Another twist in the title fight seemed likely at MotorLand Aragon and Saturday delivered another stunning shake up as Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) took his third Tissot Sprint win at the venue. He was followed home by Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), with polesitter Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) completing the Saturday rostrum after losing the lead early doors. That makes it 29 points between him and teammate Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) at the top of the table.
It was a good start for Bezzecchi from pole but the metres of advantage were eaten away in the braking zone at Turn 1 as Marc Marquez slammed it up the inside and took over in the lead, with Alex Marquez then able to take advantage round the outside and grab P2. The trio remained locked together as behind the battle for fourth lit up, with Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) vs Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) vs Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) seeing the standings shuffle.
Acosta emerged at the lead of the group and then pulled way from it, leaving the #89 some moves to do to get back on the tail of the KTM with Fernandez, Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team). Martin dug in, and by Lap 3 was back past Acosta.
At the front, Marc Marquez had the hammer down but the gap was hovering just under a second back to Alex Marquez, with Bezzecchi half a second off the rear wheel of the #73 – with no one seemingly able to find anything more to make an attack.
Just behind, Martin had had a moment on Lap 5 round the final corner and ceded the position to Acosta again, left stalking him in the fight for fourth. Moreira was holding P6 and Fernandez had dropped to P7, but a battle between Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) was giving the Trackhouse rider some respite. Once Aldeguer was past Zarco and locked in however, it became a three-way fight for sixth as Moreira, Aldeguer and Fernandez all converged in the final two laps.
Acosta was also converging on the podium fight late on, appearing ominously behind Bezzecchi as the #37 left Martin behind. But over 11 laps it wasn’t to be as Marc Marquez crossed the line for an ominous third Sprint win at the track, taking the 12-haul, with Alex Marquez second within around a second and Bezzecchi just holding on for third ahead of that late race push from Acosta.
The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider takes fourth ahead of Martin, with Aldeguer able to attack Moreira on the very final lap and relegate the Brazilian to P7. Fernandez finished eighth, with the returning Zarco straight back into the points as he finished the Sprint in P9 – just holding off Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP).
Diggia crashed out mid-Sprint, rider ok, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) had a tough one taking P11. They’ll be reloading for more on Sunday as MotoGP heads back out for the Grand Prix race, so join us for more from MotorLand.
FULL RESULTS from the Aragon GP Sprint!