had to settle for second place. Even so, Binder was crowned the Moto3 champion of 2016. Still celebrating his victory with the rest of South Africa cheering him on and his parents who had flown out to Spain to watch the race, Binder says, “We lost the battle but won the war.”

Dave Petersen, a former MotoGP racer, told Eyewitness News that Binder deserves every inch of success and that he worked his way up to international glory. Petersen says that “Brad started at the very bottom end of the ladder in terms of motorcycle racing and he’s been an incredible inspiration.”

Sports Minister, Fikile Mbalula, says that Binder has been working towards this for years and that his victory is historic for South Africa. He says, “We can only be proud as the nation salute to him, to his family and to his friends. It’s a great weekend for South Africa, our flag is flying very high.”

Brad Binder will be racing in the Moto2 series in 2017, after it was announced that he had signed a deal with Red Bull KTM Ajo Motorsport. The next Moto3 race will be held at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan on Sunday, 16^th of October.

Marquez Leading For The Win

Marc Marquez is the current leader in the MotoGP 2016 championship, leading 53 points ahead of Valentino Rossi. The reigning champion of 2015, Jorge Lorenzo, is behind by 59 points to Marquez.

The 23-year-old Spaniard has won the championship two times before in 2013 and 2014. Marquez is considered to be the youngest rider in recent history to have broken numerous records including fastest laps and back-to-back consecutive wins in one championship. However, like all sporting heroes, Marquez had to start at the beginning.

Marquez joining Repsol Honda KTM

Marquez was born in Cervera, Catalonia in Spain, and made his debut in 13 April 2008 at the 125cc 2008 Portuguese Grand Prix. He was just 15-years-old as the time and achieved his first podium on 22 June 2008 at the British Grand Prix. 

At the French Grand Prix in 2009, Marquez achieved his first pole position at a factory KTM rider and was the youngest Spanish rider to take a pole position or a podium in a motorcycle racing world championship.

His first win was on 6 June 2010 at Mugello, and following victories were at Silverstone, Assen and Catalonia and thus made Marquez the youngest rider to win four successive races. His fifth win in succession was at the Sachsenring making him the first rider since Valentino Rossi in 1997 to win successive races in 125cc racing.

In 2011 Marquez moved into the Moto2 class as the sole rider of the new team Monlau Competicion run by his manager, Emilio Alzamora.  

Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez - Repsol Honda teammates

In 2012 it was announced that Marquez had signed a two-year contract with the Repsol Honda team in the MotoGP class, replacing the retired Casey Stone alongside Dani Pedrosa as his teammate from 2013 onwards. 

Marquez has often been quoted saying that Rossi was his childhood sporting hero and inspired him to get into the sport. However, in 2015, the two friends soon became rivals. 

During a pre-event press conference at Sepang, Rossi said, “From Phillip Island, it’s clear that Jorge has a new fan.” The Italian rider accused Marquez of helping Lorenzo to beat his teammate. With Marquez sitting only a few centimeters away, Rossi continued speaking against his former friend. He elaborated saying, “Marc has played with us, doing everything in Lorenzo’s advantage… The Australian GP was really interesting, with many top riders fighting and 50 passes. But if the race was so hard fought, we need to ask Marc Marquez. He was playing with us a lot. His goal was helping Lorenzo to escape and take as many points as possible from me!”*

Marquez, visibly embarrassed replied “I did my race. I don’t know why Rossi is saying this. I did an incredible last lap. I can help my teammate, not Jorge Lorenzo.”*

Then onwards, during the Sepang, Malaysia race, a collision incident became the focus of attention when Rossi seemly kicked Marquez’s bike causing him to crash out of the race. Further investigations, however, confirmed that Marquez’s bike handle unfortunately clipped Rossi’s foot causing it to come off the peg. Nonetheless, Rossi received 3 penalty points which were enough to enforce a start from the back of the grid for the final race of the season in Valencia. The riders were warned of their behaviour but Lorenzo took the world title.

The break leading up to the 2016 championships was surely needed as racers came back calm and collected and their underlying stories seemed to fade away.

Meanwhile in South Africa, the reopening of the iconic Kyalami Racing Circuit represented the much needed impetus to economic growth in the area, particularly for tourism. The Sport and Recreation Minister of South Africa, Fikile Mbalula, said he felt positive about the Kyalami revival. “The restoration of Kyalami Racetrack is good for motorsport development and for motorsport in South Africa,” he told IgnitionLive. “We thank the private sector for their continued support for motorsport.” Perhaps the revival of Kyalami Racetrack is the necessary link to get MotoGP and other classes to consider the track as one of the circuits to visit during future championships. Mat Durrans, a co-host of The Bike Show addressed Toby Venter, the owner of the Kyalami track, saying, “Brilliant track, well done! You’ve probably not got any cash left, shame about that. But bring us some international racing!” The South African Bike Festival, hosted previously this year in May, featured various dealerships including Yamaha who displayed a replica of Valentina Rossi’s YZR-M1 Monster model. This event is said to draw in more tourists and recognition globally, possibly attracting the racers to South Africa.

Rossi and Marquez shake hands

Even though some friends become rivals, they say that a feud can’t last for long. This statement rang true at the end of an emotional Catalunya race in June dedicated to Luis Salom after his tragic death during a practice session.

It seems this helped bring a sense of perspective to the riders when Rossi and Marquez were seen shaking hands for the first time since 2015.

More than halfway through the championship already, fans of MotoGP eagerly anticipate what might happen next.

The next MotoGP race will be held at the Silverstone Circuit in Great Britain this Sunday, 4th of September.