Overjoyed at the wet win Marquez crossed the line in the swimming position to make it eight wins from eight races in 2014

Sat, 28th Jun 2014 –Marc Marquez produced a masterclass in difficult conditions at the Iveco Daily TT Assen to make it eight wins from eight races in 2014, ahead of fellow podium finishers Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) – after an entertaining flag-to-flag contest. In a race which started after a delay due to wet conditions Marquez judged the 26-lap challenge to perfection, running with Dovizioso at the front in the early stages and asserting his authority as the riders changed to dry set-up machines on the seventh lap. Marquez eventually clinched the win by 6.7s seconds to become the first rider since the great Giacomo Agostini in 1971 to win the first eight premier-class races of the year.

Marc Marquez  (Repsol Honda Team) – “It was a tough day because this was a race where I could have lost many points, but we were still able to extend our lead in the Championship so I’m very pleased with how it has gone and how we dealt with the flag-to-flag. It was our first experience of a race like this, with both wet and dry conditions, and we even had a little scare after the bike change. We are very happy with this victory and to have got a very important 25 points on a weekend we had circled on the calendar”.

Dovizioso stepped onto the rostrum for the second time in 2014, with Pedrosa completing the podium after holding off the pursuing Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) for several laps. Espargaro rode well to hold fourth, having started on pole on the ‘Open’ Forward Yamaha. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) took fifth having shown great pace in the second half of the race, his problem being a late decision to swap back from slicks to wets at the start. Rossi started from pit lane on wets, therefore, and recovered considerable ground before and after eventually the swap back to slicks.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team – 2nd-“The conditions today were very difficult but we managed to get a good start with the right choice of tyres and a perfect race strategy. I had a good feeling with the bike right away, there wasn’t much water but the grip was good, you just had to understand which corners were wet and which were dry. Both Marc and I were able to interpret the track quicker than the others and we pulled out a good gap straight away. I followed him for the early laps, this was my strategy, then I managed to pass him when he made a mistake but his pace was quicker than mine. This second podium of 2014 is very important for us: we are all working so hard and I really want to thank my team!”

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team)– “It was a very difficult race and was even a bit chaotic at first, when it came to having to decide which tyres to put on the bike. I kept a cool head and chose the option of wets, because at first the track was a little damp. I should have pushed more on the opening laps –but I chose not to in case it rained again– as the track began to dry out. The rain didn’t come and I had a good fight with Aleix for the podium in the dry. I am happy to have taken the rostrum finish, because you never know how races like today’s might go, but this one went well for us and we are now focusing on doing a good job in Germany” Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing), Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) and Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) completed the top ten. Broc Parkes (Paul Bird Motorsport) rode superbly to 11th having started from pit lane following a problem on the warm up lap. Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) retired with six laps to go after crashes on slicks and then wet tyres.