VALENCIA, Spain – Marc Marquez wrapped up the MotoGP season with his 12th victory of the season on Sunday at Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
Jack Miller went from third to first in the opening corner aboard his Pramac Racing Ducati. Marquez, on the other hand, got a slow start and dropped to sixth after running slightly wide in turn one.
Polesitter Fabio Quartararo then grabbed the lead from Miller as the Australian ran wide in turn two, with the Frenchman quickly creating a small gap. In turn one on lap two Marquez was back up to third. He then tracked down Miller before turning his attention to Quartararo.
Quartararo held a .7 second lead over Marquez, but by lap eight Marquez had caught the MotoGP rookie. In Turn 11 Marquez made his move, slipping past Quartararo to take the lead.
It didn’t take Marquez long to build the gap, distancing himself from Quartararo for the remainder of the event. Marquez ended up beating Quartararo to the checkers by a little more than a second to collect the victory.
The win allowed Honda to claim the team championship, completing a sweep of the driver, team and manufacturer championships in MotoGP competition this year.
“A perfect end to a perfect season with the victory,” Marquez said. “We did exactly what we wanted to do and won the team championship, taking the Triple Crown in this amazing season. Always the riders championship is the first objective, but I was happy to help win the team championship, not just for them but also for Jorge who has been a great champion, a hard rival and a great teammate. It will be difficult to improve on this year because we rode in a perfect way.”
Quartararo rode home a lonely second, his fifth runner-up finish this season. Miller was third, his fifth podium of the season for Pramac Racing.
Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso was fourth at the checkered flag, followed by the Suzuki of Alex Rins in fifth.
Jorge Lorenzo, making the final MotoGP start of his career after announcing his retirement on Thursday, finished 13th.