Marc Marquez’s winning streak over as teammate Dani Pedrosa takes victory in Czech Republic MotoGP

RECORD book writers, put down your pens: Marc Marquez’s MotoGP streak is over, Dani Pedrosa taking victory in the Czech Republic MotoGP.

Repsol Repsol Honda Team's Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa (L) and Yamaha Factory Racing's Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo compete during the Moto GP race at Czech Grand Prix on August 17, 2014, in Brno. AFP PHOTO / MICHAL CIZEK

RECORD book writers, put down your pens: Marc Marquez’s MotoGP streak is over.

It was his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa who romped to victory in the Czech Republic MotoGP at Brno, his first race win since Malaysia in 2013, edging out Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo after a race-long duel with Valentino Rossi coming home third.

Marquez finished a distant fourth. Remarkably, it’s the first time he has finished off the podium when finishing a race in brief but spectacular MotoGP career.

There was no headline reason for why the reigning world champion’s 10-race winning streak shuddered to a halt before it reached 11. There was no crash, no triumphant slaying.

Instead, it was simply the first race of 2014 where Marquez didn’t quite feel at one with his Honda.

“Today was one of those Sundays in which I neither felt completely comfortable, nor had found the best setup for the bike,” Marquez said after the race.

“It wasn’t down to a mistake by me or by the team, it was simply that we didn’t have the same feeling as on other Sundays.”

Iannone, Rossi, Marquez and Dovizioso in the early laps.

Marquez made a slow start from pole position to be down in sixth on the opening lap while the fast-starting Ducatis of Andreas Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso made the pace at the front.

They were soon passed by Lorenzo, the Yamaha man trying to break the field but unable to quite escape the other Repsol bike of Pedrosa.

The Honda rider made his move on the sixth lap and set to building a gap, Lorenzo unable to do anything other than barely hang onto his countryman’s coat tails.

The gap had peaked at almost two seconds, The Yamaha fighting back in the closing laps but unable to quite bridge the margin. In the end, Pedrosa beat Lorenzo to the line by just 0.410 seconds.

“I am very happy to have won this race!” Pedrosa said. “This year it has been a tough road to victory, but today everybody in the team is very happy.

“Seeing their smiling faces makes me happy as well, because you always try to get the best results but don’t always manage to do so. This year we have an amazing rival in Marc, who has had great performances at every round so far.”

Pedrosa celebrates with mechanics beneath the podium.

For Lorenzo it was perhaps his best race of the season. Although he still came up fractionally short of victory, it’s another sign his confidence, fitness and pace is almost fully restored.

“Finally we beat Marc, but unfortunately it was not me who got the victory this time,” he said.

“I had a chance to get the win because I was feeling good during the warm up and also on the first laps of the race. The only problem was that the feeling of the bike changed after a few laps and Dani caught me.

“The bike was not so bad at the end of race but I was on the limit to catch him. If there would have been one more lap I would have been able to try and beat him, but it was too late.”

Rossi overcame a finger injury to make the podium for the seventh time this year, catching and passing Marquez after struggling to find his rhythm early on.

“This morning it was very bad when checking the setting also with pain making it difficult to ride,” Rossi said. “This afternoon I visited the Clinica Mobile for my finger to prepare it for the race.

“It was a great pleasure to beat Marc. He was sliding and had a problem so he wasn’t fast enough.”

Iannone and Marquez.

Behind Marquez was the first Ducati, and for once it was Iannone on the Pramac machine beating home Dovizioso on the factory bike.

Iannone, nicknamed ‘Crazy Joe’ by some, showed his wild side again in the early laps as he fought to hold off Marquez. The pair clanged fairings twice before the Honda rider eventually made his way past.

Ducati teammate Cal Crutchlow endured another tough race, a crash in the early laps triggering an electrical problem with the bike. Added to a stiff shoulder from the spill, it was all the encouragement the Brit needed to retire the bike.

Stefan Bradl, Aleix Espargaro, Bradley Smith and Alvaro Bautista rounded out the top ten, while Australia’s Broc Parkes brought his PBM bike home as the last classified finisher in 19th.

The teams will stay on for testing at the Brno circuit on Monday, before preparing for the next round of the world championship at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix on August 31.

An overjoyed Pedrosa stands victorious on the podium.

RESULTS — Czech Republic MotoGP, Brno (22 laps)
1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 42m47.800s
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +0.410s
3. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +5.259s
4. Marc Marquez (Honda) +10.454
5. Andrea Iannone (Ducati) +17.639s
6. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) +17.834s
7. Stefan Bradl (Honda) +23.819s
8. Aleix Espargaro (Forward Yamaha) +29.621s
9. Bradley Smith (Yamaha) +30.364s
10. Alvaro Bautista (Honda) +37.639s
11. Scott Redding (Honda) +55.604s
12. Michele Pirro (Ducati) +56.727s
13. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda) +56.908s
14. Karel Abraham (Honda) +1m04.135s
15. Leon Camier (Honda) +1m04.902s
16. Alex de Angelis (Forward Yamaha) +1m20.666s
17. Hector Barbera (Avintia) +1m24.282s
18. Mike Di Meglio (Avintia) +1m27.436s
19. Broc Parkes (PBM) +1m38.867s
DNF Danilo Petrucci (ART) 20 laps
DNF Cal Crutchlow (Ducati) 7 laps
DNF Pol Espargaro (Yamaha) 6 laps
DNF Michael Laverty (PBM) 6 laps
DNF Yonny Hernandez (Ducati) 5 laps

Originally published as Marc Marquez’s winning streak over as teammate Dani Pedrosa takes victory in Czech Republic MotoGP