Marc Marquez clinched his fifth successive sprint victory with an impressive performance at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez on Saturday, strengthening his hold at the top of the MotoGP standings.
The six-time premier class world champion claimed 12 points aboard his factory Ducati to take his tally to 135, finishing 1.001 seconds ahead of his brother, Alex Marquez, who also remains second overall, 20 points adrift. Francesco Bagnaia, third in the championship standings, completed the podium to move onto 104 points.
French rider Fabio Quartararo had secured pole position with a Jerez lap record on his Yamaha earlier in qualifying, but his challenge ended prematurely after a fall on turn six during the second lap, gifting the lead to Marc Marquez, who never looked back.
“Today was tough with these extremely high temperatures,” said Marc Marquez after the race under the scorching Andalusian sun. “I struggled a bit towards the end, but I managed the situation.”
Marquez has now remained unbeaten in sprint races this season, a stark contrast to last year when he managed just one win. Having switched from Honda, he appears increasingly at ease aboard his Ducati.
At the halfway stage, Marc Marquez had opened a 1.4-second advantage over Alex Marquez, with all of the top six riders mounted on Ducatis. Maverick Viñales was the highest-placed non-Ducati rider, finishing seventh on his KTM.
Starting fourth on the grid, Alex Marquez surged past Bagnaia at the start and moved into second after Quartararo’s crash.
Despite his early retirement, Quartararo took positives from his short-lived race: “It was very good for me on a mental level. I was pushing to the limit, and when Marc came alongside, my bike moved a lot and I couldn’t stop it,” said the Frenchman. “Of course, it would have been better to finish, but overall we can be happy.”
Reigning world champion Jorge Martin did not compete, still recovering from multiple injuries suffered during a heavy crash at the Qatar Grand Prix. His hopes of retaining the title have all but evaporated.
