Marc Márquez wins a Grand Prix again in 1,043 days since Emilia Romagna in 2021, conquering the Aragón GP for the seventh time from start to finish in all sessions, the sprint and the race, where Jorge Martín took a valuable second place after Pecco Bagnaia’s fall, leading the world championship with a 23-point advantage. Pedro Acosta rounds out the podium with a well-deserved third place.
The big party arrived at MotorLand Aragón with a total of 107,425 spectators, who have passed through the track during the weekend, achieving the second best record in its history. The twelfth round of the season arrived in Alcañiz on a Sunday where the spotlight was on Marc Márquez. The rider from Cervera, after climbing to the top of the podium 1,042 days later, despite the fact that the sprint will not count in his record of victories, wanted to put the icing on the cake with a race win, after a weekend of absolute dominance in all the practices, the fast sprint and breaking the track record.
As on Sunday, storms marked the night at MotorLand and the track dawned wet. During the Warm-Up session, the riders have confirmed that the circuit was quite dirty, especially on the starting line due to the rain and the recently resurfaced track. However, the Moto3 and Moto2 races were held in the dry, which also helped to remove the last traces of water.
All 22 riders faced the slides at MotorLand. A total of 23 laps on a circuit 5.078 metres long, one of the five layouts where the track is driven counter-clockwise. As for the tyres, there was unanimity and all the riders opted for the medium front and rear tyres, because Michelin did not guarantee the soft rear tyre would perform well enough to last the 23 laps.
MÁRQUEZ: A PULLER HAMMER FROM START TO FINISH
As in the sprint start, Marc Márquez had made a good start . Pecco Bagnaia had the cross to bear , once again having a bad start , dropping to seventh place. Jorge Martín was unable to make up ground in fourth position, but at the end of the first lap he was already in third position.
The first retirement would come due to the fall of Miguel Ángel Oliveira, with the Portuguese rider in good condition. In just two laps, the 93 was already two seconds behind his pursuers, taking advantage of the duel and incident between Martín and Acosta at the corkscrew, where the Gas Gas rider held off the onslaught of the championship leader. Martín knew of Márquez’s potential and had to escape from the group formed by Acosta, Morbideli, Álex Márquez and Pecco Bagnaia, who continued to suffer as he had all weekend.
El toque entre @88jorgemartin y @37_pedroacosta 💥#AragonGP 🇪🇸 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/Ec0uR4nnqv
— DAZN España (@DAZN_ES) September 1, 2024
With a breather after a heart-stopping first few laps and a gap of more than 2.5 seconds between Márquez and Martín, the 93 could now start managing tyres as there was still a lot of racing left. Meanwhile, at the back, Bagnaia was still stuck in a jam and occupying sixth position , aware that his pursuer in the fight for the title was 13 points ahead of the Italian, who managed to take advantage of Morbidelli’s long run to occupy fifth place.
After a small cut of three tenths by Jorge Martín on lap nine, the Cervera rider extended his lead to 3.2 seconds. Pedro Acosta, who was riding in fourth position, made a long run on lap eleven, which Bagnaia took advantage of to get into fourth place . On that same lap, Maverick Viñales had to retire with his Aprilia, where the Italian team went from less to more, despite both bikes making a Top 3 on Friday.
As the laps went by, the world champion was feeling more and more comfortable and was getting closer to the podium, which was closed by Álex Márquez, with a difference of 1.2 seconds. Without any major changes at the head of the race, the 93 was already giving Martín a total of four seconds with eight laps to go, who could not keep up with the race pace of the rider from Cervera and who was gradually thinking that second place would be a good result for the world championship.
A FALL THAT COULD COST A CHAMPIONSHIP
With six laps to go, a completely unexpected turn of events took place in the world championship. Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez, who were fighting for the podium, crashed at turn 12 , where the bike of the youngest of the Marquez brothers was on top of Bagnaia, creating a very dangerous situation , with the good fortune that both riders withdrew from the track on their own two feet. After the Italian’s fall, Martin could relax, as he had a 23-point lead in the championship.
¡ESTO LO CAMBIA TODO! 😱😱😱
Caída entre Álex Márquez y Pecco Bagnaia cuando luchaban por la tercera posición 👀#AragonGP 🇪🇸 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/D0iisywwyU
— DAZN España (@DAZN_ES) September 1, 2024
A crushing dominance, with the hammer throughout the weekend and entering the finish line showing his arm and muscle. After so much suffering, the Cervera rider gets his seventh victory in Alcañiz, where
Jorge Martín gets a second place that could mean a world title, with the fall of Bagnaia and with a
27 point advantage. Pedro Acosta repeats again with third place in a sensational weekend for the Mazarrón rider.
9️⃣3️⃣🇪🇸#AragonGP 🇪🇸 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/ZKzvlmJaeA
— DAZN España (@DAZN_ES) September 1, 2024