The 2014 FIM MotoGP World Championship was the premier class of the 66th Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) Road Racing World Championship season, the highest level of competition in motorcycle road racing. Marc Márquez started the season as the defending riders' champion in the MotoGP category, with Honda the defending manufacturers' champions.
Season summary Winning a premier class record 13 races during the season, Márquez won a second successive title, finishing 67 points clear of his nearest rival Valentino Rossi. Márquez won each of the first 10 races to be held in 2014, before Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa was able to inflict his first defeat, at Brno. Rossi had taken eight podiums in the season, before he was able to win a race, when he won at Misano. He also won at Phillip Island, as he finished as the championship runner-up in a Grand Prix class for the first time since , when he finished second to Nicky Hayden. Despite bookending his season with retirements, Rossi's Movistar Yamaha MotoGP teammate Jorge Lorenzo finished third in the championship. Finishing 32 points behind Rossi, Lorenzo took back-to-back victories in Aragon, and Japan, as part of a nine-race podium streak that was ended by his retirement in Valencia. The only other race winner was Pedrosa, with his Brno triumph being his sole victory in the 2014 campaign.
The Espargaró brothers were each able to take one of the sub-classifications available to them. Pol Espargaró finished as the best place rookie in the final championship standings, finishing sixth overall; the next best rookie was Scott Redding in twelfth place. Aleix Espargaró was the best placed rider that was competing with an Open-specification motorcycle. He finished seventh overall in the championship, taking a pole position at Assen and a second-place finish in Aragon. Just like the rookie of the year standings, Redding was the next best rider. Márquez was a comfortable winner of the BMW M Award for the best qualifying rider, with 13 pole positions during the season. Repsol Honda were the winners of the teams' championship, as the results for Márquez and Pedrosa allowed them to finish 50 points clear of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, while Honda won the constructors' championship for the 21st time – and their 63rd title in total – 55 points clear of Yamaha.
Calendar The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme released a 19-race provisional calendar on 2 October 2013. The calendar was updated on 13 December 2013 and again on 24 February 2014, resulting in a calendar of 18 races.
The following Grands Prix took place in 2014:
Round Date Grand Prix Circuit 1 23 March ‡ Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar Losail International Circuit, Lusail 2 13 April Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas Circuit of the Americas, Austin 3 27 April Gran Premio Red Bull de la República Argentina 4 4 May Gran Premio bwin de España Circuito de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera 5 18 May Monster Energy Grand Prix de France Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans 6 1 June Gran Premio d'Italia TIM Mugello Circuit, Scarperia e San Piero 7 15 June Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló 8 28 June †† Iveco Daily TT Assen TT Circuit Assen, Assen 9 13 July eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland Sachsenring, Hohenstein-Ernstthal 10 10 August Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway 11 17 August bwin Grand Prix České republiky Brno Circuit, Brno 12 31 August Hertz British Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone 13 Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Misano Adriatico 14 28 September Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón MotorLand Aragón, Alcañiz 15 12 October Motul Grand Prix of Japan Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi 16 19 October Tissot Australian Grand Prix Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Phillip Island 17 26 October Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix Sepang International Circuit, Sepang 18 9 November Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia
‡ = Night race †† = Saturday race
Calendar changes The Argentine Grand Prix was added to the calendar, the series' first visit to South America since 2004. The venue hosting the round was the new Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo, instead of the Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez which hosted the round until 1999. The United States Grand Prix, present since 2005, was taken off the calendar because the race could not initially be run with all 3 classes in the United States due to Californian environmental laws, and that in turn caused the race at the Laguna Seca Raceway to become unsustainable. A race in Brazil at the Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet in Brasilia was scheduled for 28 September, but was subsequently removed from the calendar. The round at MotorLand Aragón was moved back by a week, following the cancellation of the Brazilian round.
Teams and riders Starting in 2014, the rules governing the eligibility of entries changed. MSMA prototypes were reclassified as the new "Factory" class, whilst the Claiming Rule Teams sub-category was restructured as the "Open" class. All bikes used the approved MotoGP Electronic Control Unit, with bikes in the "Open" class using both the MotoGP ECU and identical software, and those competing as "Factory" entries permitted to use their own custom software. The Factory option bike had their allocation of engines reduced from twelve to five, and those five had their design frozen. The amount of fuel allowed was reduced from twenty-four litres to twenty litres.
A subsequent modification, only officialized in March, stated that a manufacturer who had not achieved a win in dry conditions in the previous year, or a new manufacturer entering the championship, could enter under the Factory option with all the concessions available to the Open class; these benefits were reduced in case of a determined number of podiums or wins.
Ducati Team and Pramac Racing were due to enter their bikes in the Open class but revised regulations meant that they were finally entered under the Factory option with Open concessions.
2014 MotoGP specificationsFactoryOpen Fuel tank (litres) 20 24 Engines allocated (per rider) 5 12 Engine development frozen free ECU hardware various spec Magneti Marelli ECU software free standardized Tires' compound medium, hard soft, medium
A provisional entry list was released by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme on 20 November 2013. An updated entry list was released on 14 January 2014. Teams had time until 28 February to decide if a rider would be assigned to the "Factory" or "Open" class. The final entry list was released on the same day.
