Alex Marquez crash means Marc's MotoGP win streak continues
MotoGP

Alex Marquez crash means Marc's MotoGP win streak continues

by Valentin Khorounzhiy
3 min read

MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez notched up an unlikely 15th successive race win in the Catalan Grand Prix sprint, as brother Alex crashed out from a commanding lead.

The younger Marquez was heading for a straightforward win from pole but fell off under braking at Turn 10 under little pressure four laps from the end, leaving Marc to pick up the pieces and to extend his lead to 187 points.

Ducati, meanwhile, wrapped up a sixth consecutive constructors' title.

A qualifying standout in second on the grid, Fabio Quartararo looked like he was being swarmed by both the elder Marquez and Pedro Acosta on the run down to Turn 1 - but nailed the corner to somehow stay ahead.

Marc tried to lundge him in the hard braking zone of Turn 10 but Quartararo cut across, leading to small contact that forced the Frenchman wide but meant he had to come in aggressively at Turn 11, nudging Marquez wide in turn and allowing Acosta through.

Both the KTM and the Ducati then slipstreamed past Quartararo's Yamaha on the main straight, but Marquez attacking Acosta into Turn 1 allowed Quartararo to reclaim third place at the KTM rider's expense.

The top three settled down from there on, and with Marc facing a half-second gap to Alex, that gap never really went down and in fact only looked like growing. It had gone well past the one-second mark when Alex suddenly went down on the ninth lap of 12.

Marc himself then saved a significant moment at Turn 7, before bringing home the bike 1.3s ahead of Quartararo.

It wasn't Acosta but Fabio Di Giannantonio picking up the final podium spot in third, as Acosta was immediately overtaken by the VR46 rider after dropping behind Quartararo and really struggled for race pace from there on.

It dropped him into the clutches of fellow KTM riders Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini, who both moved ahead of Johann Zarco thanks to the latter getting Turn 10 wrong, but Acosta held firm - beating Bastianini by 0.045s and Binder by 0.075s at the finish.

Zarco, fellow Honda rider Luca Marini and Trackhouse Aprilia rookie Ai Ogura completed the points, Ogura winning a four-bike battle for that final point that also included team-mate Raul Fernandez and both Pramac Yamaha riders.

Both factory Aprilia riders were eliminated from the race in spectacular fashion, crashed into by satellite Ducatis.

Jorge Martin was clattered into by former team-mate Franco Morbidelli in the hard braking of Turn 10, having fought Morbidelli through the race, while Marco Bezzecchi was the victim of Fermin Aldeguer tucking the front while trying to overtake him at Turn 5 as both chased after Zarco.

The race's only other retirement was also an Aprilia, tester Lorenzo Savadori parking up with an apparent mechanical issue.

Despite the high attrition rate, two-time champion Pecco Bagnaia picked up no points from the race and never really looked like doing so, coming home a distant 14th.

Results

1 Marc Marquez (Ducati)
2 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha)
3 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati)
4 Pedro Acosta (KTM)
5 Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM)
6 Brad Binder (KTM)
7 Johann Zarco (LCR Honda)
8 Luca Marini (Honda)
9 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia)
10 Miguel Oliveira (Pramac Yamaha)
11 Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia)
12 Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha)
13 Joan Mir (Honda)
14 Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati)
15 Alex Rins (Yamaha)
16 Aleix Espargaro (Honda)
17 Maverick Vinales (Tech3 KTM)
18 Somkiat Chantra (LCR Honda)
DNF Alex Marquez (Gresini Honda)
DNF Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia)
DNF Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Honda)
DNF Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia)
DNF Jorge Martin (Aprilia)
DNF Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati)

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