Marc Marquez remains unbeaten sprint record in France
Ducati's Marc Marquez has become the first MotoGP rider to win six-straight sprints as the Spaniard maintained his perfect record in the shorter format at the French Grand Prix to retake the championship lead from his brother Alex.
Alex's Gresini Racing teammate and MotoGP rookie Fermin Aldeguer came third on Saturday for his first sprint podium while polesitter Fabio Quartararo could only manage fourth place at his home Grand Prix.
Alex came into the weekend with a one-point lead over Marc but after a sixth successive second-place finish in sprints, he is now two points behind his elder brother, who won by just over half a second.
Quartararo had entertained the home crowd as he pushed hard at the start, but the Yamaha rider could not sustain that pace as he lost out to the dominant Ducati machines in an all-Spanish podium.
"Fabio, in the start, was super fast, he was pushing a lot and then I said, 'Okay, I cannot follow that pace on the first two laps'," Marc Marquez said.
"But then I saw that he started to drop his pace a bit and then I felt better and better. In the last laps I was riding well, maybe the last lap I relaxed a bit too much, but I'm feeling good."
Frenchman Quartararo had taken pole when he smashed the lap record and he briefly lost the lead off the line before regaining it when Marc Marquez went wide on turn one amid loud cheers from the stands.
Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia, third in the riders' standings, lost a points-scoring opportunity when he crashed on lap two and is now 31 points behind his team mate.
Up front, Marc Marquez's red Ducati was all over the rear tyre of Quartararo's blue Yamaha and the pair swapped positions on lap six before the Spaniard took the lead and opened up a gap.
Within the space of two laps, Quartararo suddenly went from leading the sprint to falling to third when Alex lined up an overtake and shot past the Frenchman.
French fans experienced a roller-coaster of emotions as Quartararo battled Aldeguer for the final podium spot before the Gresini rider found a way through and held on for third place.
"I feel incredible! It's a dream for me to be here with top riders... We have the speed but we need more experience," Aldeguer said.
Australian Jack Miller finished 11th on his Pramac Yamaha some 12 seconds adrift of Marquez.
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Ducati's Marc Marquez has broken the lap record at the Aragon Grand Prix to clinch the 99th pole position of his career and fifth of the MotoGP season, pipping his brother Alex of Gresini Racing to top spot. Championship leader Marc set the early pace on Saturday when he became the first rider to go under a minute and 46 seconds but the Spaniard was soon pushed down to third when Alex went fastest, followed by VR46 Racing's Franco Morbidelli. But Marc put his head down and produced an aggressive lap, with his red Ducati sliding around some of the curves as he clocked one minute and 45.704 seconds at the MotorLand circuit. "The first lap with the first tyre was clean. I just did one lap and then I stopped because I was already (one minute and) 45.9 without exaggerating, but then I exaggerated too much (on my next attempt)," Marc said. "(I was) trying to be too fast, even lost time. Of course, the riding style for the main race and the sprint is different, but the lap was not the smoothest lap of my life." Marc's fifth pole of the season put him in prime position to claim a record-extending seventh MotoGP victory at Aragon. His team mate Francesco Bagnaia also struggled with stability on his bike but managed to go fourth fastest while Red Bull KTM's factory team riders Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder will join him on the second row on Sunday. Australia's Jack Miller will start from 14th on his Pramac Yamaha. Ducati's Marc Marquez has broken the lap record at the Aragon Grand Prix to clinch the 99th pole position of his career and fifth of the MotoGP season, pipping his brother Alex of Gresini Racing to top spot. Championship leader Marc set the early pace on Saturday when he became the first rider to go under a minute and 46 seconds but the Spaniard was soon pushed down to third when Alex went fastest, followed by VR46 Racing's Franco Morbidelli. But Marc put his head down and produced an aggressive lap, with his red Ducati sliding around some of the curves as he clocked one minute and 45.704 seconds at the MotorLand circuit. "The first lap with the first tyre was clean. I just did one lap and then I stopped because I was already (one minute and) 45.9 without exaggerating, but then I exaggerated too much (on my next attempt)," Marc said. "(I was) trying to be too fast, even lost time. Of course, the riding style for the main race and the sprint is different, but the lap was not the smoothest lap of my life." Marc's fifth pole of the season put him in prime position to claim a record-extending seventh MotoGP victory at Aragon. His team mate Francesco Bagnaia also struggled with stability on his bike but managed to go fourth fastest while Red Bull KTM's factory team riders Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder will join him on the second row on Sunday. Australia's Jack Miller will start from 14th on his Pramac Yamaha.
