Marc Marquez dominates at home in Aragon MotoGP

The Spanish Grand Prix at Aragon was always going to be one of Marc Marquez’s (Lenovo Ducati) hunting grounds, but the recent improvements of the Aprilias and the dogged determination of talented Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM) meant it didn’t come as easily for him as it has in the past.

While the record books will show that Marc Marquez notched up his 14th double Sprint and Grand Prix victory at his beloved Aragon in front of an adoring home crowd, it was a fascinating watch from start to finish. Before the riders even arrived on Thursday, when championship leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) had a 31-point advantage over teammate Marco Bezzecchi, with Marc Marquez 40 points adrift in fourth, news that third-placed Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Racing) was sidelined due to a training injury only helped Marc’s cause.

But when Bezzecchi outperformed the dominant Spaniard in Q2 to set a new lap record and take pole position in the last of the 1000cc era, we knew we had a race on our hands. The first contest came in Saturday afternoon’s Sprint when, despite being slower off the line than the pole-sitter, Marquez simply parked his Ducati GP26 on the apex to force Bez wide before disappearing down the road to claim victory ahead of Bezzecchi and brother Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing). Martin, who qualified in fifth, finished fifth in the Sprint behind Acosta.

So when the lights went out to start the 23-lap Grand Prix the following day, Bezzecchi was ready for what was to come. The Italian once again got the jump on Marquez, and once again Marquez released the brake to beat him to the apex, but by doing so, it meant his ride-height device didn’t disengage. By Turn 3, Marquez was back in third place, with both Bezzecchi and Martin sweeping through. The race we hoped we’d have was on.

Behind him, Acosta was determined to give his home fans something to cheer about and later admitted the Spanish circuit was one where he’d give his all to finally break his winning duck. Having qualified in sixth, he was fifth exiting the first turn before a tough move on Raul Fernandez into Turn 2 put him behind Marquez in fourth. Front-row starter Alex Marquez was shuffled back to sixth.

But with the quick Bezzecchi in the lead, Marc knew he needed to get to the front as quickly as he could before the Italian found his groove and became uncatchable. That move came before the end of the opening lap with an aggressive move on Martin into Turn 15, which picked up the championship leader and also allowed Acosta through. Bezzecchi started lap two 0.7 seconds clear of Marquez and Acosta, as Alex Marquez relegated Martin to fifth place.

A fastest lap by Bezzecchi signalled his intentions, but two consecutive fastest laps from Marc in laps four and five showed the reigning champ meant business. Some four tenths of a second quicker than Bezzecchi, Marquez was on the Italian’s rear wheel halfway through lap six and made the very same move on Bezzecchi for the lead as he had made on Martin earlier in the race.

But Bez wasn’t giving it up easily. Side-by-side down the length of the back straight, with the dirty air playing havoc with their bikes at 300km/h-plus, they touched. As the next turn rapidly approached, it was Bezzecchi who blinked first and rolled off, expecting to follow Marquez into Turn 16. But Acosta had other ideas. He released the brake, went around the outside of Bezzecchi and managed to slot his KTM in between the two title rivals.

And for the next eight laps, Pedro Acosta was incredible. On a bike nowhere near as capable as Marquez’s GP26, the Spanish superstar was glued to Marquez’s rear wheel at a circuit where Marquez wins for fun. The high ambient temperatures should have played havoc with Acosta’s front tyre pressure, but he stayed with Marquez, seemingly weighing up where he might make his move. He matched him, lap after lap, as the leading duo eventually dropped Bezzecchi into what would become a safe third place ahead of Alex Marquez.

On lap 10, both Marc and Acosta posted the exact same lap time, such was the unlikely speed of Acosta, with the next-best KTM down in 11th place in the hands of Tech3 KTM rider Enea Bastianini. But a trio of fastest laps from Marc Marquez between laps 13 and 15 were enough to break the resolve of the young Spanish star, and Marc started lap 16 with a 1.3-second advantage.

Aussie Jack Miller had a great weekend, coinciding with the announcement that his days in MotoGP are numbered, qualifying 13th and sitting in the top 10 throughout the race. Bastianini relegated the Aussie to 10th place on lap 16 as the KTM rider set off after rookie Diogo Moreira for eighth, leaving Miller to defend 10th from former teammate and Red Bull KTM rider Brad Binder.

A few moments on the front end showed just how hard race leader Marc Marquez was pushing, but he held his nerve and kept the pressure on all the way to the flag, where he crossed the line 1.754 seconds clear of Acosta, who was a further two seconds clear of Bezzecchi in third.

Alex Marquez and Martin completed the top five, ahead of Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Racing), who made his return from injury at Aragon with a strong sixth-place finish. Fabio Di Giannantonio was seventh after a DNF in the Sprint, while Bastianini got the better of Moreira for eighth. Binder eventually found a way through on Miller for 10th.

The result means Jorge Martin’s 256-point championship lead has been reduced to 19 points over Marquez, who now has 237 points and leapfrogs Bezzecchi, who sits on 232, for second overall. Di Giannantonio, on 208 points, moves into fourth in Ogura’s absence. Miller stays in 19th, now with 28 points.

The series now heads to Aprilia’s backyard of Misano for Round 14, kicking off on Friday, September 11.