2014 MotoGP Highlights

World Champion Marc Marquez started his MotoGP title defence with a victory in Qatar, beating Valentino Rossi in a close battle, leaving Dani Pedrosa coming home third. During the race, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Jorge Lorenzo crashed out of the lead at turn 15 on the first lap, meaning his season starts with a DNF after he had struggled with grip issues throughout the weekend. Meanwhile, after eight laps the race was over for Stefan Bradl who had led the contest for several circulations. Coming from seventh on the grid and taking advantage of Lorenzo's crash and some errors ahead of him, Bradl was writing headlines for LCR Honda but perhaps the pressure of Marquez and Rossi on his shoulder was too much, as the German slid off track.

Marc Marquez utterly dominated the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas race, taking victory by a four second margin from his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) completing the podium. A jump start ruined the race for Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) as he finished 10th after a ride-through penalty. Lorenzo took the holeshot after a bizarre error from the former World Champion and he rode through the pit lane at the end of the first lap, leaving Marquez clear at the front. Pedrosa tried to stay with Marquez, who was the only 'Factory' rider to run the hard rear tyre, but the youngster sped away to become the first rider to win the first two races of the year from pole in the premier class since Mick Doohan in 1995.

An enthralling MotoGP race at the Gran Premio Red Bull de la Republica Argentina saw Marc Marquez clinch his third win of the year, ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo in the top three. As the race at Termas de Rio Hondo got underway, Marquez got caught up in the crowd on lap one but played it patiently, picking off his opponents to get into second - eventually hunting down early leader Lorenzo, with his winning move coming 8 laps from the end. It was a good day for the Repsol Honda team as Pedrosa stayed in the chase throughout the race, eventually overtaking Lorenzo on the penultimate lap for second. Lorenzo's Movistar Yamaha MotoGP teammate Valentino Rossi was briefly into second early on, but ran wide twice and dropped to seventh before fighting his way back up to fourth.

With victory in the south of Spain in his 100th Grand Prix Marquez becomes the first rider to win the opening four premier class races of the year since Mick Doohan in 1992. Marquez had never previously won at Jerez in the World Championship. No-one could live with Marquez in the heat of the afternoon in Andalusia as he built up a four second lead by lap 12 and never looked back, eventually crossing the line comfortably ahead of Rossi. Indeed it was also another superb performance for Rossi as he returned to the podium for the first time since Qatar, holding off Pedrosa on the final corner. Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) had to settle for fourth at his 200th GP, crossing the line 8.5s behind Marquez on his 27th birthday.

Marquez produced a fantastic fightback after an early mistake to lead by a second on lap 16, having been 10th on lap one. Rossi demonstrated his competitiveness again to lead for several laps in the first half of the race but ultimately could not hold off the rampant Marquez. Whilst Rossi achieved his tenth premier class podium at Le Mans and his 150th in the top category, Marquez became the first rider to win five successive premier class races from pole since Mick Doohan in 1997. Meanwhile, it was Bautista's first podium since 2012 and a great reward for the determination he has shown since his three DNF's at the start of the season.

An intriguing duel between Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo saw the former come out on top at Mugello, with Valentino Rossi joining them on the podium. The two Spaniards put on a great show in front of the Italian crowd, battling for the lead for several laps, only for Marquez to clinch a sixth successive victory in 2014 by 0.121s on the final lap. At his 300th Grand Prix the yellow sea of fans were willing Rossi to capitalise on any mistake from the front two, and although The Doctor had to settle for third by just under three seconds, it was still a great ride for him from 10th on the grid. With Dani Pedrosa and impressive rookie Pol Espargaro (the next two across the line - albeit more than 10 seconds further back), there were four Spaniards in the top five.