MotoGP 2015: daredevil style has cost Marc Marquez world title

TWO-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has cost himself another title through his daredevil racing style, according to Aussie great Mick Doohan.

THE daredevil racing style of two-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has dashed his title defence this year, according to motorcycle racing legend Mick Doohan.

Marquez trails Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in the world standings and cannot reclaim the world crown.

Doohan said Yamaha had made major strides this season while Marquez’s bold and often successful approach had been his undoing.

“Marquez is fantastic to watch but he loves to live on the edge,’’ Doohan said.

“And this year, he hasn’t been able to get away with it all the time.“

Doohan, who won five world titles in a row between 1994 and 1998, said in previous years Marquez had problems in practice which could be managed.

“But this year he’s come off and had issues during the races.”

Coupled with Yamaha consistently getting their bike setup right, Marquez has won four races.

But he has crashed out five times, and missed a podium spot on another three occasions.

The Honda factory rider conceded his world title to the Yamaha team on Sunday, finishing fourth at the Motegi circuit in Japan.

The Spaniard, 22, rode the race with a fractured finger, an injury incurred while mountain bike-riding with his brother, Moto2 rider Alex Marquez.

Phillip Island has not been a happy hunting ground for Marquez.

His best result was winning the 125cc race in 2010 at just age 17.

In MotoGP though, he crashed out while leading last year, and in 2013 he was black-flagged when he failed to change to his spare bike at the right time.

Rossi and Lorenzo will now decide the 2015 world honours over the final three races, starting with the Phillip Island race on Sunday.

The veteran Rossi won last year’s Australian GP, with Lorenzo second and Brit Bradley Smith third.

Practice starts at the island circuit on Friday morning.