Factory entriesTeamConstructorMotorcycleRiderRounds Ducati Team Ducati Desmosedici GP14 04 Andrea Dovizioso All 35 Cal Crutchlow 1–2, 4–18 51 Michele Pirro 3 51 Michele Pirro Pramac Racing Energy T.I. Pramac Racing 29 Andrea Iannone All 68 Yonny Hernández All Repsol Honda Team Honda RC213V 26 Dani Pedrosa All 93 Marc Márquez All LCR Honda MotoGP 6 Stefan Bradl All Go&Fun Honda Gresini 19 Álvaro Bautista All Team Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki GSX-RR 14 Randy de Puniet 18 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha YZR-M1 46 Valentino Rossi All 99 Jorge Lorenzo All 21 15 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 38 Bradley Smith All 44 Pol Espargaró All Open entriesTeamConstructorMotorcycleRiderRounds IodaRacing Project Octo IodaRacing Team ART ART GP13 9 Danilo Petrucci 1–4, 8–18 84 Michel Fabrizio 6–7 Avintia Racing Avintia GP14 63 Mike Di Meglio All 8 Héctor Barberá 1–13 Ducati Desmosedici GP14 14–18 NGM Forward Racing Forward-Yamaha 5 Colin Edwards 1–10 15 Alex de Angelis 11–18 41 Aleix Espargaró All Drive M7 Aspar Honda RC213V-RS 7 Hiroshi Aoyama 18 RCV1000R 1–17 69 Nicky Hayden 1–9, 14–18 2 Leon Camier 10–13 Cardion AB Motoracing 17 Karel Abraham All Go&Fun Honda Gresini 45 Scott Redding All Paul Bird Motorsport PBM PBM 01 23 Broc Parkes All 70 Michael Laverty AllKey Regular rider Wildcard rider
All the bikes used Bridgestone tyres.
Team changes Aspar Team and Cardion AB Motoracing switched to Honda in 2014, entering the RCV1000R, Honda's Open class machine. Forward Racing intended to use Yamaha-leased YZR-M1 engines with FTR frames, however the team started the season with a complete Yamaha YZR-M1 engine-frame-swingarm package with other parts supplied by FTR, while developing new Forward-designed frames to be introduced mid-season. At the Mugello round Colin Edwards debuted the new frame built by Harris Performance. Following Edwards' retirement from racing, the new frame was passed to de Angelis, while Espargaró remained with the Yamaha-derived chassis. Gresini Racing competed with a full Honda package in the Open class, having contested the 2013 season with an FTR chassis and Honda engine. IodaRacing Project intended to enter a second bike ridden by Leon Camier, but he was not included on the final entry list due to an apparent lack of funding.
Rider changes Nicky Hayden moved from Ducati Corse to Aspar Team. Cal Crutchlow left Yamaha Tech 3 to take Hayden's place. 2013 Moto2 Riders' Champion Pol Espargaró joined the premier category, racing for Yamaha Tech 3. Aleix Espargaró moved from Aspar Racing to Forward Racing. Hiroshi Aoyama moved to Aspar Racing after competing for Avintia Blusens in 2013. Bryan Staring left Gresini Racing, with his place taken by 2013 Moto2 runner-up Scott Redding. Yonny Hernández remained with Pramac Racing after Ben Spies retired from racing at the end of the 2013 season. Mike Di Meglio joined the premier category, racing for Avintia Racing. Broc Parkes made his MotoGP debut with Paul Bird Motorsport. Leon Camier contested the Indianapolis, Czech Republic, British, and San Marino races for Aspar Team as an injury replacement for Nicky Hayden. Alex de Angelis replaced Colin Edwards from Brno onwards.
Results and standings
Grands Prix Round Grand Prix Pole position Fastest lap Winning rider Winning team 1 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix Marc Márquez Álvaro Bautista Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda Report 2 Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda Report 3 Argentine Republic motorcycle Grand Prix Marc Márquez Dani Pedrosa Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda Report 4 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda Report 5 French motorcycle Grand Prix Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda Report 6 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda Report 7 Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix Dani Pedrosa Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda Report 8 Dutch TT Aleix Espargaró Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda Report 9 German motorcycle Grand Prix Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda Report 10 Indianapolis motorcycle Grand Prix Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda Report 11 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix Marc Márquez Dani Pedrosa Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda Report 12 British motorcycle Grand Prix Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda Report 13 Jorge Lorenzo Marc Márquez Yamaha Report 14 Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix Marc Márquez Jorge Lorenzo Jorge Lorenzo Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha Report 15 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix Jorge Lorenzo Jorge Lorenzo Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha Report 16 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix Marc Márquez Valentino Rossi Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha Report 17 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda Report 18 Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix Valentino Rossi Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda Report
Riders' standings Scoring system Points were awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider had to finish the race to earn points.