Marc Marquez scored his third MotoGP Indianapolis Grand Prix triumph after coming through an epic duel with Jorge Lorenzo.
The reigning world champion was forced to stalk Lorenzo for the majority of the race after losing his pole position advantage at the start.
Marquez applied pressure on the former double world champion lap after lap until he pounced at Turn 1 with only three laps remaining.
Lorenzo tried to fight back but Marquez held on to take back-to-back victories for the first time this season, with championship leader Valentino Rossi in third.
The battle for the final podium spot raged throughout the race between Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and Yamaha’s Rossi.
Pedrosa held sway in the early stages of the race as Rossi surged from eighth to fourth position.
Rossi soon found his way through although Pedrosa regained the spot from the nine-time world champion when spots of rain began to fall.
The duo continued to fight hard for the position before Rossi finally made a move stick to claim third and a bunch of valuable championship points.
Ducati’s Andrea Iannone pipped recently crowned Suzuka 8 Hours winner Bradley Smith to fifth, while Pol Espargaro brought his Tech 3 Yamaha home in seventh.
LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow finished eighth ahead of Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso and Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci.
Jack Miller endured another difficult day on the Open Class LCR Honda as he became the race’s only retirement after crashing out on lap eight.
The Australian MotoGP rookie had started the race from a season best qualifying result of 16th position.
Meanwhile, Rossi continues to lead the championship standings although his lead has been cut to nine points ahead of the championship’s visit to the Czech Republic from August 14-16.
Result: MotoGP Indianapolis Grand Prix
| Position | Rider | Team | Laps | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 27 | |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | 27 | 0.688 |
| 3 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 27 | 5.966 |
| 4 | Daniel Pedrosa | Honda | 27 | 6.147 |
| 5 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | 27 | 21.528 |
| 6 | Bradley Smith | Tech 3 Yamaha | 27 | 21.751 |
| 7 | Pol Espargaró | Tech 3 Yamaha | 27 | 30.378 |
| 8 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR Honda | 27 | 31.607 |
| 9 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 27 | 32.821 |
| 10 | Danilo Petrucci | Pramac Ducati | 27 | 34.517 |
| 11 | Maverick Viñales | Suzuki | 27 | 39.010 |
| 12 | Yonny Hernández | Pramac Ducati | 27 | 41.815 |
| 13 | Scott Redding | Marc VDS Honda | 27 | 50.209 |
| 14 | Aleix Espargaró | Suzuki | 27 | 1:00.465 |
| 15 | Héctor Barberá | Avintia Ducati | 27 | 1:04.147 |
| 16 | Nicky Hayden | Aspar Honda | 27 | 1:05.066 |
| 17 | Mike Di Meglio | Avintia Ducati | 27 | 1:06.941 |
| 18 | Álvaro Bautista | Gresini Aprilia | 27 | 1:13.862 |
| 19 | Eugene Laverty | Aspar Honda | 27 | 1:18.706 |
| 20 | Stefan Bradl | Gresini Aprilia | 27 | 1:19.730 |
| 21 | Alex de Angelis | ART/Aprilia | 27 | 1:19.882 |
| 22 | Toni Elías | Honda | 27 | 1:19.934 |
| – | Jack Miller | LCR Honda | 7 | Retirement |
Championship Standings
| Position | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valentino Rossi | 195 |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | 186 |
| 3 | Marc Márquez | 139 |
| 4 | Andrea Iannone | 129 |
| 5 | Bradley Smith | 97 |
| 6 | Andrea Dovizioso | 94 |
| 7 | Daniel Pedrosa | 80 |
| 8 | Cal Crutchlow | 74 |
| 9 | Pol Espargaró | 73 |
| 10 | Maverick Viñales | 62 |
| 11 | Danilo Petrucci | 57 |
| 12 | Aleix Espargaró | 46 |
| 13 | Yonny Hernández | 36 |
| 14 | Scott Redding | 33 |
| 15 | Héctor Barberá | 20 |
| 16 | Loris Baz | 14 |
| 17 | Álvaro Bautista | 13 |
| 18 | Jack Miller | 12 |
| 19 | Stefan Bradl | 9 |
| 20 | Michele Pirro | 8 |
| 21 | Nicky Hayden | 8 |
| 22 | Eugene Laverty | 7 |
| 23 | Hiroshi Aoyama | 5 |
| 24 | Mike Di Meglio | 2 |
| 25 | Alex de Angelis | 1 |
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