Marc Marquez wins third straight Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Last Updated: 09/08/15 9:34pm
Marc Marquez overcame a morning fall and a strong challenge from Jorge Lorenzo to win his third straight Indianapolis Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 22-year-old bided his time in second place behind Yamaha rider Lorenzo for most of the 27-lap race before making a decisive pass of his fellow Spaniard at the end of the home straight with three laps left.
The Repsol Honda rider beat Lorenzo by 0.688 seconds in Indy's closest MotoGP race ever on the 2.591-mile, 16-turn road course.
World championship leader Valentino Rossi of Italy was nearly six seconds back in third place on his Yamaha, just ahead of Spaniard Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda).
Marquez has never been beaten in seven motorcycling races on three different US tracks.
His latest triumph came after he escaped injury in a crash during practice on Sunday morning.
With his third victory of the season Marquez picked up 25 points to jump from fourth to third place in the 2015 championship standings.
After 10 of 18 races, he is 56 points behind Rossi (195 points), who leads Lorenzo by only nine points.
Marquez started on pole but was passed by Lorenzo on the very first corner and the pair gradually pulled away in what became a two-man race.
"I saw from the beginning, OK, we will push last laps, because it was impossible (for Lorenzo) to open a gap so I wait until the end and then with remaining three laps I pass him," Marquez said in a pit row interview.
"Then I did a little bit of strategy and then the last lap I push a little bit more."
Second-placed Lorenzo praised the winner.
"I made one of my best races, a very high pace," he said. "I just throw away all my energy trying to escape from Marc. Finally, he could be stronger."
