MotoGP

Marquez dominates at Aragon to secure victory in his 200th Grand Prix

2 Mins read
Marquez wins Aragon Grand Prix
Marc Marquez won his eighth race of the season at Aragon (Credit: MotoGP.com)

Marc Marquez was in a class of his own yet again at Aragon as he celebrated his 200th Grand Prix by taking victory.

As predicted before the race, Marquez cleared off before the end of lap one. He pulled away and gained a comfortable lead of over four seconds and didn’t look back. The championship leader controlled the pace brilliantly throughout the race.

Marquez would eventually cross the line +4.836s ahead of Andrea Dovizioso. The Ducati rider was the surprise package of the day, given his poor form across the weekend. Despite qualifying 10th, the Italian was able to fight his way through the order. He used the speed of the Ducati to his advantage down the back straight, getting the better of Maverick Viñales with three laps remaining.

Jack Miller ensured that there were two Ducatis on the podium. The Australian forced his way by Viñales going into turn one on the final lap.

Viñales was forced to settle for fourth after a strong performance. The Yamaha man was clearly struggling for grip in the latter stages, and he couldn’t match the straight line speed of the Ducati.

Fabio Quartararo had a quiet race in fifth, with Cal Crutchlow fighting through to sixth. Aleix Espargaro continued his fine form at Aragon to secure seventh.

Valentino Rossi also had a quiet race and could only finish eighth on the second factory Yamaha. Alex Rins finished ninth after continuing his tough weekend. An incident with Franco Morbidelli led to Rins receiving the long lap penalty. Rins headed to the Petronas Yamaha garage after the race to apologise. Despite the disappointing result, Rins still moves up to third in the standings.

Takaaki Nakagami completed the top 10 ahead of Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci. Meanwhile, Jorge Lorenzo continued to struggle. Despite a good start, he fell down the order and finished 20th.

At the beginning of the race Marquez launched off the line perfectly. Behind him, Miller had moved up to third and then second before the end of the first lap.

Further down the order, Morbidelli hit the deck after being clipped by Rins at turn 12. Rins attempted to dive down the inside, but he could not slow the Suzuki down. Consequently, Rins was penalised and had to do the long lap punishment.

Dovizioso was up to seventh by the end of lap two and set his sights on Rossi. Over the next few laps, Dovizioso used the speed of the Ducati to overtake several riders on the back straight. Rossi, Espargaro and Quartararo would all fall victim to the Ducati. Dovizioso was now fourth.

Ahead of him, Viñales had broken away from the field following a fantastic move around the outside of Miller. He attempted to close down Marquez, but could not catch the number 93. Unfortunately for him, this strategy would cost him a podium later in the race.

Further down the order there was a fantastic battle going on for ninth. Rins and Petrucci swapped positions multiple times, with Iannone and Miguel Oliveira also battling hard behind them.

Back at the front, Dovizioso had closed down Miller. The Australian was beginning to struggle for grip and Dovizioso made his move at turn one.

Viñales was also struggling and Dovizioso made easy work of the Yamaha down the back straight. Miller was soon on the back of Viñales and, on the final lap, dove down the inside at turn one. Both riders were struggling for grip but, ultimately, Miller was able to escape down the straight.

After winning his eighth race of the season, Marquez has a 98-point lead over Dovizioso. Marquez will be crowned champion if he wins in Thailand.

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Josh is a Sports Journalism graduate and has been a member of the TCF team since 2015. Between 2015 and 2018, Josh focused primarily on British Superbikes and Road Racing events such as the Isle of Man TT. At the beginning of the 2019 season he became the MotoGP Reporter.
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