ARAGON – It was supposed to be a Ducati day, and it turned out to be a Ducati day. Marc Marquez confirmed his undisputed reign at Aragon, authoritatively taking the Sprint Race at his home circuit on a day of grace for the whole family, as his brother Alex finished second. Third was Marco Bezzecchi, who, after taking a historic pole position, "settled" for two championship points over his teammate and rival Jorge Martin. But overall, it's the winner's numbers that are frightening: with just one win, the Catalan rider confirms himself as the only rider in MotoGP history to have won each of Saturday's races at MotorLand (three out of three) and surpasses Martin himself in overall Sprint wins: 20 to 19.
Marc Marquez's victory has a very clear key: the start. Four riders on the grid were using the soft rear tyre (the two Aprilias and the Hondas of Lucio Cecchinello's Team LCR), and one of them was none other than Bezzecchi. The rider from Romagna seemed to be outshining his rival, but Bezzecchi bravely launched himself into the first corner and gained a lead he would never relinquish. "Bez," forced into a hard braking position by the daring maneuver of the number 93 Ducati, found himself ahead of Alex Marquez and was unable to overtake him or even attack him. No big deal, because a few positions further back, Martin struggled even more: the championship leader actually found himself behind Pedro Acosta and Raul Fernandez, eventually managing to overtake only the latter. His advantage over his teammate drops from 31 to 29 points, while Marc Márquez is increasingly threatening: the gap between the two, 40 points before the start, has now reached 33. The troubles, if anything, lie with others. Fabio Di Giannantonio, who dropped to -46 after a crash and subsequent retirement. But above all, Pecco Bagnaia, eighth after the Roman's crash but dropped to eleventh after his own mistake. And finishing behind Moreira, Zarco, and Miller (certainly not lightning-fast, at least this year), as well as the long-term absentee Aldeguer, is certainly not a great calling card on a weekend he himself described as favorable to Ducati.
Marc Marquez's victory remains, though he commented with great caution, given his well-known physical ailments: "I knew Marco was on the soft tire, so my only chance to win was in the first corner. Tomorrow will be more or less the same; we'll see what we can do. My start was really good, and obviously that helped me a lot. Then I was able to get into a good rhythm, but I think the rest of the group was also very fast. Let's see if we can improve a bit tomorrow so we can be as consistent as today." Bezzecchi was also smiling, as expected: "This day has been wonderful for me. Honestly, I didn't expect to get such a positive result in qualifying, or even in the Sprint. Yesterday, even though I felt pretty good, my pace wasn't the best. For this reason, I'm really satisfied, especially because I knew Marc and Alex had something extra. Unfortunately, I was missing a few things; I didn't find that braking point in the first corner, but that's fine." Bagnaia's situation, however, is grim, especially considering Gigi Dall'Igna's post-match analysis: "It's clear he's having problems. We'll have to talk to him.".
