Marc Marquez won his first MotoGP race in 1,042 days – and took his first ever victory in a sprint race – with a comfortable display in the Aragon GP.
The 31-year-old Catalan, who has topped every single session at the MotorLand Circuit so far, converted from pole position and controlled the 11-lap race from the opening corners on his year-old Gresini Ducati.
It was the former Honda rider’s first chequered flag since his last Grand Prix victory when riding for Honda at Misano in 2021.
Marquez, who is also the ninth different rider to triumph on a Saturday since the introduction of the format in 2023, said: “I feel super good. It was a very good weekend until now, but the race always is the race and you cannot do any mistakes.
“I started a little bit stiff on the front lap, but then we started to ride in a better way and we controlled the race but of course, the most important day is tomorrow.
“Today we celebrate, because it’s a sprint race, but it’s really important for us – the first victory in the sprint and I am, looking forward for tomorrow, in front of these amazing people.”
Jorge Martin rode to a solitary second place on his Pramac Ducati with Pedro Acosta (Tech3 KTM) another 3.7 seconds adrift completing an all-Spanish podium.
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Martin’s comfortable runner-up slot allowed him to leapfrog main title rival and world champion Francesco Bagnaia in the standings and convert a five-point deficit to a three-point advantage.
The factory Ducati rider suffered wheelspin from third on the grid and clearly had a grip issue throughout the race as he plummeted back to ninth and the last points-scoring berth.
Alex Marquez rode to fourth for what was a solid day of results for the Gresini team, while Miguel Oliveira’s fifth-place finish on the Trackhouse Racing Aprilia was the Portuguese’s second-highest sprint result of the campaign.
Brad Binder (KTM) was one of the flock of riders that profited from Bagnaia’s issues and took sixth ahead of a resurgent Enea Bastianini, who sailed from 14th on the grid to seventh after a poor Q1 outing this morning as the first factory Ducati home.
He was trailed by lead Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo, who finished eighth.
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was a victim of the slick grid tarmac and his poor launch was compounded further when he fell approaching Turn 1 after touching the rear wheel of Fabio Di Giannantonio.
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