Alex Marquez took his maiden MotoGP victory by winning his home Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, the 29-year-old reclaiming the lead of the world championship by one point after elder sibling Marc Marquez crashed on lap three at Jerez.
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The Gresini Ducati rider, who finished second in Thailand, Argentina and Austin this season, won on his 94th MotoGP start and re-took the series lead after Marc Marquez recovered to finish 12th after falling to 22nd when he crashed from third place at turn eight.
Alex Marquez beat pole-sitter Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) by 1.561secs, Quartararo’s first podium since the 2023 Indonesian Grand Prix, 30 races ago.
Ducati’s two-time world champion and reigning three-time Spanish GP winner Francesco Bagnaia was third, 2.217secs from victory, as Ducati equalled Honda’s 1997-98 record by winning a 22nd consecutive Grand Prix.
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“It’s the best birthday present, amazing,” Alex Marquez, who turned 29 on the Wednesday leading into Sunday’s Grand Prix, said.
“The first one here in Jerez is something amazing. I cannot ask for more, it was a race where I was really clever, the move where I did it.
“In the beginning it’s true that I attack a little bit too much, but later on with my pace, concentrating, trying to make a gap and not give any chance to the others … I was controlling the race perfectly.”
Quartararo, from his first pole since the 2022 Indonesian Grand Prix, held the lead from the start as Bagnaia and Marc Marquez fought ferociously over second place, the factory Ducati teammates coming to blows twice on the opening lap.
The-race day crowd of over 101,000 gasped when Marc Marquez, who won the sprint race on Saturday for his fifth successive sprint victory, crashed two laps later, while Alex Marquez muscled past Bagnaia for second at the final corner on lap four.
Alex Marquez took the lead from Quartararo at the first corner on lap 11 and immediately cleared away to lead by seven-tenths of a second, and increased his advantage to 1.5secs on lap 15 of 25 before cruising to victory.
Australia’s Jack Miller retired with a technical issue on lap 14 after the Yamaha rider stormed forwards in the early stages from 14th on the grid, the 30-year-old running as high as seventh place before crawling back to the pits with 11 laps remaining.
Round six of the 22-round MotoGP season will take place at Le Mans in France from May 9-11.
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