Marquez: Great overtakes, I enjoyed it a lot

Marc Marquez rode from tenth to first with half a race to spare during Sunday's French MotoGP, as the reigning champion continued his unbeaten season.

At 21 years and 90 days, Marquez takes the record of youngest five-in-a-row winner from Mike Hailwood, which has stood since 1962, and extended his points lead to 42.

The Repsol Honda star had dropped down the order after running wide on the opening lap, but was preparing to battle Valentino Rossi for the race lead when the Italian made a similar mistake just before the midway point of the 28 laps.

"I enjoyed today quite a lot, especially after the first lap," said Marquez, who had claimed pole by almost 0.7s. "On the first lap maybe I was too calm, I knew my rhythm was so good, so maybe I had too much confidence. Then when Lorenzo overtook me, I went a bit wide, outside the track and then many riders passed me.

"But after that I was able to do some great overtakes and when I saw Rossi started to open a small gap I pushed 100%. I enjoyed it a lot. When I reached Valentino I thought it would be a fight to pass him, but he made a mistake and went wide, which allowed me to get through. Then I pushed to open a gap.

"I'm really happy for my fifth victory in a row, and I want to enjoy this moment as even though it looked easy, it was so difficult to get the win... we will not win every race so sometimes we must just finish on the podium."

Marquez, who announced a new two-year Honda contract just before the event, is now 42 points clear of team-mate and nearest rival Dani Pedrosa in the championship standings.

Marquez's biggest discomfort at the hands of his rivals on Sunday came in the form of podium champagne sprayed into his eyes.