Marc Marquez took an uneventful win yesterday with his Repsol Honda to remain on top of the championship standings for 2014. Marquez, who won the season-opener in Qatar last month despite breaking his leg four weeks earlier, finished 4.174sec ahead of Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa with Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso taking third place with 20 seconds off the lead.Marquez charged away from the field and was never threatened, keeping Pedrosa in second place. Andrea Iannone on a Ducati carved his way through the field from ninth place and settled into third in the early stages. Valentino Rossi, on the second factory Yamaha and who was runner-up in Qatar behind Marquez, was fourth at the halfway mark after passing Dovizioso, Stefan Bradl and Cal Crutchlow. But the veteran Italian slipped back down the field as he struggled with grip on his front tyre.

Marquez’s lead over Pedrosa had grown to five seconds with four laps to go while Dovizioso, who had started in 10th, was up to third. Rossi was eventually eighth, 45 seconds off the pace, while Lorenzo fought his way back to 10th place.