Moto GP: There was big drama in Aragon with reigning World Champion Francesco Bagnaia taken out, while Marc Marquez claimed another win, and Jorge Martin extended his lead.
The Spaniard has been battered physically and bruised emotionally since the season-opening crash in 2020 that smashed his right arm and stopped his MotoGP domination cold over the subsequent four years, four surgeries and slow recoveries seeing him miss nearly 45 per cent of the races since that fateful day at Jerez in 2020, and being lucky to be 50 per cent when he did race until 2023.
It was all about who could think on their feet and live on their wits, and Marquez – one of the great improvisers – took full advantage. Marquez’s seventh win at Aragon in all – six in MotoGP – was the headline act of the return of the Spanish circuit to the calendar, but elsewhere, a contentious clash changed the world championship picture to leave Martin, arguably more than Marquez, the biggest winner from round 12.The Marquez of 2024 isn’t the open book he was earlier in his career, where his daring exploits on-track were matched by an enthusiasm to revel in and excitedly discuss them afterwards.
“It was difficult to control the emotions in the last laps, but when I crossed the finish line I felt like I lost three to four kilos. To achieve that victory was incredible, and immediately I started to think about all the process we had, all the people around me, my family … they helped me a lot. Saturday’s sprint saw him plummet back down the field to ninth and score one solitary point, pointedly but non-verbally pointing the finger at a lack of grip from Michelin’s tyres on the slippery surface as being his undoing.
Unsurprisingly, both riders – who met in private afterwards to clear the air – had markedly differing accounts of the incident, and who was to blame. Marquez, who was on track for his second Grand Prix podium of the season and on course for a strong weekend after qualifying fifth and finishing fourth in the sprint, felt it was a crash Bagnaia could have elected to avoid.“If somebody could have avoided the contact, it was him. I didn’t see him in any moment. I was not expecting the contact. I touched the kerb , I’m inside the track … so the one behind needs to take care.
“When Pecco crashed, I looked to my pit board and there were still six or seven laps to go, they were quite long because I just wanted to finish. So I was just cruising, trying to make it to the end without any risk, and this was the most difficult of the race.”
Final Points-Paying Position Post-Race Penalty Jack Miller Italian Riders Brad Binder Raul Fernandez Solitary Point Portugal Series Leader Austria Baking Northern Hemisphere Francesco Bagnaia Title Defence Rare Shocker Rostrum Result Pedro Acosta Barcelona Europe Throttle Opening Factory Teammate Grands Prix Left-Hand Corners Suits Western Europe Miguel Oliveira Still-Curing Asphalt Slicker Aragon Grand MILLER COPS PENALTY Southern Europe Finish Line Alex Marquez Germany Jorge Martin Practice Sessions World Championship Daring Exploits On-Track Race Result Three-Year Victory Hoodoo Province Of Barcelona Flat Track Motocross Ugly Crash Agence France Presse Desert Outside Championship Leader Slippery Surface Realistic Goal France Back-To-Back Podiums Getty Images Inc. Tyre Pressures Austrian Manufacturer Dreadful One-Point Weekend Matt Clayton Tty Feeling Super Special Late-Race Clash Trackside Gravel Dramatic Turnaround Post-Race Press Conference Strict Tyre Pressure Race Stewards Spain Tyre Pressure Rules Season-Opening Crash Erstwhile Championship Leader Champ Rages Talking Pts Instinctive Reaction Claims Doublemoto Pole Position
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