Marc Márquez responds to Marco Bezzecchi’s challenge at the Aragon GP

It had been a long time since anyone addressed Marc Márquez informally in his favorite Motorland stronghold. The seven-time MotoGP world champion, however, ended up imposing his law this Saturday in the sprint of the Aragon GP, responding with a thorough victory to the challenge launched by Marco Bezzecchi in qualifying. In the thrilling duel between Aprilia and Ducati, number 93 went all out in the short race and only needed to push through the first braking zone of the race to overcome the Italian poleman, take the lead, and forget about the rearview mirrors. Behind, Alex Márquez also took advantage of the battle at turn one to surpass the Noale factory’s star from third on the grid and achieve another family double on a circuit very close to his hometown of Cervera, which they consider a second home.

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Saturday’s sprint was quite tight, but not as much as the explosive battle for the top position on the grid. That was when Bezzecchi once again showed he has the weapons and guts to challenge the reigning champion, even in his favorite Motorland stronghold. The Italian had already closed Friday’s practice with the new circuit record, and this Saturday he smashed it with a pole position of 1:44.962, four seconds faster than when MotoGP started racing here in 2010.

“It has been a fantastic day because I didn’t see myself that fast for qualifying and the sprint. On Friday I wasn’t as comfortable as it seemed,” said the Italian. “I knew the race would be decided at the first corner, and Sunday will be something similar. A good start helps a lot, and then I felt I had a good pace, but the group was also close, especially Alex,” said the day’s winner, very restrained in his celebrations.

The reality is that the elder Márquez had not been beaten in any significant session during an Aragon weekend since he got on the Ducati in 2024, and that highlights the merit of a Bezzecchi who is also racing injured, still recovering from clavicle and knee injuries sustained in his terrible crash at the Dutch GP at the end of June. Despite the fluid swelling his leg as the track activity progresses — it swells and he can barely bend it — the Aprilia star seems to have regained the mental strength that made him the rival to beat in the early part of the championship.

Bezzecchi now returns to second place in the standings, 29 points behind leader Jorge Martín, who finished fifth on the day after an intense duel with a deserving Pedro Acosta, the only KTM rider capable of making the Austrian prototype shine. The defending champion, meanwhile, is third, 33 points behind. Japanese Ai Ogura, who suffered a fracture in his left hand while training this summer and had to be operated on this very week at the Barcelona Grand Prix, is losing ground in the standings and is 42 points behind the leader, expecting to lose another good chunk this Sunday while he continues his recovery and watches the long race from the television.

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