Race report
MotoGP Spanish GP
Jerez MotoGP: Marquez wins, heartbreak for Quartararo
Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez dominated the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, becoming the first repeat winner of the 2019 campaign.
Valentin Khorounzhiy
Edited: May 5, 2019, 1:50 PM
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Marquez grabbed the lead off the line and swiftly escaped from the chasing pack, his job made easier when rookie Fabio Quartararo – who had succeeded him as MotoGP's youngest-ever poleman on Sunday – retired out of second place with a mechanical issue.
Having locked out the top two in qualifying, the Petronas Yamaha riders were immediately passed by Marquez off the line – and looked set to drop behind Andrea Dovizioso too, only for the Italian to be forced wide exiting Turn 1.
This left Marquez leading Franco Morbidelli and teammate Quartararo, and while the Honda rider towed the Petronas pair along over the opening few laps, he soon began to make a break.
All of a sudden, the Spaniard was a second and a half clear, with Morbidelli's pace dropping dramatically behind him but the Italian still managing to keep Quartararo at bay.
The Frenchman finally found a pay past on lap 11, overtaking Morbidelli as the latter ran wide into the recently-renamed Pedrosa corner.
Unlike Morbidelli, Quartararo could still just about keep pace with Marquez, which allowed the Frenchman to hold a clear second place, only for his Yamaha to get stuck in gear on lap 14, ruling the rookie out of podium contention.
By that point, Suzuki rider Alex Rins had charged through from ninth place, gaining three places right away before picking off Dovizioso and then Maverick Vinales to come up on Morbidelli.
Just as Quartararo's bike expired, Rins found a way past Morbidelli for what was now second place – but by then Marquez was already almost four seconds clear.
The status quo held between the pair for the rest of the race, and Marquez beat Rins to the finish line by 1.654s, having eased off dramatically towards the very end.
The win allowed Marquez to move into the lead of the championship, aided by Dovizioso finishing only fourth, the Ducati rider unable to find a way past Vinales and deny the Yamaha man his first podium of the season in the closing laps.
Danilo Petrucci took fifth place behind teammate Dovizioso, recording his best result yet as a Ducati works rider after three consecutive sixth-place finishes.
Valentino Rossi, who had started 13th, spent much of the race stuck behind Jack Miller, but made speedy progress once he'd cleared the Pramac Ducati rider and eventually claimed sixth.
Miller would later crash out from the race, colliding with the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro – who went on to finish 11th – as they scrapped for position at the hairpin-like Turn 13.
Morbidelli managed to arrest his slide down the order to finish seventh, ahead of LCR Honda pair Cal Crutchlow and Takaaki Nakagami.
Honda wildcard Stefan Bradl made up the top 10, while Marquez's regular teammate Jorge Lorenzo could do no better than 12th, having to battle for the spot with the leading KTM of Pol Espargaro.
Rookies Joan Mir (Suzuki) and Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Ducati) joined Miller in crashing out of the race, while Andrea Iannone (Aprilia) did not take the start after injuring himself on Saturday.
Race results:
Cla # Rider Bike Laps Time 1 93 Marc Marquez Honda 25 2 42
Alex Rins Suzuki 25 1.654 3 12
Maverick Viñales Yamaha 25 2.443 4 4
Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 25 2.804 5 9
Danilo Petrucci Ducati 25 4.748 6 46
Valentino Rossi Yamaha 25 7.547 7 21
Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 25 8.228 8 35
Cal Crutchlow Honda 25 10.052 9 30
Takaaki Nakagami Honda 25 10.274 10 6
Stefan Bradl Honda 25 13.402 11 41
Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 25 15.431 12 99
Jorge Lorenzo Honda 25 18.473 13 44
Pol Espargaro KTM 25 20.156 14 5
Johann Zarco KTM 25 26.706 15 53
Tito Rabat Ducati 25 28.513 16 17
Karel Abraham Ducati 25 36.858 17 38
Bradley Smith Aprilia 25 41.390 18 88
Miguel Oliveira KTM 25 41.570 19 55
Hafizh Syahrin KTM 25 50.568 43
Jack Miller Ducati 22 36
Joan Mir Suzuki 20 20
Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 13 63
Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 6 View full results
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