Marc Marquez is back

It’s difficult to know where to start with the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix in Aragon. The scene of the return of eight-time world champ Marc Marquez’s (Gresini Ducati) dominance, the Spanish star topped every session, qualified on pole and ran away with commanding wins in both the Sprint and the 23-lap grand prix.

For reigning world champ Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati), it was a weekend he’d rather forget. A couple of crook tyres didn’t help his plight; but after qualifying third behind Marquez and rookie Pedro Acosta (Tech3 GasGas), the best he could salvage was a single point from the Sprint.

Mustering a third-place grid position on a slippery and unpredictable track was where it initially went wrong for the Italian, forcing him to launch from the dirty side of the track. And although he expressed his concerns to race direction ahead of both the Sprint and full-length GP, he was unable to find traction when the lights went out in both contests, dropping him down the field.

Bagnaia found himself in seventh place going into the first turn of the 23-lapper, as Marquez grabbed the holeshot from Acosta, Jorge Martin (Pramac) and Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati). And although he didn’t need any help, Marc was gifted a 1.3sec lead as early as lap two, when Martin and Acosta made contact while jostling for second position.

Martin eventually got the better of the young Spaniard, but the race for victory was all but over by the third circuit, with Marc already two seconds clear of the Prima Pramac rider. Out front, the following 20 laps was vintage Marc Marquez. Quicker than every other rider on circuit, his consistency was stark and, just like it had been all weekend, no one had a hope of getting within striking distance, even by lap five the commentators labelled the race “a test of Marquez’s concentration.”

Alex Marquez relegated Acosta to fourth on lap four and got his head down as the battle for fourth place between Acosta, Franky Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Ducati), Bagnaia and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) played out behind him. By lap eight, the younger Marquez had put 1.394sec of clear air between himself and Acosta – the only non-Ducati rider in the top six – but no one wanted to veer offline in order to make a pass, such were the perilous track conditions.

A mistake by Morbidelli next time around dropped him to eighth, elevating Bagnaia to fifth, and a similar mistake by the rookie into the last corner gifted the reigning world champ fourth on lap 11, albeit with a 2.4sec gap to Alex Marquez in third still with 12 laps left to run.

Now with clear air ahead of him, Bagnaia set about his recovery mission. Riding like the three-time world champ he is, the number 63 was a full seven tenths quicker than the younger Gresini man on lap 12 and had the gap down to less than a second (0.896sec) by lap 15.

With six laps to go, Marc was some 4.182sec clear of Martin, who was another 6.827s clear of the battle for third. Clearly the quickest of the two, Bagnaia was biding his time behind the number 73 as he plotted his move for the final podium spot over the remaining laps. A mistake by Marquez forced his hand on lap 18, however, and as he eased in front of Marquez, the pair tangled, putting them both out of the race in a nasty crash with just five laps left to run. The costly crash was Bagnaia’s sixth DNF of the season.

Marquez was almost 11 seconds up the road from the incident, Martin six, neither with any idea of the drama that was unfolding behind them. Hugely beneficial for Acosta, however, whose fifth place all of a sudden became a safe third, enough to earn him his first double podium weekend in the premier class after again finishing third behind Marc and Martin in Saturday’s Sprint.

Marc Marquez crossed the line 4.789sec clear of Jorge Martin, who was 10 seconds clear of Acosta. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) was fourth ahead of Enea Bastianini (Lenovo Ducati), the Italian’s trademark late-race pace proving too little too late. Morbidelli, Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) made it six Ducatis in the top eight. Alex Rins (Monster Yamaha) and Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) completed the top 10.

The twist in the championship has edged Martin 23 points clear of Bagnaia, 299 points to 276, as Marquez (229) moves one point clear and ahead of Bastianini (228). Acosta (148) takes fifth from Binder (145). 

The series now heads to the first of two races at Bagnaia’s home circuit, Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, this weekend.