Ducati’s Marc Marquez maintained his perfect record in sprints this season with victory over the half-distance at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday after Yamaha’s surprise polesitter Fabio Quartararo crashed on lap two at the circuit in Jerez.
Marquez’s brother Alex of Gresini Racing finished second for a fifth straight sprint while Marc’s teammate Francesco Bagnaia was third, but it was Marc who earned the plaudits in front of a delighted home crowd who chanted his name.
With five straight sprint wins, Marc now has a 20-point lead over second-placed Alex in the MotoGP rider’s standings while Bagnaia is a further 11 points behind.
“Today was not easy, especially with this warm temperature, it changed the feeling a lot… I struggled a bit in the end, but I was controlling,” Marc said.
“But it’s amazing. I always say the same on Saturday… I’m super happy, but I just want to control my emotions because tomorrow is the most important day (the race). But in front of this crowd, you have this extra power.”
Quartararo had denied Marc a fifth straight pole position this season with a stunning lap in qualifying, but it was the Spaniard who shot off the line before the Yamaha rider reclaimed first place on turn one with an aggressive overtake.
Marc used Quartararo’s slipstream to overtake him on the next lap at turn six and the Frenchman’s dream Saturday suddenly turned into a nightmare when he lost control of his Yamaha and crashed, moving Alex up to second and Bagnaia to third.
Quartararo’s crash was a bit of an anti-climax as Ducati bikes dominated at the top while Marc pulled away to increase the gap on his younger brother and teammate Bagnaia.
In the end, there was no catching Marc as he took the chequered flag at the circuit which nearly ended his MotoGP career after a crash in 2020.
VR46 Racing’s Franco Morbidelli finished fourth while Alex’s teammate Fermin Aldeguer was fifth. VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio was sixth to give Ducati a clean sweep of the top six.
