Marc Márquez reigns supreme in Austria with sprint-race MotoGP double

The Guardian

19 hours ago

Six-times MotoGP champion Marc Márquez marked the 1,000th premier class race in history by winning the Austrian Grand Prix for the first time in his career to take a mammoth 142-point lead over his brother Alex in the championship.
Having won Saturday's sprint from the second row, Marc Márque claimed the sprint-race double for the sixth Grand Prix in a row, with the Spaniard unbeaten since the British Grand Prix in May. Not since 2014 had Marc Márquez claimed six Grand Prix wins on the bounce as he inches closer to a seventh MotoGP crown with nine rounds left.
Gresini Racing rookie Fermin Aldeguer found late race pace to finish second while Aprilia's pole sitter Marco Bezzecchi, who kept Marc Márquez at bay for as long as he could, finished third. Alex Márquez finished 10th after serving a long-lap penalty.
'Super, super happy to finally take the first victory here in Austria,' Marc Marquez said. 'I'm happy with six victories in a row, but (I need to) keep focus, next week we have another race.'
Bezzecchi had claimed his first pole with Aprilia on Saturday and despite finishing fourth in the sprint, this time he had the perfect launch to lead Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Márquez into turn one.
The two Ducatis went side by side on lap one when Marquez briefly overtook his teammate but Bagnaia did not relent and took the place back to stay in second. However, Marc Márquez made the same move on the next lap to take second and set his sights on Bezzecchi, waiting for the right opportunity to pounce.
'In the first part he (Bezzecchi) was super strong but then I just waited, I tried in the beginning but it was too risky, then I preferred to wait and attack in the end,' Marc Marquez added.
Alex Márquez had a poor start and with a long-lap penalty to serve for causing a crash at the Czech Grand Prix, falling out of the top 10 when he rejoined the field.