Spaniard Marc Marquez won his ninth consecutive race of the season on Sunday as he dominated the German MotoGP to finish ahead of Honda teammate and compatriot Dani Pedrosa with Jorge Lorenzo on a Yamaha in third.
The win gives Marquez a perfect total of 225 points with Pedrosa taking sole possession of second but 77 points back. Italian Valentino Rossi, who was fourth on Sunday, is third in the rankings, 84 adrift.
Marquez is also the youngest rider to win nine races in a row, breaking the 1964 record held by the late Mike Hailwood.
The race had a farcical start as a group of 14 riders got caught out by the drying weather conditions.
They tried to change tyres at the last minute and had to wait in the pit-lane until the bikes already on the grid and on dry tyres had gone past.
"It was tough and when I saw (Stefan) Bradl changing tyres at the beginning I thought that was the right choice because there was only one corner that was completely wet," said defending champion Marquez.
"Everyone went in (to change tyres) including my main rivals -- Dani (Pedrosa) and Valentino (Rossi). When I saw them go in, I followed but it worked out ok," continued Marquez
Bradl, the 2011 Moto2 world champion, took advantage of the chaos to lead for the opening stages before Marquez glided past the German with 24 laps to go.
It then came down to a straight battle between Marquez and Pedrosa with Lorenzo well back in third and Rossi, on the second factory Yamaha, also cut adrift back in fourth place.
Pedrosa applied what pressure he could on his teammate but Marquez rode with supreme confidence and continued to set the fastest laps of the race as he accelerated further and further into the distance.
"We were comfortable in front, myself and Marc, and we held them off easily," said Pedrosa.
"He had about half a second on me and I couldn't catch him but I had a good race, I'm happy and my team did a really good job."
There are nine races to go in the 2014 season with the next round set for Indianapolis on August 10.
Earlier, Swiss rider Dominique Aegerter rode his Suter to victory in the Moto2 category with Finland's Mika Kallio a close second on a Kalex and teammate Simone Corsi of Italy claiming third spot.
Championship leader Esteve Rabat took fourth spot on his Kalex as Kallio, who came into the weekend just 26 points behind the Spaniard, made up ground in the overall standings.
It was the first career win for the 23-year-old Aegerter who finished second earlier in the campaign in Spain and third in the United States.
Jack Miller of Australia on a KTM won the Moto3 race.
Miller, who started from pole position, took the chequered flag ahead of South African Brad Binder on a Mahindra and Frenchman Alexis Masbou on a Honda.
It was a fourth win of the year for the Australian who moved further clear of Italian teammate Romano Fenati in the Moto3 overall standings after nine races.
Source: AFP
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