MotoGP: It's four of a kind for Marc Marquez after Spain win - MotorSportsTalk

Marc Marquez recovered from a slow start on the opening lap to stay perfect so far this season in MotoGP with a wire-to-wire victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

The series’ reigning World Champion now has four wins in as many races this year, a rampage that includes a win in Round 2 at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Today in Jerez, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo got out to an early lead on Marquez, only to both be cleared by him before the field came back around to complete the opening lap.

From there, Marquez pulled away and left Rossi to fight Marquez’s teammate, Dani Pedrosa, for second place. Rossi was able to take that battle for his second podium finish of the year and his first at Jerez since 2010.

Lorenzo, celebrating his 27th birthday, came home in fourth, while Andrea Dovizioso picked up fifth to lead the Ducati camp.

“I’m really happy, it’s a different kind of victory,” said Marquez on the series’ official web site. “I struggled a little bit this weekend and the level is so high with Pedrosa, Jorge and Valentino who are all very strong.

“In the beginning, I was able to open a gap and push. I know that Dani and Valentino are so strong at the end of the race and with new tires I felt better than on old tires so I pushed very hard at the start.”

Marquez is now the first to win the first four premier-class races of the year since Mick Doohan pulled it off in 1992. Prior to today, Marquez had never won at Jerez.

MotoGP returns to action on May 18 at Le Mans, France.

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

MotoGP: It’s four of a kind for Marc Marquez after Spain win

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

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