MotoGP: Marc Marquez fends off Bezzecchi to make Ducati history
MotoGP: Five years on from rock bottom, the #93 becomes the first Ducati rider to win five GPs in a row as Aprilia and KTM celebrate Czech GP podiums
Sometimes, you just have to sit back and admire greatness. Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) emerged victorious on Sunday at the Tissot Grand Prix of Czechia to become the first Ducati rider to win five Grands Prix on the spin, but he was made to work for it in the first half of the battle. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) put up a good fight to collect P2, 1.7s away from victory, as Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) held off a late charge from Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) to pick up his first Sunday rostrum of the season.
LIGHTS OUT: Bagnaia earns holeshot
Bagnaia punched off the line well and got the holeshot but like yesterday, Marc Marquez was through at Turn 3. Not for long though. On the cutback through Turn 4, Pecco led again and then Bezzecchi carved his way past the #93 at Turn 5.
That’s how it was over the line but Pecco was wide at the penultimate corner, costing him time, so that allowed Bezzecchi to make a move at Turn 1 on Lap 2. Marc Marquez, like he did on Lap 1, passed Pecco at Turn 3 and this time there was no way back for Pecco.
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PASSES AND DRAMA: Bez leads, Alex Marquez crashes
Meanwhile, Alex Marquez’s (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) disastrous weekend continued. The rider second in the championship was down at Turn 12 after an audacious move up the inside of Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) didn’t pay off. The luckless Mir was taken out, and the Honda rider, along with Alex Marquez, were out of the Grand Prix from P5 and P6, so that was zero points in Czechia for the #73. A hammer blow for the Gresini star’s title hopes, and he’ll now face a Long Lap penalty in Austria too.
Further up the order, it was Acosta’s turn to pass Pecco at Turn 3 on Lap 3, as Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and then Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) carved their way past Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). Next up behind Quartararo: returning reigning Champion Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing).
On Lap 5, Bastianini’s charge continued. The Italian was through on his former teammate Bagnaia, with the ‘Beast’ now 1.4s behind his KTM stablemate Acosta. But then, Bastianini was in the gravel. Turn 3 saw the #23 lose the front end and it was Grand Prix over; a shame after his best weekend in orange.
THE WINNING MOVE: Marquez pounces
Lap 8 saw a change for the lead. Marc Marquez, at Turn 3, pounced on Bezzecchi. And the #93 got his elbows out through Turn 4 to keep Bezzecchi behind him, so what did the championship leader have in his pocket? Acosta was right with the top two now, while Bagnaia sat 1.7s adrift of the podium fight.
A 1:54.184 played a 1:54.4 for Bezzecchi and a 1:54.5 for Acosta, seeing Marquez go 0.5s clear at the front at the start of Lap 10. A lap later, the gap was up to 0.8s, and then with a fastest lap of the Grand Prix, Marquez’s lead grew to 1.2s on Lap 12 of 21.
Bezzecchi was giving this a good go. Bezzecchi dipped into the 1:53s for the first time, a 1:53.999, but on the same lap, Lap 14, Marquez found a 1:53.787. And on the following lap, Marquez went even quicker. A 1:53.691, coupled with a 1:54.085 from Bezzecchi, saw the lead climb to 1.9s.
With Marquez giving no one a chance of fighting for the win, attention turned to the rostrum fight. Pecco was gathering some late race momentum and from just under two seconds away, with three laps left, the Italian was 0.5s behind Acosta. That was then 0.4s with two laps to go, as Bezzecchi continued on his way to P2, 0.9s ahead.
And on the last lap, Pecco was within attacking distance… just. Marquez was 1.6s clear of Bezzecchi and controlling things at the front, with the latter safe from being pounced on from behind. Could Bagnaia muster something up to grab P3? The answer – fortunately for KTM, unfortunately for Ducati – was no.
The answer was also no to could anyone beat Marquez in Brno? The #93 took the chequered flag 1.7s ahead of Bezzecchi to become the first Ducati rider ever to win five Grands Prix in a row. Simply put: chapeau.
Fair play to Bezzecchi as well, that’s another Sunday podium for the #72, as Acosta held off Pecco to clinch his first Sunday podium of the season. Ducati, Aprilia and KTM on the Brno rostrum.
POINTS SCORERS: Brno edition
Pecco’s P4 won’t be enough for the polesitter, but he’ll take the positives following his second half of the race charge. Fifth place went to Fernandez, who enjoyed his best weekend of the season, and that P5 is his equal best in MotoGP. Quartararo was less than a second behind the Trackhouse rider in P6, with the returning Martin coming home in a fabulous P7. That’s a phenomenal comeback effort from the #1 after a torrid few months of injuries, and a real boost for Aprilia, Martin, and MotoGP ahead of the second half of the season. How good was it seeing the #1 back?
Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) came out on top in a quality fight with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), while Maverick Viñales’ super-sub Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech3) capped off a superb weekend in Brno by taking away a P10 over the line. But then Aldeguer was given the equivalent of a Long Lap as a time penalty after an incident with Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP), putting the Gresini rider back down to P11. So Binder takes P8, Espargaro P9 and Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) completes the top ten.
Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) managed to stay head of Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) in that battle, with Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) completing the scorers. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) ended a tougher weekend outside the points and heads into summer break looking to bounce back.
And so… we’re 12 rounds done, and Marc Marquez is 120 points clear as the six-time MotoGP World Champion marches towards that coveted seventh title. Thank you Brno, it’s been a blast being back – what a venue, and what a crowd.
For more MotoGP info check out our dedicated MotoGP News page
Or visit the official MotoGP website www.motogp.com
©Words/Images are from an official press release posted courtesy of www.motogp.com
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