Alex Marquez takes first MotoGP win after brother Marc crashes in Spain
After seven second-place finishes in sprints and races this season, Alex claimed a dream race win on home turf on Sunday in front of more than 100,000 fans with the Spaniard imploring them to increase the volume even when he had a few corners left on the final lap.
Fabio Quartararo finished second to give Yamaha their first podium since the 2023 Indonesian Grand Prix while Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia came in third.
Marc squeezed his way through the crowd to embrace Alex in the winner's circle as the two Spaniards became the first brothers to win in MotoGP.
But the day belonged to the Gresini rider who leads his elder sibling by one point in the standings after taking the chequered flag, which was waved by Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz.
'The best birthday present – amazing. The first one in Jerez is something amazing,' said Alex, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Wednesday.
'I cannot ask for more. It was a race where I was really clever in all the movements.'
An action-packed opening lap had polesitter Quartararo get a perfect start off the line to take the lead into turn one while Saturday's sprint winner, Marc, fell behind to fourth place.
Alex tried to overtake three riders in front of him early on by threading the needle between bikes, but he braked too late and fell behind while Marc and Bagnaia collided while jostling for position.
With Marc running in third and looking to overtake his teammate, the Spaniard then crashed at turn seven and rejoined in 22nd place with a damaged bike as thousands of fans around the circuit collectively groaned.
Bagnaia did not have time to relax, however, as Alex came up behind him and elbowed the Italian out of the way to move up to second and put Quartararo in his sights.
The Yamaha rider tried his best to keep Alex at bay, but on lap 11, the pace of the Ducati bike proved far too superior as he overtook Quartararo to draw a roar from the Marquez grandstand.
Once Alex was in the clear, he began to disappear into the distance as Bagnaia could not catch up and struggled to overtake Quartararo, who doggedly held onto second place.
'Incredible. To be on the podium is super special – especially with the gap to Alex and to keep Pecco [Bagnaia] behind in the race was so difficult,' said Quartararo, the 2021 MotoGP champion.
'It's been long years but super happy to be back on the podium in Jerez.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Qatar Tribune
3 days ago
- Qatar Tribune
Marquez makes it six-in-a-row with first victory at Spielberg
Agencies Spielberg (Austria) The Red Bull Ring jinx is over for Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) as for the sixth time on the spin, the runaway MotoGP title race leader clinched maximum points. His path to win Grand Prix of Austria victory wasn't a simple one though as eventual third place finisher Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) led for large parts before rookie star Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), the Sunday silver medallist, mounted pressure on Marquez in the closing stages. However, neither were able to stop the #93 winning MotoGP's 1000th race. It was Marc's ninth win of the season and stretches his lead at the top of the championship standings. The Ducati rider, who started fourth on the grid, swept past pole-sitter Marco Bezzecchi on lap 20, and pulled away for his sixth successive victory. Rookie Fermin Aldeguer closed on him in the final laps but had to settle for second, the best result of his fledgling career, with Bezzecchi completing the podium. 'Yes, super, super happy to finally take the first victory here in Austria, I'm wearing the red bike (Ducati) and it was working super good,' said Marquez. Victory in the 1000th MotoGP race completed a perfect weekend for the Spaniard who, after a poor qualifying that saw him slide off the track, also won his 12th sprint of the season on Saturday. It also moves the 32-year-old one step closer to a seventh world title, his first since 2019. After 13 rounds of the 22-race season, Marquez is now 142 points clear of his brother Alex Marquez (Ducati-Gresini) in the standings. Marc Marquez made an excellent start, passing his brother on the first turn and sweeping past teammate Francesco Bagnaia, unbeaten here since 2022, on the second lap. That then set up a cat-and-mouse battle with Bezzecchi (Aprilia). Marquez had to wait until eight laps from the end before he could make the decisive move. Bezzecchi was then caught by the flying Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini) who briefly threatened to press Marquez for the chequered flag. In the end the 20-year-old dropped off to secure second. 'In the first part he (Bezzecchi) was super strong but then I just waited,' said Marquez. 'I tried in the beginning but it was too risky, I preferred to wait and attack near the end. 'But a new outsider arrived and it was Aldeguer this time and he was arriving super fast. But yes, I'm very happy for six victories in a row.' In spite of starting second, Alex Marquez was always an outsider for the race win as he needed to serve a long-lap penalty for wiping out Honda's Joan Mir in an accident last time at the Czech MotoGP. He took it on lap three which saw him drop from fourth to 11th and he never recovered, finishing 10th. Reigning champion Jorge Martin's nightmare season continued when he crashed out in last place on turn 7 on lap 15. The Spaniard, who has said he will stay at Aprilia next season, sat out the first three races following two pre-season crashes. When he returned at Qatar in April, he crashed heavily again and missed the next seven races, only returning to the track in the last round in Brno. The next round of the championship takes place in Hungary next weekend.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Marc Marquez extends win streak to six with maiden Austrian MotoGP victory
