Marquez claims Aragon GP win was “mandatory” for MotoGP title charge

Marc Marquez claimed his victory at Sunday’s Aragon Grand Prix was “mandatory” for his MotoGP title hopes as it ended his winless streak of three grands prix.

The six-time world champion dominated from pole to extend his championship lead to 32 points over brother Alex Marquez in second, while Marc’s factory Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia is 93 points off top in third. 

Aragon was his first grand prix win since Qatar in April, having finished 12th in Jerez and on the podium at Le Mans and Silverstone in the following rounds.

It was his fourth grand prix victory of the season, though he has won every sprint race bar the one in Silverstone to establish such a healthy advantage after eight weekends. 

“This victory was mandatory in our garage, and in myself,” said the Spaniard, whose last title came in 2019.

“Okay, I’m leading, I have an advantage against Alex, I have an advantage against Pecco, but in two good circuits for me, that were Austin and Jerez, I lost 50 points.

“If we want to fight for the championship, we cannot repeat mistakes. Especially Austin [where he crashed from the lead. Austin was a big mistake, and today was very focused.”

Not once did Marc’s eventual victory at the Aragon GP look in doubt, as he finished 1.1s ahead of runner-up Alex with Bagnaia completing the podium. 

“It was a perfect weekend,” Marc added. “We led all the sessions, and I felt comfortable in every condition.

“Today the feeling in the race was fantastic. I felt super good from the beginning, and then especially after five laps, I started to feel even better and better.”

Alex was still buoyant after the race on Sunday despite Marc extending his championship lead, as the siblings celebrated with the fans at a track which is local to their home town of Cervera. 

It has been a real breakout season for the younger Marquez, who recently claimed his maiden grand prix win at Jerez and is set to improve upon his previous championship best of eighth from 2024. 

“Really happy,” said the Gresini Ducati rider. “We minimised the damage competing with Marc for the championship in a really strong weekend for him.

“In Jerez, for me it was a super special Sunday, but I was missing Marc on the podium to celebrate together.

“So today, we were able to celebrate in front of all the family, all the fans there in Turn 13, and it was super nice.”

He then joked: “Happy for him because he took the victory, but he is our rival… so I don’t know.”