Marquez domination in Aragon MotoGP showdown

They celebrated like it was a championship win. At least like it was a foregone conclusion. A pair of waiting scooters delivered the Aragon Grand Prix first- and second-place finishers, Marc and Alex Marquez, to the base of their fan-filled grandstands, where a set of decks was waiting to play Marquez On Fire to their adoring home crowd.

Not that you can argue. At his beloved anti-clockwise circuit, Ducati Lenovo rider Marc Marquez became the first rider since himself, 10 years ago to top every session of a grand prix weekend, including pole position and both race wins. Not to mention setting new fastest race laps on eight occasions during the 23-lap grand prix. It was another second-place finish for Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez, his 11th of the season. But the big surprise was Pecco Bagnaia’s (Ducati Lenovo) return to the podium, holding off a determined Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM) to stand on the box for just the fifth time in 2025.

Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi hinted at it before the start of the feature race, saying on the grid that the team found something in warm-up that might boost the two-time MotoGP world champ’s competitiveness. After finishing 12th in Saturday’s Sprint, Bagnaia got a solid launch from fourth on the grid to slot in behind Marc and Alex into Turn 1. An early tussle with Acosta in the opening laps allowed the Marquez brothers to create a buffer between themselves and the chasing pack. But we saw a level of confidence from the former world champ that’s been missing since Bagnaia first swung a leg over the Ducati GP25.

It was the two factory KTMs in fourth and fifth pushing Bagnaia. Acosta, the only rider in the field on the hard front tyre, did everything he could to exploit Bagnaia’s well-documented lack of front-end confidence—but it didn’t come. With Acosta all over his rear wheel, the Italian responded with a personal best on lap 5. And while Marc was in a league of his own at the front, reeling off fastest lap after fastest lap, Bagnaia looked like he had the pace – and the confidence – to challenge Alex for second.

Less than 1.5 seconds covered Marc at the front and Brad Binder in fifth, with another 1.5 back to front-row qualifier Franky Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati), who was locked in a race-long duel with rookie Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati). In the searing heat, Binder’s front tyre cried no more on lap 11, joining LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco on the crashers list – the same lap that Alex, Pecco, and Pedro all posted personal bests trying in vain to close the gap to Marc.

Marc, meanwhile, set his sixth new race lap record at the circuit, beating Luca Marini’s year-old benchmark by a whopping nine-tenths of a second, proving just how dominant the eight-time world champ is around his home track.

The battle for seventh between Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati), Joan Mir (HRC), and Maverick Viñales (Tech3 KTM) intensified as Marco Bezzecchi began making inroads after a crash in Q2 left the British GP winner starting 20th. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha) recorded his third consecutive DNF after crashing out of 10th, just as Pecco laid down another personal best lap, finally putting paid to Acosta’s podium bid with nine laps to go.

The fight for fifth between battle-hardened veteran Morbidelli and rookie Aldeguer raged on as the pair swapped paint and positions countless times, making contact more than once. Bezzecchi had just passed Di Giannantonio for ninth when Viñales slid out of the scrap with Mir, lifting the Aprilia man up to eighth.

And while Pecco put in yet another personal best with two laps to go, Marc went one better – posting his eighth new race lap record of 1m46.705sec on 21-lap-old tyres.

Marc Marquez crossed the line to celebrate his 92nd grand prix win across all classes, ahead of brother and title rival Alex Marquez, who ended the race one second clear of Bagnaia. Acosta came home a further 5.5 seconds back in fourth ahead of Morbidelli and Aldeguer, the Italian finally shaking the rookie on the final lap. Mir finished seventh – his best result since the 2023 Indian GP – ahead of Bezzecchi, Di Giannantonio, and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia). Aussie Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha) picked up two points for 14th.

The result means Marc is now 32 points clear at the top of the ladder, with 233 to Alex’s 201. Bagnaia is a telling 93 points back in third on 140, ahead of VR46 teammates Morbidelli (115) and Di Giannantonio (99). Miller sits 16th overall with 31 points.

The series now heads to Ducati’s home circuit of Mugello for Round 9, held over 20–22 June.