Six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has 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, Marquez claimed the sprint-race double on Sunday for the sixth Grand Prix in a row. The Spaniard has been unbeaten since the British Grand Prix in May. Not since 2014 had Marquez claimed six consecutive Grand Prix wins as he moves closer to a seventh MotoGP crown with nine rounds remaining in the 2025 season. Gresini Racing rookie Fermin Aldeguer found late race pace to finish second while Aprilia's pole sitter Marco Bezzecchi, who kept Marquez at bay for as long as he could, finished third. Alex Marquez 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 Marquez into turn one. The two Ducatis went side by side on lap one when Marc Marquez briefly overtook his teammate, but Bagnaia did not relent and took the place back to stay in second. However, Marc Marquez 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,' the winner added. Alex Marquez had a poor start, and with a long-lap penalty to serve for causing a crash at the Czech Grand Prix, the younger Marquez sibling fell out of the top 10 when he rejoined the field. Marquez pressure Bezzecchi soaked up the pressure, but the Aprilia rider was unable to shake off the red Ducati hunting him down. Bagnaia was struggling with his bike, and he eventually faded, giving way to KTM's Pedro Acosta and Aldeguer as the two youngsters fought for third. Bagnaia had been undefeated in Austria for three years, but he was a shadow of the ringmaster who had dominated at the Red Bull Ring since 2022 as he was bumped down to eighth. Marquez finally attacked on lap 19 and squeezed past the Aprilia, but Bezzecchi put his head down and took first place back from the Spaniard, eager to deny him a first victory at the Red Bull Ring. But Marquez was on the ascendancy, and he finally broke Bezzecchi's resistance on the next lap, using the Aprilia's slipstream to dive into turn one and take the lead. As Bezzecchi made a futile attempt to reel Marquez in, Aldeguer made a play for second place, and the Gresini rookie made his move with five laps to go on turn one to slot in behind Marquez. Marquez responded to the challenge and kept Aldeguer at bay to take the chequered flag, but the rookie was over the moon with his best result in MotoGP. 'I'm super happy because at the end, Austria is not one of my favourite tracks like Le Mans,' he said. 'Making two podiums on bad tracks for me is incredible.' The 14th round of the MotoGP world championship will be held at Balaton Park in Hungary next weekend.
Qatar Tribune
4 days ago
- Qatar Tribune
Marc Marquez wins Austrian GP sprint as Bagnaia fails to finish
Agencies Spielberg (Austria) Ducati's Marc Marquez broke his Austrian Grand Prix jinx by charging from fourth on the grid to claim victory in Saturday's sprint race at the Red Bull Ring, with his brother and closest championship contender Alex finishing second. The Ducati rider executed a flawless performance to secure his first-ever race win in Austria, extending his remarkable sprint dominance with a 12th victory in 13 rounds this season. The victory moves Marc Marquez 123 points clear of Gresini Racing's Alex Marquez at the top of the championship and 180 above Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia, who was forced to retire due to problems with his bike. KTM's Pedro Acosta completed an all-Spanish podium by finishing third at his team's home circuit, while Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi, who had claimed pole position, could only manage fourth place in the sprint. 'I was super confident in the start and then I was able to be second but I saw immediately that it was quite difficult to be close to Alex,' said Marc Marquez, who is unbeaten since the British Grand Prix in May. 'I decided to wait a bit and when the tyres start to drop is when I feel better and I started to push.' He dedicated the victory to Pau Alsina , a 17-year-old JuniorGP Spanish rider who died due to injuries sustained in a training accident last month. 'Super special sprint victory because I want to say that it's for Pau Alsina. We miss him,' he added, while pointing to Alsina's number 26 on the back of his helmet. 'I don't know what will happen tomorrow but the race is for him.' Bezzecchi had claimed his first pole with Aprilia earlier on Saturday but was beaten to turn one by Alex and Marc as the Marquez brothers dropped the Italian down to third while a wheelspin for Bagnaia dropped him 11 places to 14th. Bezzecchi soon found himself going backwards as Acosta made a smooth overtake on the inside to move up to third while Alex set the early pace with the fastest lap. But Acosta was soon losing ground to the Marquez brothers who have been in another league this season, especially in the sprints. Bagnaia seemed to be struggling with his bike and the Ducati rider dropped to the back of the field before retiring from the race, his face like thunder inside the pit lane. His teammate Marc, however, pounced with five laps to go to take the lead from his brother on turn three and immediately began extending his advantage, going more than half a second clear two laps later. There was no catching Marc as he claimed his 20th victory in sprints and races this season but Alex was happy to finish second again after missing out on the podium in the last two rounds. 'I'm super happy, I had a quite clear target,' Alex said. 'When I saw Marc behind and I know that he was faster than me I did a mistake, so there's nothing more to do but at the end we were there. 'We have a great level again, so I'm really happy to come back like this after the summer break.'
