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Valencia MotoGP: Marquez claims record 13th victory

Last updated on: November 09, 2014 23:56 IST

Marc Marquez

Marc Marquez of Spain and Repsol Honda Team crosses the finish line. Photograph: Mirco Lazzari GP/Getty Images

Newly-crowned world champion Marc Marquez won the season-ending Valencia MotoGP on Sunday to set a new record of 13 victories in a year.

The 21-year-old Spaniard led from the 11th lap on his Honda and crossed the line in a time of 46 minutes 39.627 seconds, ahead of Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa.

Italian Rossi continued his strong finish to the season and guaranteed himself second place in the drivers’ championship after Jorge Lorenzo retired from the race having fallenback to 18th.

Lorenzo decided to change tyres with the threat of rain in the air but the move failed to pay off as there were only a few drops.

Marquez clinched his second successive world title in Japan last month and has now beaten the record for victories in a season which he shared with Australian Mick Doohan who won 12 races in 1997.

Caterham raise more than a £1mn in 48 hours 

A member of the Caterham Formula One team cleans one of the team vehicles. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

The Caterham Formula One team, which is in administration and fighting for survival, said on Sunday it had raised more than £1 million in the space of 48 hours and attracted a new potential buyer. 

"A new financially-sound interested party has entered the arena and is considering acquiring the team," said administrator and interim principal Finbarr O'Connell in a statement ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix. 

"This new interest is wholly due to this campaign." 

Indebted Caterham, a tail-end team who have never scored a point since their debut in 2010, went into administration last month and missed last weekend's U.S. Grand Prix and this weekend's race in Brazil. 

They are seeking £2.35 million through a crowd funding initiative to get them back on the grid for the season-ender in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 23. 

The website (www.crowdcube.com/caterham/) showed a total of 1,060,599 pounds had been pledged by 1500 GMT on Sunday. 

The campaign has drawn scorn from some in Formula One, a sport with annual revenues of around $1.7 billion, with commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone saying on Saturday it was a 'disaster' and teams should not go around with 'begging bowls'. 

O'Connell said they had misunderstood what it was about. 

"There has been some confusion with regard to the purpose of the crowdfunding Project," he said. 

"Clearly, the plan is not to run an F1 team by using crowdfunding but rather this funding is providing a stepping stone for the Team to a new financially sound future.

Source: REUTERS
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