Marc Marquez celebrates MotoGP triumph at Motorland Aragon on perfect weekend
Marc Marquez (Lenovo Ducati) produced a masterclass at Motorland Aragon, winning both the Tissot Sprint and the Michelin Grand Prix.
More importantly, the double victory closed the championship gap to just 19 points behind Aprilia’s Jorge Martín, who had to settle for fifth on both days, while Marquez also overhauled Marco Bezzecchi to move into second place in the standings.
After claiming his 20th career Sprint victory, Marquez started as favourite for Sunday’s 23-lap Grand Prix.
Bezzecchi made the better start, but Marquez, just as he had in the Sprint, hit the front by Turn 1. However, he lost two places when his rear ride-height device reactivated through the corner and into Turn 2, allowing Bezzecchi and his Aprilia teammate Jorge Martín through.
Marquez quickly fought his way back into second, with Pedro Acosta on the Red Bull KTM following him through and dropping Martin to fourth. The Spaniard then closed the gap to race leader Bezzecchi and, on the 200mph run into Turn 16 on lap six, squeezed past the Italian to take the lead.
Acosta took advantage of the situation to also pass Bezzecchi and move into second.
From there, the nine-time world champion was in complete control, taking the chequered flag 1.754 seconds clear of Acosta, with Bezzecchi rounding out the podium.
Marquez said: “As I said yesterday, the key was the first corner. I did it again, but I made a huge mistake because I forgot about the rear device.
"When I went from Turn1 to Turn 2, the rear device was not deactivated, and the bike was super slow. From that point, I just rebuilt the race in the normal way to win and in the last ten laps pushed a bit more.”
In the Moto2 race, Spaniard Alonso Lopez secured a lights-to-flag victory aboard the ITALJET Gresini Kalex. The battle for second place went down to the final lap, with Ivan Guevara and David Alonso separated by 0.081 seconds at the chequered flag.
Casey O’Gorman (SIC58 Squadra Corse) fought back from a disappointing qualifying, which saw the Irish rider start 14th on the grid, to finish seventh in the 17-lap Moto3 Grand Prix.
At the front, Spaniard Max Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) claimed his seventh win of the season, despite still recovering from collarbone surgery, and extended his lead in the championship over Alvaro Carpe, who finished fourth.
Pole-setter David Almansa (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) finished second, 0.264 seconds adrift of Quiles, with Marco Morelli on the second Aspar bike completing the podium. GRYD Racing teammates Joel Kelso and Eddie O’Shea finished 13th and 14th.