Marquez wins 2014 MotoGP title

Coming into Round 15 at Motegi in Japan, Marquez held a 75-point lead over his Repsol team mate, Dani Pedrosa, with Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi in third place. A number of scenarios would see Marquez clinch the title, even if he didn't win at Motegi.

In the race, Marquez started from fourth on the grid and lost a few places at the start before rebounding and hunting down the leading Yamaha pair of Jorge Lorenzo and Rossi.

At the chequered flag, a second place finish behind Lorenzo was more than enough to secure the title, with three rounds remaining.

"I am very happy to have sealed this second consecutive World Championship, because although it is difficult to maintain this level, in the end we succeeded!" Marquez said.

"In the race I had a very clear objective, which was to finish ahead of Valentino and Dani - the other riders did not matter to me so much today. I just had one goal in mind and the important thing is that I was able to achieve it.

"I want to dedicate this title to all the people who have helped me and especially to my family and the team, who are the foundation for all of this."

Marquez's 2014 season - so far - has been even more impressive than his 2013 debut. Last year, Marquez won six races on his way to the title. This year, he won the opening 10 races of the season, before the streak was ended with a fourth at Brno's Round 11. This equalled a record set by Giacomo Agostini in 1970.

Ahead of the Australian round at Phillip Island, Marquez had equalled the record for most wins in a MotoGP season, set by Rossi in 2002 and 2005.

Marquez is now the youngest rider to win two consecutive premier class world championships, the 21-year-old taking the record from Mike Hailwood, who was 23 when he won back-to-back 500cc titles. Marquez also broke Hailwood's record for successive race wins in a season.

Surprisingly, Marquez was the first Honda rider to win a title at Motegi, Honda's "home" track.

With three rounds remaining (at time of printing), Marquez is every chance to set more records, while the battle is on for second place in 2014, with Rossi, Lorenzo and Pedrosa only separated by four points after the Motegi round.

Images: Repsol Honda team and motogp.com