Marquez crashes as brother’s Jerez win ends Aprilia streak

Factory Ducati rider Marc Marquez put it on pole position and won Saturday’s Tissot Sprint in a one-two finish for the team, with Francesco Bagnaia second.

However, Marc’s fortunes changed dramatically on Sunday.

From fifth on the grid, Alex shot away to climb to third place and soon got by Bezzecchi for second.

On Lap 2, he took the lead away from his brother at Dani Pedrosa Corner. Moments later, at Turn 11, Marc crashed out and sent his Desmosedici cartwheeling through the gravel trap.

Marc’s front end washed out and the Spaniard suffered his second straight DNF at Jerez.

“I’m fine physically,” said Marc.

“We enjoyed this Grand Prix of Spain from Thursday to Sunday, so it’s a pity that the race ended so early.

“I did something different at Turn 11, which caused the crash. I was trying to manage the situation, as I knew Alex was quicker, and the goal was to finish in third or fourth place.

“We struggled in terms of feeling and pace in the first three races, while this has been our strongest weekend so far this season.

“We were competitive in the wet, but there’s still work to do in dry conditions, and we’ll start addressing that already tomorrow.”

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!?!

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It was a horror day on the whole for Ducati. Francesco Bagnaia was running ninth until Lap 13 when his bike suffered a technical issue that forced his retirement.

“We were lucky yesterday, not so much today,” said Bagnaia.

“I didn’t get a great start but tried to recover positions, and I was lapping at a solid pace — not enough for the podium, but a top-seven finish was within reach.

“I tried to follow the lines of Enea (Bastianini) and (Ai) Ogura, who were ahead of me, and our pace was similar.

“Unfortunately, I had an issue with a detail of the bike from the start, and it worsened lap after lap.

“In the end, I had to return to the pits because I couldn’t get the bike to stop properly.

“I believe this issue won’t happen again going forward.”

Issues for Pecco 😓

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At the head of the field, Alex dominated the 25-lap contest to lead home Bezzecchi by a little under two seconds.

The podium was completed by VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio, who passed Aprilia’s Jorge Martin on Lap 4.

“I have not many words to describe this moment,” said Alex.

“We struggled a lot at the start of the season, but this weekend we made a good reset and came here being hundred percent motivated.

“I felt I had a very good flow and for me it was clear.

“I had to push from Lap 1 trying to take the lead. In the last lap I saluted the crown – well, it was mandatory. I have to thank my team as they never stop working. Spanish fans are amazing.”

Australia’s Jack Miller was 18th, just ahead of his Pramac teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu on the satellite Yamaha.

“It was one of those weekends for us,” said Miller.

“The race itself didn‘t feel too bad — I got a decent start, but I made a mistake in the last corner on the first lap where I carried too much closing speed.

“After that, I was starting to find a rhythm and make my way forward.

“I had just passed Diogo (Moreira) and put in a couple of strong laps, but then I lost the rear brake.

“That obviously made things difficult, especially in the heavy braking zones, and Diogo was able to come back past me.

“In the faster, flowing corners I actually felt quite good, but overall it limited what I could do.

“Tomorrow we resume work and will be trying different new things that hopefully can be a new step in the right direction.”

MotoGP continues at Jerez this week with testing.

Results: MotoGP Grand Prix of Spain, Circuito de Jerez Angel Nieto