2014 MotoGP: Pedrosa wins at Brno

It had to happen at some point we suppose. But, when Marc Marquez managed to clinch pole position at Brno, we weren't entirely certain that it was possible for anyone or anything to stop his winning streak. As things turned out at Brno though, it took his team-mate Dani Pedrosa on another Repsol Honda to beat him. Pedrosa is now only the second rider to win a MotoGP race this season, with Marquez having vanquished the first 10 races of the season. And given that his winning streak has ended, it also means that he cannot gun for Giacomo Agostini's record of 20 consecutive wins, nor can he manage to attack Mike Hailwood's 12 wins in a row or John Surtees' 11 wins in a row. Perhaps another season, then.

Back to the man who won at Brno, though. Dani Pedrosa had his work cut out for him at the track, with Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo moving into the lead in the early stages of the race, after claiming position from the Ducati riders who had scrapped for top spot at the very beginning. With the Ducati pair of Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso following him, and Pedrosa down in fourth, Lorenzo began to open up a gap to the chasing pack. For Pedrosa, it was critical to get past the Ducatis in order to manage to catch Lorenzo, which he eventually managed. On Lap 6, after having reeled in Lorenzo, Pedrosa made his move and managed to stay right there for the remaining laps of the race. Lorenzo maintained his second place all through. Behind them, Marquez had managed to work his way past the Ducatis and was battling with Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi for third place.

Rossi wasn't having too easy a weekend, given that he had crashed during practice and was nursing a finger injury. But after chasing Marquez down, he made a move that stuck on Lap 13. The final place on the rostrum was his, with Marquez then choosing to back off and settle for fourth place, keeping an eye on the championship, as he would say later. The Ducati pair of Dovizioso and Iannone finished fifth and sixth respectively.

The loss didn't affect Marquez's title hopes too much, and he still leads the championship with 263 points, while Pedrosa improved his second place with 186 points, followed by Valentino Rossi with 173 points.