Spaniard Marc Marquez's win at Laguna Seca boosts his thin lead in the 2013 MotoGP series championship.
Marc Marquez of Spain, center, celebrates with Stefan Bradl of Germany, left, who finished second, and Valentino Rossi of Italy, who finished third Sunday at Laguna Seca. (Photo: Ben Margot, AP)
MONTEREY, Calif. - Rookie Marc Marquez of Spain won the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday at Laguna Seca, taking his third MotoGP victory this year and confirming his status as the newest star of the premier international motorcycle race series.
Marquez edged Stefan Bradl of Germany, last year's rookie of the year who was making his first start from the pole position. Both were aboard Hondas.
Valentino Rossi, the irrepressible Italian veteran and seven-time MotoGP world champion, finished third on a Yamaha.
Marquez is the first rookie ever to win a MotoGP race here at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, an 11-turn 2.2 mile road course atop a hill on the Monterey Peninsula. He is the youngest ever to win back to back contests after a victory earlier this month in Germany, and he has won the first two U.S. races of the season, following a victory in Texas in April.
He will get a chance to sweep all three U.S. venues - the most ever in this country for MotoGP - at Indianapolis on August 18.
"(Marquez) has all the potential to become the greatest of all time, better than me. "
- Valentino Rossi
Marquez achieved victory by passing Rossi early in the race with a dramatic inside move that carried him briefly off the track to the inside in the "corkscrew," the sharply descending turn that is this track's trademark corner.
It was a thrilling move that even Rossi compared afterward to his own storied inside pass in that same turn in 2008, when he overtook Australian Casey Stoner. But Marquez's move was even more extreme.
Rossi, 34, said Marquez has the makings of a potentially dominating champion and fan favorite of the future, just as the Italian has been for a decade.
"He has all the potential to become the greatest of all time, better than me,'' Rossi said of Marquez, who at 20 was too young to legally drink the winner's traditional champagne. "Great skills.''
But, the veteran added: "He is also very young. ... Now is early to say.''
Marquez, whose quick smile and ready laugh puts him in a league with Rossi as a personable face of the sport, joked that he owed Rossi a copyright payment for emulating his inside move in the corkscrew.
"I feel so good on the bike,'' Marquez said. "We had a big opportunity to win two races, and we did.''
The Marquez pass took him inside the turn, beyond the rumble strip into the dirt and even beyond a metal grate off the asphalt. No penalty was assessed for the move, and Marquez said it was good for the sport to have an occasional dramatic pass even off the asphalt.
"We need to be a little free,'' Marquez said. "In the end, the people want to see a show.''
Earlier in the week, Rossi had pointed to the corkscrew as key to victory at the track. "The corkscrew is always a special, special corner,'' Rossi said. "It's more like a mountain road than a MotoGP track.''
After passing Rossi, Marquez played cat and mouse with Bradl before passing him for good with 13 laps left in the intense, 32-lap race.
Bradl was happy to finish second, though he said expectations had been high going into this race with the fastest qualifying speed. He said Marquez was on the only bike fast enough to keep up with his pace.
"It was a long and tough race,'' Bradl said. "A fantastic result for us.''
"I was able to push from the beginning and I see only Marc was able to catch me. ... We can celebrate something tonight,'' Bradl said.
Alvaro Bautista of Spain finished fourth on a Honda. Just behind him were Spanish rivals each nursing painful shoulder injuries - Dani Pedrosa, Marquez' teammate on the Repsol Honda team, and Jorge Lorenzo, Rossi's teammate on the Yamaha Factory Racing team.
American Nicky Hayden, a former MotoGP champion, finished 8 th after starting in 10 th position on a Ducati.
Hayden learned last week that he won't be back next year with the Ducati team, and Bradl noted that thus far he also has no contract for 2014, though he said he was not worried about finding a return ticket. "I think I deserve a place in MotoGP,'' Bradl said.
For Rossi, it was his third podium finish of the year including a victory at Assen, Netherlands in June, but moreover a validation of his return to the upper ranks of the race series. His last two years were disappointing on a Ducati, and he returned to Yamaha for this season. "I'm so happy to come back,'' Rossi said. "Race by race, I have more feeling I can stay in front.''
The victory boosted Marquez's thin lead in the bid for the 2013 series championship.
Rossi said the Hondas were faster than the top Yamahas under Sunday's racing conditions, sunny but cool after a morning fog had lifted. But he cheerfully warned Marquez that they would be battling again.
"Today was not the right day for a fight with Marc because he was faster than me,'' Rossi said. "But for sure there will be another day.''
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