MotoGP Grand Prix of San Marino 2014: Race Schedule, Live Stream and Top Riders
Marc Marquez heads to San Marino with a chance to equal Mick Doohan's record of 12 race wins in a single season as the 2014 MotoGP season heads to the tiny state for the 13th event of the year.
Repsol Honda have dominated the race calendar but will face a different challenge at Misano, as the technical track will give their riders less of an advantage. Honda's engines may have superior power in 2014, but it won't have as much of a chance to shine in San Marino.
The race schedule:
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
| Saturday | Qualifier 1 | 12:10 p.m. BST-12:25 p.m. BST |
| Saturday | Qualifier 2 | 12:35 p.m. BST-12:50 p.m. BST |
| Sunday | Race | 12 p.m. BST/7 a.m. ET |
The entire race will be broadcast by BT Sport (for UK viewers) and Fox Sports 1 (for US viewers), with mobile coverage available via the BT Sport app and Fox Sports mobile.
Top Riders
Marc Marquez
Watching Marquez in 2014 is like watching a 14-year-old playing a video game with the difficulty set to easy. The defending World Champion has won 11 out of 12 races, his sole blemish coming in Brno.
He finished second in San Marino last year, and he told reporters it will take hard work to do one better in 2014, per GPupdate.net:
"It was nice to be back on the top step of the podium in Silverstone, the team did a great job the whole weekend.
"
Now we head to Misano which is a smaller and slower track compared to others on the calendar. We will have to work hard from Friday to get the setup on the bike just right, to suit the demands on braking at this twisty track.
Let's hope the weather is also nice!
Unfortunately for the 21-year-old, the weather has not been nice. Conditions on Friday were rainy, as Marquez clocked the fourth-best practice time. Even football legend Andrea Pirlo was not impressed, per Juventus' official Twitter feed (then again, he never is):
The youngster should improve on that result dramatically, however, as Repsol Honda works out the best setup for their bikes going into the race.
As shared by SuperSport, Marquez has a chance to make history on Sunday:
He's been close to untouchable since the start of the season and should be the strong favourite to take the win on Sunday.
Dani Pedrosa
Marquez's Repsol Honda teammate sits second in the standings, and after a mediocre run Friday morning, he took second in FP2 to finish with the third-best time.
Dani Pedrosa struggled with the rain, and he too told Motogp.com he was hopeful the weather would clear up: "It was very slippery today, not easy to find the grip. There were a lot of crashes because it was so slippery. I noticed a big difference between the hard and soft Bridgestone rain tyres. I’m hoping that the weekend gets a lot dryer."
Sporting a 10-point lead over Valentino Rossi, Pedrosa will be gunning for a strong result in San Marino in order to keep his lead in the standings safe.
Valentino Rossi
Rossi was one of many to crash during Friday's practice session, but the Italian veteran wasn't seriously hurt in the incident. In fact, he was able to laugh it off, as he shared this tweet of another crash from Cal Crutchlow:
The track at Misano has always been dear to Rossi, as it's situated very close to his house in Tavullia. Racing so close to home, the sport's most dominant performer will have circled Sunday on his calendar. Consistency is always key for Rossi, but expect him to try to do a little more this weekend.
Andrea Dovizioso
Andrea Dovizioso was the fastest man on Friday, overcoming an early clash to clock in at 1:49.195. The Ducati rider is one of the pack's best technicians, and the narrow track in San Marino should help offset his bike's relative lack of power.
The 28-year-old has been steadily climbing in MotoGP's hierarchy, and if the difficult weather conditions keep up, he has a chance of besting his best result of the season, a third-place finish in Texas.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
