Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) equalled Jorge Martin’s (Aprilia Racing) record of five consecutive Tissot Sprint victories with a commanding performance at the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Grand Prix of Spain. The World Championship leader capitalised on a Lap 2 crash from polesitter Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) to clinch the win in front of a massive home crowd in Jerez.
Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) secured second place, just over a second behind his brother, while Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) completed the podium, crossing the line three seconds adrift of the Sprint King.
The race began with Quartararo getting a strong start from pole position, but Marc Marquez managed to overtake him into Turn 1. However, the Yamaha rider fought back, reclaiming the lead with a late-braking manoeuvre. Alex Marquez moved up to third from fourth on the grid, with Bagnaia and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) rounding out the top five.
Disaster struck for Quartararo on Lap 2 when Marc Marquez attempted a pass at Turn 6, the Dani Pedrosa corner. The Frenchman, trying to hold his line around the outside on the dirtier part of the track, lost the front end and crashed out of the race, ending his impressive Saturday run.
With Quartararo out of contention, Marc Marquez led the way, half a second ahead of Alex Marquez, with Bagnaia trailing the Gresini Ducati by 0.8 seconds in third. As the laps ticked down, the elder Marquez gradually extended his lead, maintaining a comfortable gap of around 1.4 seconds with three laps remaining.
Reflecting on his performance, Marc Marquez said, “Managing the situation is what I’ve been repeating to myself this weekend: it’s clear that I’d like to be on pole and win every time, but if there’s no way of doing that, it’s surely still good. I got a couple of scary moments in two fast corners during my time attack in qualifying. The mistake is always around the corner: we’re very fast and we showed it. Today we took a few risks in order to pull away, then we managed the situation until the end. Tomorrow’s race will be a long one, and it’ll be hot. We’ll keep in mind that the feeling on the bike may change.”
Behind the podium finishers, Morbidelli claimed fourth, followed by an impressive fifth-place finish for rookie Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) in front of his home fans. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) held off Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) to secure sixth, while Viñales finished seventh, 2.3 seconds ahead of eighth-placed Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing). 2020 World Champion Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) collected the final point in ninth, with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completing the top ten.
Attention now turns to Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, set to take place at 2 pm local time (UTC+1). With Marc Marquez aiming to continue his winning streak and banish the demons of his 2020 crash, the likes of Quartararo, Alex Marquez, and Bagnaia will be eager to mount a challenge and deny the Ducati rider a home victory.
