Marquez nails it in duel with 'demon' Jorge

01 September 2014 - 02:01 By Reuters
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MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez powered to his 11th victory in 12 races after a thrilling British Grand Prix battle with fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo yesterday.

Marquez, who had put his works Honda on pole position for the 10th time this season, lost out to Lorenzo at the start, but seized back the lead from Yamaha's double champion with seven laps to go.

But Lorenzo went back in front two laps later, when Marquez ran wide at Stowe.

That was not the end of it, with Marquez then barging through in a bodywork-banging move with the pair crossing the line just 0.732 of a second apart.

Valentino Rossi, making a record 246th start in the class, finished third on his Yamaha.

Marquez, whose rare off day in the Czech Republic saw him finish fourth, said that he enjoyed the tussle with Lorenzo.

"Honestly, Jorge was much stronger than I expected.

"When I passed him the first time I made a small mistake and he got the lead back.

"I recalled what happened last year (he finished second to Lorenzo in the same race) and I didn't want a repeat of that, so I ensured once I got back in front again I wouldn't let it slip."

Lorenzo said he was surprised by the performance of his bike.

"Marc has the power, but as I said, in racing sometimes you have surprises," Lorenzo said.

"Once I hit the front I rode like a demon. However, once Marc passed me towards the end of the race I was too tired to react."

Marquez, who has been beaten just once this season, now has an 89-point lead over Pedrosa, who won the previous round in the Czech Republic.

Marquez has 288 points, Pedrosa 199 and Rossi 189.

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