Untouchable Marquez reels in victory at 200th Grand Prix

Roberto Magni By Foto ReD Photographic Agency - Marc Marquez was unbeatable in the home circuit.
Marc Marquez completed a perfect home weekend with a faultless 23-lap race where the World Championship leader delivered on his early weekend domination.

With a perfect start, Marc Marquez shot forward and immediately began to open an advantage of half a second after just a few corners, growing to a full second by the end of the first lap. Lapping on average half a second faster than the riders behind him for most of the race saw Marquez quickly build an insurmountable lead, 5.5 seconds clear by mid-race distance. Viñales managed to gain a few tenths during the middle of the race, but Marquez quickly responded to stabilise the gap. Ultimately unchallenged, Marquez took his 78th career victory from 200 Grand Prix starts by 4.8 seconds in front of his adoring home fans. He now leaves Aragon with a clean 300 World Championship points, 98-points in front of second placed Andrea Dovizioso. The weekend“™s results leave Honda 65 points clear of second placed Ducati in the Constructor Championship and as a result of Marquez“™s victory, the Repsol Honda Team move to within 24 points of the Ducati Team in the Team Championship.

Andrea Dovizioso scored a podium finish at the Gran Premio Michelin de Aragón after a spectacular comeback through the field, following a row 4 start, that helped him to catch, at the mid point of the race, Miller and Viñales who were fighting for second position. Andrea then passed the Pramac rider and set off after the Spaniard, whom he overtook on lap 21 to finish the race in a superb runner-up slot ahead of Miller. In the Riders“™ standings Andrea Dovizioso remains in second place, 98 points behind leader Marquez. Ducati remains in second place in the Constructors“™ classification and the Ducati Team first in the special Teams“™ ranking.

What a fabulous race. Jack Miller takes the third podium of the 2019 season, the most beautiful, conquered with pride, after fighting with Quartararo, Vinales and Dovizioso since the first laps. Jack got off to a great start and was for seven laps in second position before the attack of Vinales and Dovi. The Australian rider did not lose his concentration and remained with the group on the podium until the end. In the last lap Jack makes a masterpiece and overcomes Maverick for a podium finish celebrated by the whole team and that allows Jack to remain in the race for the title of independent rider, 6 points behind Quartararo.

Marc Marquez 1st “I was convinced about my strategy and what I had to do. I had a good feeling from when I left the box, so I knew I could push in the beginning and open a gap of four or five seconds and just keep it there, not pushing too much. I saw at one stage of the race that Viñales closed in a little, so I pushed a little more for two or three laps and I stabilised the advantage. It looked easy but it wasn“™t, we have been working hard all weekend to find the limit. It was amazing to win here in front of our home fans so I have to say thank you to them all!“

Andrea Dovizioso 2nd “It was very important to get back onto the podium after the races at Silverstone and Misano, and so today I“™m very happy, especially because of the way in which we were able to get this second place. I started tenth from the fourth row because of a mistake I made in qualifying yesterday, but I knew I had a good pace and on the grid we made the right choice of tyres, going for the soft rear. In the race I was constant right until the very end, I saved my tyres and managed to gain place after place until I could pass Jack and Maverick to finish the GP in second place“.

Jack Miller 3 nd I am very happy to have achieved this wonderful third place in MotoGP. It was a great race. I tried to stay close to Marquez in the early laps, then I had fun fighting with Quartararo, Dovizioso and Vinales. This is an important result for the team and for Ducati and I thank them for the extraordinary work they“™ve done not only this weekend but since the beginning of the season.

GP of Aragon - Race Classification:

1. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 41'57.221
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team +4.836
3. Jack MILLER Pramac Racing +5.430
4. Maverick VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +5.811
5. Fabio QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT +8.924
6. Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL +10.390
7. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +10.441
8. Valentino ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +23.623
9. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +27.998
10. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +31.242
11. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +32.624
12. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati Team +33.043

13. Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +33.063
14. Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +33.363
15. Tito RABAT Reale Avintia Racing +36.358
16. Francesco BAGNAIA Pramac Racing +41.295
17. Mika KALLIO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +42.983
18. Karel ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing +43.880
19. Bradley SMITH Aprilia Racing Team +44.279
20. Jorge LORENZO Repsol Honda Team +46.087
21. Hafizh SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +47.308
Not Finished 1st Lap
21 Franco MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT

MotoGP World Championship Standings:

1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda 300
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 202
3. Alex RINS Suzuki 156
4. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 155
5. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 147
6. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 137
7. Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 123
8. Jack MILLER Ducati 117
9. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 98
10. Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 80
11. Pol ESPARGARO KTM 77
12. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 68
13. Joan MIR Suzuki 49

14. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 46
15. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia 32
16. Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 29
17. Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 29
18. Johann ZARCO KTM 27
19. Jorge LORENZO Honda 23
20. Tito RABAT Ducati 18
21. Stefan BRADL Honda 16
22. Michele PIRRO Ducati 9
23. Sylvain GUINTOLI Suzuki 7
24. Hafizh SYAHRIN KTM 7
25. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati 5
26. Bradley SMITH Aprilia
27. Mika KALLIO KTM