2014 Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix

Valencian Community  2014 Valencian Community Grand Prix
Race details
Race 18 of 18 races in the
2014 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date9 November 2014
Official nameGran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana[1]
LocationCircuit Ricardo Tormo
Course
  • Permanent racing facility
  • 4.005 km (2.489 mi)
MotoGP
Pole position
Rider Italy Valentino Rossi Yamaha
Time 1:30.843
Fastest lap
Rider Spain Marc Márquez Honda
Time 1:31.515 on lap 8
Podium
First Spain Marc Márquez Honda
Second Italy Valentino Rossi Yamaha
Third Spain Dani Pedrosa Honda
Moto2
Pole position
Rider Spain Esteve Rabat Kalex
Time 1:35.199
Fastest lap
Rider Switzerland Thomas Lüthi Suter
Time 1:35.312 on lap 18
Podium
First Switzerland Thomas Lüthi Suter
Second Spain Esteve Rabat Kalex
Third France Johann Zarco Caterham Suter
Moto3
Pole position
Rider Italy Niccolò Antonelli KTM
Time 1:39.183
Fastest lap
Rider Spain Efrén Vázquez Honda
Time 1:39.400 on lap 7
Podium
First Australia Jack Miller KTM
Second Spain Isaac Viñales KTM
Third Spain Álex Márquez Honda

The 2014 Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix was the eighteenth and last round of the 2014 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It was held at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia on 9 November 2014.

In the MotoGP class, Valentino Rossi took his first pole position since the 2010 French Grand Prix. However, it was Marc Márquez who won the race, taking his thirteenth victory of the season,[2] surpassing the previous premier class record of twelve wins set by Mick Doohan in 1997. Rossi crossed the line in second place to take the runner-up spot in the championship, while the podium was completed by Dani Pedrosa.[3] Further down the order, Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Iannone decided to swap bikes – on lap 20 – as light rain fell. Both riders struggled to get the bike stopped in the uncertain conditions and dropped down the order; Iannone finished 22nd, while Lorenzo retired from the race. The Suzuki MotoGP team returned to the series in a wildcard appearance, ahead of a full-season entry in 2015. Utilising the new Suzuki GSX-RR, Randy de Puniet retired from the race before the halfway mark. Drive M7 Aspar rider, Hiroshi Aoyama, rode an Open-specification Honda RC213V-RS and finished in fifteenth place. The race was also the Gresini team's last race with Honda bikes ahead of their switch to Aprilia in 2015. It was also the final race for the PBM chassis, as their team will switch to the British Superbike Championship from 2015.

In the Moto2 race, Thomas Lüthi took his second victory of the season,[4] after capitalising on a mistake by the world champion, Esteve Rabat, on the final lap to take the spoils. Rabat had been leading the race before missing a gear coming out of the final corner, and Lüthi was able to prevail by 0.133 seconds at the line. Rabat's second place did however, seal a record number of points scored for an intermediate class season.[5] Johann Zarco completed the podium in third place,[4] his fourth podium of the season. Aside from the race honours, the runner-up position in the final championship standings was decided by virtue of a collision between the two competitors battling for the position. Rabat's teammate Mika Kallio and Maverick Viñales both retired from the race, thus giving Kallio the position by 15 points.

The world title was decided in the final Moto3 race of the season, with a third-place finish for Álex Márquez enough to give him his first world title by two points, despite his title rival Jack Miller winning the race. In the process, he and his brother Marc Márquez became the first brothers to win world motorcycle racing titles.[6][7] Splitting the title rivals in the finishing order was Isaac Viñales, taking his third podium of the season.

  1. ^ "2014 Valencia MotoGP". Motorsportmagazine.com. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Marquez ends season in style with record 13th victory". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  3. ^ "Another double podium marks end of successful season for Repsol Honda". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Luthi takes the win at final round as Rabat slows on finish straight". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  5. ^ Lewis, Lisa (9 November 2014). "Trouble for Rabat gifts Luthi surprise win". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  6. ^ "Alex Marquez – a new World Champion in the family". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  7. ^ "Marquez clinches title in third as Miller wins final race". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.