Majestic Marquez is MotoGP history man

The 20-year-old Spaniard needed to only finish fourth or higher to be sure of beating Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo to the crown, and did all that was required of him with a performance that yet again belied his tender years.

Marquez’s achievement sees him become the series’ youngest champion, breaking the record of Freddie Spencer who was 21 years and 258 days old when he won the 500cc title in 1983.

Marquez is also the first rookie to win the premier class title since Kenny Roberts in 1978.

The Honda rider’s title triumph was just reward for his stunning consistency across his debut season, with his podium finish on Sunday his 16th in 18 races – of which six of those were victories.

Lorenzo, the only man who could deny Marquez his moment of history, won the race but that was not enough for the outgoing champion to overcome the 13-point advantage his rival enjoyed at the start of the day.

Marquez had one or two scares with Lorenzo riding aggressively in the early stages, but once the race settled down Marquez was able to back off and waved team-mate Dani Pedrosa through into second place late on.

“I feel... I cannot explain what I feel,” said Marquez.

“It is a dream come true – maybe too early because I did not expect to fight for the championship this year. Jorge did a very good job, but thanks to all my team.”

Lorenzo said: “I tried the first seven-10 laps to slow down the group.

“We tried our best, but when I saw the other riders didn’t catch the group I tried to go away and win this race.

“Marc has been a deserving champion, so today is his day.”

Valentino Rossi came home in fourth on the second factory Yamaha, ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Honda Gresini) and Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda), with Britain’s Bradley Smith seventh for Tech 3 Yamaha.

However, there was disappointment for Smith’s fellow Briton and team-mate Cal Crutchlow, who crashed out early in the race.