Marquez wins Czech thriller

Brno - Spanish Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez won the Czech MotoGP here on Sunday for his fourth successive win and extended his lead at the top of the overall standings.

Marquez won the thriller ahead of compatriots team-mate Dani Pedrosa and Yamaha rival and defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo as the Spanish trio dominated the entire race.

Marquez finished the 22-lap race of 118.866km in 42min 50.729sec, 0.313sec ahead of Pedrosa and 2.277sec ahead of Lorenzo.

The 20-year-old leads the championships on 213 points after 11 of 18 races, ahead of Pedrosa with 187 and Lorenzo with 169.

Starting fifth, Lorenzo sneaked into the lead before the first turn and widened the gap on the Honda duo to 1.4 seconds by the end of lap two.

Marquez and Pedrosa then worked patiently to narrow his lead.

Marquez struck three times in lap 16 and got ahead of Lorenzo, who however took the lead back two laps later.

But Marquez fought back immediately and then widened the lead on Lorenzo who then also gave up to constant pressure from Pedrosa two laps before the end.

The gap between reigning world champion Lorenzo and fourth-placed Valentino Rossi reached almost eight seconds.

Weather was a cause for concern all day as heavy clouds gathered over the Brno circuit, forcing the teams to have bikes with wet tyres ready - but it all ended with just a few raindrops.

Results at the Czech Grand Prix on Sunday:

MotoGP

1. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 42min 50.729sec, 2. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) at 0.313, 3. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Yamaha) 2.277, 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) 10.101, 5. Alvaro Bautista (ESP/Honda) 10.178, 6. Stefan Bradl (GER/Honda LCR) 19.807, 7. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) 35.015, 8. Nicky Hayden (USA/Ducati) 35.354, 9. Andrea Iannone (ITA/Ducati) 51.149, 10. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/ART) 56.392

Overall MotoGP standings

1. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 213 pts, 2. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) 187, 3. Jorge Lorenzo(ESP/Yamaha) 169, 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) 143, 5. Cal Crutchlow (GBR/Yamaha) 127, 6. Stefan Bradl (GER/Honda LCR) 103, 7. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) 96, 8. Alvaro Bautista (ESP/Honda) 92, 9. Nicky Hayden (USA/Ducati) 80, 10. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/ATR) 62

Moto2

1. Mika Kallio (FIN/Kalex) 41min 11.785sec, 2. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Kalex) at 0.590, 3. Thomas Luthi (SUI/Suter) 0.799, 4. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Kalex) 0.965, 5. Johann Zarco (FRA/Suter) 1.100, 6. Nicolas Terol (ESP/Suter) 1.539, 7. Esteve Rabat (ESP/Kalex) 2.496, 8. Scott Redding (GBR/Kalex) 4.490

Overall Moto2 standings

1. Scott Redding (GBR/Kalex) 167 pts, 2. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Kalex) 146, 3. Esteve Rabat (ESP/Kalex) 122, 4. Mika Kallio (FIN/Kalex) 115, 5. Dominique Aergerter (SUI/Suter) 97, 6. Johann Zarco (FRA/Suter) 86, 7. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Kalex) 85, 8. Nicolas Terol (ESP/Suter) 72