– Marc Marquez (Ducati) won the sprint at MotorLand Aragon (Spain) and with his 20th sprint victory is once again the sole record holder in this statistic. On home soil, there was a double success for the Marquez family, as brother Alex finished second with the Gresini Ducati. Aprilia factory rider Marco Bezzecchi could only follow the two Spaniards and finished third.
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For the short race over eleven laps, there was a different tire choice in the leading group. Pole sitter Bezzecchi opted for the soft rear tire, while the Marquez brothers chose the medium rear tire.
Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse-Aprilia) also chose medium, while Jorge Martin, like his teammate Bezzecchi, started on the soft rear tire. Pedro Acosta (KTM) switched from soft to medium on the grid (for tire overview).
At the start, Marc Marquez overtook Bezzecchi in turn 1, and Alex Marquez also passed the Aprilia. Thus, the Italian was only third after two corners. Behind them followed Acosta, Martin, and Fernandez after the first lap.
In the third lap, Martin overtook Acosta and was the new fourth. At the same time, Marc Marquez set the fastest race lap and pulled away by over half a second from brother Alex and Bezzecchi.
At the end of the fifth lap, Martin made a mistake in the final corner, and Acosta reclaimed fourth place. The Spanish duo was about 1.6 seconds behind the leading trio at that point.
Marc Marquez again record winner in the sprint
At the front, Marc Marquez increased his lead to just under a second after six laps. Alex Marquez was pursued by Bezzecchi, but the Italian did not get close enough to launch an attack.
There were no more changes in the top three positions. Turn 1 decided the sprint. “Of course, I knew that Marco was on the soft tire. That’s why my chance in the race was mainly in the first corner,” says Marc Marquez.
“Tomorrow will be a bit similar. We will see. Of course, a good start helped me a lot. After that, I ran a good pace, but I saw that the group was also quite fast, especially Alex.”
Despite the defeat against the Marquez brothers, Bezzecchi realistically assesses his third place: “It was a great day. Honestly, I didn’t expect such a good result in qualifying and also in the sprint.”
“Yesterday I felt good, but my pace was not the best. I knew that Marc and Alex had a bit more. Unfortunately, I missed the braking point a bit in the first corner. But I am very happy and satisfied.”
Second place was the second sprint podium for Alex Marquez this year. “Since the injury, things have been getting better and better for us,” he says happily. “However, in Silverstone it was a bit painful not to be on the podium on Sunday.”
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“But this weekend we are doing a really good job. I think tomorrow we will have to adjust a few things so that we can fight for the podium again.”
Comeback drive by Fermin Aldeguer
Acosta secured his best sprint result since second place in Hungary by finishing fourth. Martin lost contact with the KTM in the last third of the race and finished fifth.
Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini-Ducati) showed a comeback drive in the second half of the race. First, he engaged in a close battle with Johann Zarco (LCR-Honda) for eighth place. Aldeguer prevailed and gained several more positions.
The Spaniard, who returned after his injury suffered in Assen, also overtook Fernandez and Diogo Moreira (LCR-Honda) in the final phase and took sixth place. Moreira and Fernandez finished seventh and eighth (for results).
With ninth place, Zarco also scored a world championship point in his first race since the serious start crash in Barcelona. The best Yamaha rider was Jack Miller (Pramac), who finished tenth but did not score a world championship point (for the championship standings).
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) lost several positions during the race and also came away empty-handed in eleventh. The second-best KTM rider was Enea Bastianini (Tech3) in 14th, who crossed the finish line about 13 seconds after Acosta.
With this result, Martin leads the world championship standings by 29 points ahead of Bezzecchi. Marc Marquez overtook Ai Ogura (Trackhouse-Aprilia), who is missing in Aragon due to a hand injury. In third place, Marc Marquez is 33 points behind Martin.
For two Italians, the sprint ended early: In the first lap, Luca Marini crashed from his Honda in turn 7, and in the second lap, Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati) retired due to a crash in turn 16.
In the fifth lap, Fabio Quartararo retired with an engine failure on his Yamaha. At that time, the former world champion was in 16th place.
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The Grand Prix over 23 laps starts on Sunday at 2 p.m. (for the starting grid).
