Crazy flag-to-flag race in Jerez – Marc Marquez crashes and changes bike at the right time as a result – the world champion celebrates his 17th sprint victory
Turbulent flag-to-flag race in the sprint at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez! Marc Marquez (Ducati) crashed on a wet track, switched to the second bike with rain tires at the right time and took the win. He won ahead of his team-mate Francesco Bagnaia and Franco Morbidelli (VR46-Ducati).
In contrast to qualifying, the 12-lap sprint began in dry conditions, but the sky was cloudy. As predicted by Michelin, all 23 riders started on medium tires at the front and on the soft rear tire.
From pole position, Marc Marquez won the holeshot and took the lead ahead of Johann Zarco (LCR-Honda), Alex Marquez (Gresini-Ducati) and Jorge Martin (Aprilia).
Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) did not have a good start, dropping back to 17th place. On his grid position, a tear-off visor had got under his tires, which prevented him from moving forward with wheelspin.
At the end of the first lap, Martin grabbed second place from Alex Marquez in the finishing corner, but the Gresini rider countered in turn 1. Martin came to the outside and suddenly had a problem with the front brake.
Martin dropped to the back of the field and then retired in the pits. On the second lap, Alex Marquez finally overtook Zarco and was the new runner-up. His brother Marc already had a one-second lead at this point.
Zarco was unable to keep up with the pace of the Marquez brothers, but defended himself against Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati) and fended off several attacks. The Italian finally prevailed in the Sito Pons corner and was third.
At the front, Marc was increasingly overtaken by Alex. In addition, more and more raindrops fell. At the halfway point of the race, Di Giannantonio also caught up with the Marquez brothers as he set slightly faster lap times.
Rain makes for a chaotic second half of the race
Six laps before the end of the race, Alex overtook Marc in the Jorge Martinez corner and took the lead. One lap later, Marc Marquez crashed in the finishing corner as the rain became heavier and heavier.
He then turned into the pits to change his bike. Brad Binder (KTM), Bagnaia, Morbidelli, Alex Rins (Yamaha) and Augusto Fernandez (Yamaha) also changed to the bike with rain tires at this point.
At the same time, Alex Marquez crashed while leading in the third sector. Three laps before the end of the race, most of the riders came into the pits to change bikes, with only Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini-Ducati) staying out on slicks.
Suddenly the Ducati works team is in front
Aldeguer had a nine-second lead over Binder on wet tires, but the KTM rider crashed. Bezzecchi also went down three laps before the end of the race. Suddenly everything went for the Ducati factory team.
Bagnaia and Marc Marquez quickly caught up with Aldeguer on slick tires. They took the lead. Marc Marquez overtook his team-mate in the Angel Nieto corner and led the race again despite his crash.
The reigning MotoGP World Champion claimed the 17th sprint win of his career in a chaotic flag-to-flag race, once again equaling Martin in the all-time sprint race leaderboard.
“I don’t think I’ve ever won a crazier race,” said Marc Marquez. “It’s my first win after a crash. I crashed at the ‘best moment’ because I was thinking about coming into the pits anyway.“
”But when Alex was leading the race, I made the mistake of following him. After the crash, I waited until everyone had passed. That was my only chance to change to rain tires immediately. After that, I saw that I was third and just pushed. I am very happy about this victory.”
Bagnaia finished three seconds behind in second place. Third was Morbidelli, who had started 18th. Binder finished fourth, followed by Di Giannantonio and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse-Aprilia). Fernandez was the best Aprilia rider in sixth place (see result).
Fabio Quartararo scored points for Yamaha in seventh place. Zarco and Luca Marini (Honda) rounded off the points in eighth and ninth place. 17 riders saw the chequered flag.
Rins, Enea Bastianini (Tech3-KTM), Pedro Acosta (KTM), Fernandez, Diogo Moreira (LCR-Honda), Ai Ogura (Trackhouse-Aprilia), Jack Miller (Pramac-Ducati), who also had a crash, and Aldeguer followed from tenth place onwards.
Five laps before the end of the race, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac-Yamaha) and Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) collided when the Turkish rider tried to overtake in a right-hand bend.
With this result, Marc Marquez moves up to fourth place in the World Championship and is 24 points behind Bezzecchi (to the World Championship standings).
The 25-lap Grand Prix starts on Sunday at 14:00 (to the starting grid).