MotoGP: Marc Marquez beats Jorge Lorenzo for Aragon win

Marc Marquez moved closer to winning the championship in his rookie season by clinching the Aragon Grand Prix.

The Spaniard, 20, started on pole but soon lost the lead to compatriot and title rival Jorge Lorenzo.

But Marquez again showed his pace to reclaim the front – leaving Lorenzo to settle for second – and stretch his championship lead to 39 points.

Six-time champion Valentino Rossi was third and Briton Cal Crutchlow sixth, but Spaniard Dani Pedrosa crashed out.

A huge high-side shortly after he had defended his position from team-mate Marquez brought an end to Pedrosa’s race, and dealt a significant blow to his title hopes.

Marquez is on 278 championship points to Lorenzo’s 239, while Pedrosa is third but now 59 points off the top of the standings with five races left.

Alvaro Bautista finished fourth after being edged out by Rossi late on while Stefan Bradl took fifth.

Lorenzo went into Sunday’s race knowing wins were needed to maintain a title challenge in the remaining grands prix.

He started well, stealing first place from Marquez before opening up a bike-length gap from the rest of the pack – and it looked as if the tussle between Marquez and Pedrosa behind him could work in his favour.

A brave, sweeping manoeuvre saw Pedrosa pass his team-mate into second early on and that appeared to set things up for a thrilling battle on the circuit and in the title race.

However, with 18 laps to go, Pedrosa high-sided his bike when coming out of a corner, sending him tumbling across the track.

With Pedrosa out of contention, Marquez could focus on Lorenzo and he chipped away at his advantage before moving back in front with 10 laps to go – and he stayed there.

That left the battle for third as the most intriguing, with Bradl and Rossi exchanging places before the latter eventually got the better of the German to claim his fifth podium of the season.

In the

Moto2


race, Nicolas Terol led a Spanish one-two-three for his second win of the season.

Esteve Rabat finished second with Pol Espargaro third while championship leader Scott Redding finished fourth.

It was enough for the Briton to maintain his lead but Espargaro cut his advantage to 20 points.

Finally, Spain’s Alex Rins won the

Moto3


race ahead of compatriots Maverick Vinales and Alex Marquez.

Aragon Grand Prix result:

1. Marc Marquez (Spa) Repsol Honda 42:03.459

2. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha Factory Racing 42:04.815

3. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha Factory Racing 42:16.386

4. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Honda Gresini 42:17.246

5. Stefan Bradl (Ger) LCR Honda MotoGP 42:17.432

6. Cal Crutchlow (GB) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42:18.121

7. Bradley Smith (GB) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42:34.679

8. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati Team 42:44.130

9. Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati Team 42:56.872

10. Andrea Iannone (Ita) Pramac Racing Team 42:58.526

11. Aleix Espargaro (Spa) Power Electronics Aspar 43:01.460

12. Yonny Hernandez (Colombia) Aprilia 43:08.972

13. Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia 43:10.048

14. Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) FTR 43:12.133

15. Claudio Corti (Italy) FTR 43:12.589

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