The 2017 MotoGP Championship has finally come to a close, and it took racing under the Valencian sun for us to crown a victor.
Though he was easily the pre-season favorite, this year was a long season for Marc Marquez to claim his sixth world championship, and his victory seemed far from certain as the races ticked by.
A DNF for three races this season, Marquez left the door open for a number of would-be usurpers, with Andrea Dovizioso rising to the top of that list. With the pair fighting head-to-head on a number of occasions, the Ducati rider put up a strong fight against the Spaniard.
Though Marquez’s three race scratches – one due to a mechanical failure – showed a return to his old ways of aggressive riding, when Marquez did finish a race, he was able to grab crucial points, with 12 podium finishes and 6 race wins.
This consistency was vital to his championship success, and it should be noted that he finished the season with the same number of points as last year’s more “conservative” championship bid.
“I’m living a dream. ‘Six Titles’ are big words. The truth is that I’m incredibly happy because we worked so much this year, and today the race was incredibly tense and exciting—a bit ‘Marquez Style.’” said Marquez.
“The key to the year has been our mentality. In our world it’s very important to remain positive and motivated during the difficult moments. Some things happened to us at the beginning of the season but when we found the way to sort things out, everything went better.”
“Congratulations to Honda and the entire team for the Triple Crown. It’s an amazing achievement. Winning the Title at the last race of the season in front of our fans is one of the best things possible, really special.”
“Now I want to enjoy this with my entire team and my family, and after that we’ll start to work for next year.”
Congratulations go out to Marc Marquez on his accomplishments this weekend, but know too that the 2018 MotoGP Championship season starts tomorrow, and there are a number of strong candidates that the Repsol Honda rider will have to contend with.
Pos. | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
1 | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | SPA | 298 |
2 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati | ITA | 261 |
3 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | SPA | 230 |
4 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | SPA | 210 |
5 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | ITA | 208 |
6 | Johann ZARCO | Yamaha | FRA | 174 |
7 | Jorge LORENZO | Ducati | SPA | 137 |
8 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | ITA | 124 |
9 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Honda | GBR | 112 |
10 | Jonas FOLGER | Yamaha | GER | 84 |
11 | Jack MILLER | Honda | AUS | 82 |
12 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | SPA | 75 |
13 | Andrea IANNONE | Suzuki | ITA | 70 |
14 | Scott REDDING | Ducati | GBR | 64 |
15 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia | SPA | 62 |
16 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | SPA | 59 |
17 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | SPA | 55 |
18 | Loris BAZ | Ducati | FRA | 45 |
19 | Tito RABAT | Honda | SPA | 35 |
20 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | CZE | 32 |
21 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | GBR | 29 |
22 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | SPA | 28 |
23 | Michele PIRRO | Ducati | ITA | 25 |
24 | Mika KALLIO | KTM | FIN | 11 |
25 | Sam LOWES | Aprilia | GBR | 5 |
26 | Katsuyuki NAKASUGA | Yamaha | JPN | 4 |
27 | Sylvain GUINTOLI | Suzuki | FRA | 1 |
28 | Michael VAN DER MARK | Yamaha | NED | |
29 | Takuya TSUDA | Suzuki | JPN | |
30 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | Honda | JPN | |
31 | Broc PARKES | Yamaha | AUS |
Source: MotoGP; Photos: MotoGP & Repsol Honda
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