The Spanish Marc Márquez (Honda) won the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix with authority, with him regaining the leadership of the World Championship in the category, while Niccolo Antonelli (Honda) prevailed in Moto3 and Lorenzo Baldasarri (Kalex) in Moto2.
Márquez, a five-time world champion and current title holder, was accompanied on the podium by his compatriots Alex Rins (Suzuki) and Maverick Viñales (Yamaha), completing a Spanish treble.
The Honda rider dominated the race by taking the lead from the start, taking revenge for his fall in the Grand Prix of the Americas a fortnight ago that cost him the championship lead.
«I am very happy to have won in Jerez. After Austin I couldn’t afford another mistake and we made it, “said Márquez after the race.
“I wanted to be in the lead because it showed my opponents that, although I fell in Austin, I still have confidence,” he added.
Only Frenchman Fabio Quartararo and his Yamaha-SRT teammate Franco Morbidelli managed to maintain the pace set by Márquez during the first half of the race for ten laps, until Quartararo took over his teammate’s second place.
– Mechanical problem –
But, shortly after, his motorcycle stopped and he had to leave. “We had a problem with the speed selector,” he told Canal + television.
“This has cost us dearly, but we have shown that we can be there (…) and I am happy to be able to fight with the leading men,” he added.
The young Frenchman had surprised everyone on Saturday by taking the first pole position in his fourth MotoGP race, which he reached this year, becoming the youngest poleman in the history of the discipline, snatching the record from Marc Marquez.
Alex Rins, who had started in ninth position, starred in a great comeback to fourth place after a dozen laps before taking second, taking advantage of the abandonment of Quartararo and a drop in pace by Morbidelli.
The young Spanish’s Suzuki thus confirms the good performance shown fifteen days ago in the GP of the Americas, when he finished at the top of the podium.
Now Márquez leads the world championship with 70 points, one more than Rins (69) and three more than the Italian from Ducati Andrea Dovizioso, who continues with his bad feelings on the Jerez circuit where he has never been on the podium.
The seven-time world champion, Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) is in fourth place with 61 points after entering sixth this Sunday, after having started 13th.
– Italian double in Moto2 and Moto3 –
In Moto2 the Italian Lorenzo Baldassarri (Kalex) won, establishing himself at the head of the world championship in the category, after dominating the race from start to finish.
The podium of the intermediate category of motorcycling is completed by the Spanish Jorge Navarro (Speed Up), who entered second, and Augusto Fernández (Kalex), who was third
“The weekend had started badly with electronic problems and crashes, but we have persevered and this victory is for me but also for the team that has done an incredible job,” said the Italian rider after arrival.
Another Italian, Niccolo Antonelli (Honda) prevailed in the Moto3 class, ahead of his Japanese teammate Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda), who was second, and Italian Celestino Vietti (KTM).
In fourth position came the Spanish Arón Canet (KTM), who alone takes the head of the world championship classification, taking advantage of the abandonment this Sunday of his compatriot Jaume Masiá.
The next stop of the motorcycling world championship will be in Le Mans in fifteen days for the French Grand Prix. AFP