Marc Marquez took one step closer to clinching his sixth world title by taking victory at his home circuit, from Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.
Marquez started from fifth on the grid, but worked hard throughout the race to work his way up to the front. In no way was he handed the win, and once he hit the front he came under pressure from Jorge Lorenzo – who led a large portion of the race.
He really pushed the limit, having a couple of slips and missing a lot of apexes mid-way through the race. He sailed over the line to victory, from Pedrosa who pushed extremely hard to work his way through the pack
. Once Pedrosa had worked his way past Viñales he looked so quick and was certainly determined to eventually best Marquez for the win. Lorenzo led for a number of laps and looked as if he could be on for his first Ducati victory. Once Pedrosa passed him, he started to drop off but still finished three seconds ahead of Viñales for third, showing that his debut Ducati victory is coming.
It was a truly heroic ride from Valentino Rossi, who managed to slip into second place at the start and stay there for a number of laps. Eventually it seemed that fatigue got to him, but he still finished fifth which was truly remarkable considering his injury.
Andrea Dovizioso is still battling for the championship and headed into Aragon equal on points with Marquez. Dovizioso just couldn’t find the pace and has struggled all weekend, and his seventh place finish has seen Marquez move sixteen points clear at the top of the standings.
Notable performances also from Aleix Espargaro and Alvaro Bautista, who battled their way into the top ten after looking strong at MotorLand all weekend.
The MotoGP grid next rolls into Motegi, Japan which is surely a Ducati track.
MotoGP results:
- Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team – 42:06.816
- Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team +0.879
- Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Team +2.028
- Maverick Viñales, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +5.256
- Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +5.882
- Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +6.962
- Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team +7.455
- Alvaro Bautista, Pull&Bear Aspar Team +7.910
- Johann Zarco, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +13.002
- Pol Espargaro, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +14.075
- Mika Kallio, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +17.192
- Andrea Iannone, Team Suzuki Ecstar +20.632
- Jack Miller, EG 0,0 Marc VDS +23.886
- Scott Redding, OCTO Pramac Racing +25.523
- Tito Rabat, EG 0,0 Marc VDS +26.023
- Jonas Folger, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +30.302
- Alex Rins, Team Suzuki Ecstar +31.874
- Hector Barbera, Reale Avintia Racing Ducati +31.948
- Bradley Smith, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +36.296
- Danilo Petrucci, OCTO Pramac Racing +37.842
- Loris Baz, Reale Avintia Racing Ducati +47.559
- Sam Lowes, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +47.647
DNF
Cal Crutchlow, LCR Honda – 7 laps
Karel Abraham, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 13 laps
