MotoGP Valencia race
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The race has now reached its halfway point, and Marquez looks to be mounting an attack on Zarco.
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Iannone, who started on the front row, is now down to ninth, having been overtaken by Rossi, Miller and fellow Suzuki rider Rins.
So far, no dice. Lorenzo is still ahead of Dovi, and looks to have upped the pace a little bit.
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It was 'mapping 8' in Sepang, too, when Lorenzo led Dovizioso in the final laps. A mistake decided that race - but there's little doubt this is a team order.
Dovizioso looks the quicker of the Ducatis, and really needs Lorenzo out of the way. And now Lorenzo receives a dashboard message - "suggested mapping 8". Sound familiar?
No change in the top five, with the gap between Lorenzo and Dovizioso the smallest at the moment.
Zarco is breaking away from Marquez a bit, there's half a second between them now. Pedrosa is almost a further second back, but still keeping the Ducati duo at bay.
Rossi has made it up to seventh place past Miller, while Vinales is having to defend 14th from Rabat. Not a great weekend from the works Yamaha team all around, but it's been a special kind of disaster for its Spanish rider.
Marquez is keeping in touch with Zarco, and has Pedrosa as rear gunner. He probably wouldn't mind this status quo to remain for the next 23 laps.
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Running order: 1 Zarco; 2 Marquez; 3 Pedrosa; 4 Lorenzo; 5 Dovizioso; 6 Iannone; 7 Miller; 8 Rossi; 9 Pirro; 10 Smith; 11 Rins; 12 Crutchlow; 13 Petrucci; 14 Vinales; 15 Rabat; 16 van der Mark; 17 Baz; 18 Abraham; 19 Barbera; 20 Lowes; 21 P. Espargaro; 22 Bautista.
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Dovizioso having a major look at Lorenzo for fourth, but the Spaniard does not yield position.
Crash
Scott Redding makes it four crashers in just a bit over four laps. Turn 1 as well.
Crash
Aleix Espargaro's promising but frustrating first season with Aprilia concludes with a Turn 1 crash.
Zarco overtakes Marquez for the lead with ease, very cautious defending from the championship leader.
Zarco, making the most of that soft-soft selection, is now all over Marquez for the lead.
Crash
KTM wildcard Mika Kallio has crashed. The rider he threatened to replace for 2018 - Bradley Smith - is currently a stellar 10th.
Lorenzo and Dovizioso have pounced on Iannone.
A forceful move from Johann Zarco on Dani Pedrosa, and the Honda 1-2 at the front of the race is disrupted.
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Crash
Aspar Ducati rider Bautista crashes, rejoins the race.
Dovizioso is up to sixth, behind fellow Ducati rider Lorenzo. The two Hondas and the two Ducatis are separated by Zarco and Iannone.
Lights green
Perfect start for Marquez, he leads as Dani Pedrosa slots into second behind him.
The riders have gone around the 4km Valencia circuit and they're now preparing to get the title decider underway.
Green flag
Warm-up lap underway.
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Not a lot of variance in the tyre selections among the key players. It's hard front, soft rear for Marquez, Iannone, Lorenzo, Dovizioso. Zarco has opted for soft-soft, Pedrosa for hard-medium.
Aside from the title battle, a fascinating angle today is how Maverick Vinales will fare. So far, it has all pointed towards a distinctly ignominious end to what has been a promising first season with Yamaha.
Much has been made of Marquez starting alongside Johann Zarco and Andrea Iannone, two riders who can charitably be described as rather aggressive. But the bigger threat might very well come from Dovizioso's usually fast-starting teammate Jorge Lorenzo - on the verge of his first winless campaign in the premier class - in fourth.
Any hope of Dovizioso snatching the title today is almost certainly contingent on Marquez throwing his Honda bike down the road, which is something the Spaniard has done in countless practice and qualifying sessions - but only two races – in 2017.
Coming into the weekend, Dovizioso said on Thursday: “Maybe us winning is less likely than Marquez retiring.”
It looks like he got that one spot on. Marquez crashed in practice and qualifying - but Dovi does not look to be among the favourites for victory here, even if he was cautiously optimistic about his long-run speed on Saturday.
Still, it's not over till it's over.
It looks like he got that one spot on. Marquez crashed in practice and qualifying - but Dovi does not look to be among the favourites for victory here, even if he was cautiously optimistic about his long-run speed on Saturday.
Still, it's not over till it's over.
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Here's your grid:
1 Marc Marquez
2 Johann Zarco
3 Andrea Iannone
4 Jorge Lorenzo
5 Dani Pedrosa
6 Michele Pirro
7 Valentino Rossi
8 Aleix Espargaro
9 Andrea Dovizioso
10 Alex Rins
11 Jack Miller
12 Maverick Vinales
13 Tito Rabat
14 Danilo Petrucci
15 Cal Crutchlow
16 Bradley Smith
17 Karel Abraham
18 Mika Kallio
19 Hector Barbera
20 Alvaro Bautista
21 Scott Redding
22 Loris Baz
23 Sam Lowes
24 Michael van der Mark
25 Pol Espargaro (pitlane start)
1 Marc Marquez
2 Johann Zarco
3 Andrea Iannone
4 Jorge Lorenzo
5 Dani Pedrosa
6 Michele Pirro
7 Valentino Rossi
8 Aleix Espargaro
9 Andrea Dovizioso
10 Alex Rins
11 Jack Miller
12 Maverick Vinales
13 Tito Rabat
14 Danilo Petrucci
15 Cal Crutchlow
16 Bradley Smith
17 Karel Abraham
18 Mika Kallio
19 Hector Barbera
20 Alvaro Bautista
21 Scott Redding
22 Loris Baz
23 Sam Lowes
24 Michael van der Mark
25 Pol Espargaro (pitlane start)
Marc Marquez is overwhelmingly favoured to take his fourth premier-class title – in five attempts – today. He will be champion in every scenario in which rival Andrea Dovizioso doesn't win the race, and can make sure of the title by placing 11th or higher regardless of what the Ducati rider manages.
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the MotoGP 2017 title decider at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
By: Matt Beer
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