-Jorge Martin retains Championship lead
-Pecco Bagnaia finishes ninth
-Pedro Acosta crosses the line in third
Riding for the Gresini Racing Ducati Team, Marc Marquez stamped his authority at the Aragon GP Sprint. The Spaniard led the race from start to finish without being challenged by anyone. Such was Marquez’s that he crossed the line nearly three seconds ahead of Jorge Martin.
Magical Marc
Marquez has been the favourite at Motorland Aragon and he looked swift and competitive as the race weekend began. Starting the Sprint on Pole, Marquez shot into the distance and put a comfortable gap between himself and the chasing pack.
Behind him was utter chaos as Aleix Espargaro on the Factory Aprilia crashed out of the race on the first corner of the first lap. Marquez was oblivious to this as he kept setting a pace that Martin and Acosta in P3 had no answer to.
Marquez crossed the finish line in P1, much to the delight of the Gresini Racing team who had more reason to celebrate as Alex Marquez on the second Gresini crossed the line in fourth.
Pecco’s misfortune
Ducati Lenovo Team’s Pecco Bagnaia had a miserable Sprint. Starting on the dusty part of the circuit, Pecco suffered wheelspin as he accelerated when the lights went out. Sliding sideways, he had to chop the throttle momentarily to regain control of the bike. This was enough for several riders to overtake him, seeing him plummet down the order.
As the race progressed, Bagnaia came under increasing pressure from KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder who managed to make a move and get past Bagnaia. The Italian was then overtaken by Miguel Olivera on the Trackhouse Aprilia as well as his teammate, Enea Bastianini as well.
Fabio Quartararo on the Factory Yamaha was riding the race of his life as he too managed to get past Bagnaia and move up to P8.
In the end, Pecco had to settle with P9 and that dealt a blow to his championship campaign, as Jorge Martin regained the lead with a three points advantage.
The main race of the Aragon GP will take place today at 5:30pm IST.
