Spain’s Marc Marquez topped each timed session, set the fastest lap and claimed a fourth win of the season at Indianapolis today as he extended his lead in the MotoGP championship standings.

A third consecutive MotoGP victory at the 10th round of 18 this morning has seen Honda’s Marquez has extend his lead in the overall standings to 21 points, the youngster completing his dominant display at Indianapolis with another impressive win.

A spectacular performance throughout the weekend by the rookie, Marquez topped every timed session around the ‘Brickyard’ in the run up to the race and though a tardy start would leave him third in the early stages, bold passes on both Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo would see him claim a lead he wouldn’t lose by lap 13 of 27.

A methodical performance belying his relative inexperience, Marquez reveals that he spent the early stages of the race conserving his tyres, before making his move on his rivals and pushing on decisively once he was in the lead.

Marking a hat-trick of wins on American soil following success at Austin and Laguna Seca too, Marquez’s victory sees him extend his lead over team-mate Pedrosa to a comfortable 21 points.

“I am very happy to have taken another 25 points!” smiled Marquez. “I knew before we came here that this would be a good opportunity and I was able to take advantage of it. I felt very good throughout the weekend, and I think this has been my best GP overall since coming into the premier class.

“I was first in every session, so I couldn’t ask for more. In the race I decided to follow Lorenzo and Pedrosa, trying to save my tyres at the start. When I saw that I was feeling good and had less fuel in the tank, I tried to attack.

“In the end I was able to break away and have some fun sliding the bike around and enjoying how good the ride was! Now we head back to Europe, where we will try to continue working in the same way and see how many points we can pick up.

“Brno [next weekend] is a completely different track compared to Indianapolis. The grip is so good there and the track is also quite fast. So I think Jorge will be the fastest in the beginning because they [Yamaha] did a test there in the summer break.”

Adding to his growing list of notable achievements, Marquez is the first rookie in the premier-class to win three back-to-back races since Kenny Roberts in 1978, who won in Austria, France and Mugello.

Results from Indianapolis:

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 44m 52.463s
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 44m 55.958s
3. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 44m 58.167s
4. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 45m 12.358s
5. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 45m 12.418s
6. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 45m 12.524s
7. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 45m 17.305s
8. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 45m 33.153s
9. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team (GP13) 45m 33.164s
10. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP13) 45m 33.286s
11. Andrea Iannone ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing (GP13) 45m 52.131s
12. Aleix Espargaro ESP Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) 45m 59.113s
13. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 46m 1.925s
14. Claudio Corti ITA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 46m 7.670s
15. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 46m 12.622s
16. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 46m 18.342s
17. Danilo Petrucci ITA Came IodaRacing Project (Suter-BMW CRT)* 46m 22.079s
18. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART CRT)* 46m 28.851s
19. Bryan Staring AUS Go&Fun Honda Gresini (FTR-Honda CRT) +1 lap

Yonny Hernandez COL Paul Bird Motorsport (ART CRT) DNF
Lukas Pesek CZE Came IodaRacing Project (Suter-BMW CRT)* DNF
Randy De Puniet FRA Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) DNF
Blake Young USA Attack Performance Racing (APR-Kawasaki CRT) DNF
* Standard ECU.

Standings after 10 of 18 rounds:

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