Marc Marquez is back to winning. And the victory in the Sprint of the MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix is a success with great symbolic value because, even if it is only a short race on Saturday, it is his first success on the Ducati. But it is also a triumph that the eight-time world champion has not achieved since the second race at Misano in 2021.
This weekend his advantage over the others was all too evident on a track that, with the new asphalt, has created a huge lack of front grip for practically everyone. When it comes to having sensitivity in low-grip conditions, however, the #93 is a master and he demonstrated it from the first lap on Friday.
The Gresini Racing rider made the most of the pole position he earned this morning and immediately made it clear that he was able to maintain a pace that was very difficult for his pursuers to sustain, who tried to stay close to him for a few laps, before giving up and seeing him become the ninth winner in the history of the Sprints.
Also because for Jorge Martin today’s second place is a great one in terms of the World Championship, because it allows him to regain the leadership. Taking advantage of being on the outside, on the cleanest line, the Prima Pramac Racing rider started well from the second row and immediately moved into second position, ahead of an excellent Pedro Acosta.
All this, while Pecco Bagnaia was having a Saturday to forget: at the start, on the dirt, his Ducati went sideways and immediately made him lose some positions. However, in the space of a few corners the Piedmontese had managed to get back to fourth position, even though the front grip problems that had affected him yesterday resurfaced and, by running wide, he fell to ninth position, thus seeing himself overtaken by 3 lengths by Martin.
Once he understood that there was nothing to be done against Marquez, “Martinator” thought about the championship and managed Acosta very well, who remained close to him until a few laps from the end. Then the GasGas Tech3 rider also pulled in his oars, because he didn’t want to risk throwing away a podium that he had been missing since the Sprint at Mugello. Especially in a difficult moment for him and KTM.
Continuing down the standings, in fourth place is the other GP23 of Gresini Racing entrusted to Alex Marquez, while the top 5 is completed by Miguel Oliveira, who was therefore the best of the Aprilia riders for Trackhouse Racing. Not bad for the Portuguese if you consider that the two official RS-GPs went terribly, with Maverick Vinales 19th and Aleix Espargaro immediately out after having hit Fabio Di Giannantonio at the first corner.
In sixth place is the other KTM of Brad Binder, followed by the Ducati of Enea Bastianini, who was the protagonist of a great comeback from 14th place on the grid. Even more sensational, however, was that of Fabio Quartararo, who with his Yamaha climbed from 19th to eighth place. A sign that perhaps at least over the distance the M1 seems to have actually made a step with the innovations introduced in the private test at Misano.
A day to forget for Honda, because after shining in qualifying, Johann Zarco fell on the first lap, so the best of the RC213Vs was that of Takaaki Nakagami in 14th position. As for the other Italians, Marco Bezzecchi finished tenth, playing for the last point in the sprint against a Bagnaia in deep crisis at the end. The aforementioned Di Giannantonio 15th, just ahead of Luca Marini. Franco Morbidelli instead retired, having fallen at the “corkscrew” in the early stages.
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