MotoGP Aragon: Marquez beats Dovizioso after race-long tussle – MotoGP

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Marc Marquez consolidated his position at the head of the MotoGP standings after getting the better of main title rival Andrea Dovizioso to win a thrilling Aragon race.

Honda rider Marquez passed Dovizioso with three laps remaining at one of his strongest venues on the calendar to claim a victory that puts him within touching distance of his fifth MotoGP title.

Andrea Iannone threatened to make it a three-way fight for honours at one stage but settled for third, marking the Suzuki rider’s first top-three finish since May’s Jerez race.

One likely victory contender dropped out at the very start, as poleman Jorge Lorenzo drifted wide at the first corner and suffered a major high-side crash, one that resulted in the Ducati rider sustaining a dislocated toe.

That left second-place starter Dovizioso leading Marquez and the two Suzukis of Alex Rins and Iannone, who spent the opening part of the race squabbling over third.

The order out front remained more or less unchanged as a large train of riders formed, but at around half-distance Dovizioso and Marquez started to edge away from their pursuers.

Marquez made a move on lap 14 of 23 to retake the lead into Turn 14, but Dovizioso stuck with the reigning champion and grabbed the advantage back two laps later.

Their battle allowed the two Suzukis, now with Iannone leading the charge, back into the frame, and on lap 19 the Italian rider came very close to taking the lead as a Marquez attack on Dovizioso went awry.

Marquez ran slightly wide at Turn 14, and found himself sandwiched between Dovizioso and Iannone heading through Turn 15 heading onto the long back straight in one of the race’s more memorable moments.

But Marquez soon took back second and, after a failed attempt at passing Dovizioso on lap 20, he made the move stick heading into the first corner on the next tour – and duly extended a small gap to win by six tenths.

Iannone finished ahead of Rins to claim Suzuki’s fifth podium of the season. That also means the brand will lose its concessions for 2019.

Dani Pedrosa had a largely lonely run to fifth on the second works Honda, ahead of surprise package Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), who made a storming start from 13th on the grid and stayed in sixth for the entire distance thereafter.

Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati) was the leading independent ride in seventh, the position LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow occupied in the early laps before crashing at Turn 1.

Valentino Rossi made a late pass on Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller to claim eighth on the best of the Yamahas, making up nine places from his lowly grid position, while team-mate Maverick Vinales completed the top 10.

Sole KTM runner Bradley Smith threatened for a top 10 finish at one stage before slumping to 13th, behind satellite Honda runners Franco Morbidelli and Takaaki Nakagami, while Johann Zarco (Tech3 Yamaha) and Karel Abraham (Nieto Ducati) completed the scorers.

Jordi Torres finished 20th on his MotoGP debut for Avintia Ducati, but ended up just half a second down on team-mate Xavier Simeon at the flag.

Alvaro Bautista (Nieto Ducati) was the only other crasher besides Lorenzo and Crutchlow.

Result – 23 laps

Pos Rider Team Bike Gap
1 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 41m55.949s
2 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 0.648s
3 Andrea Iannone Suzuki Suzuki 1.259s
4 Alex Rins Suzuki Suzuki 2.638s
5 Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda 5.274s
6 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia Aprilia 9.396s
7 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Ducati Ducati 14.285s
8 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 15.199s
9 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati Ducati 16.375s
10 Maverick Vinales Yamaha Yamaha 22.457s
11 Franco Morbidelli MVDS Honda Honda 27.025s
12 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda Honda 27.957s
13 Bradley Smith KTM KTM 28.821s
14 Johann Zarco Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 32.345s
15 Karel Abraham Aspar Ducati Ducati 37.639s
16 Scott Redding Aprilia Aprilia 39.585s
17 Thomas Luthi MVDS Honda Honda 40.763s
18 Hafizh Syahrin Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 56.296s
19 Xavier Simeon Avintia Ducati Ducati 58.981s
20 Jordi Torres Avintia Ducati Ducati 59.513s
Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Honda Crash
Alvaro Bautista Aspar Ducati Ducati Crash
Pol Espargaro KTM KTM Withdrawn
Jorge Lorenzo Ducati Ducati Crash

Riders’ standings

Pos Rider Points
1 Marc Marquez 246
2 Andrea Dovizioso 174
3 Valentino Rossi 159
4 Jorge Lorenzo 130
5 Maverick Vinales 130
6 Cal Crutchlow 119
7 Danilo Petrucci 119
8 Johann Zarco 112
9 Andrea Iannone 108
10 Alex Rins 92
11 Dani Pedrosa 87
12 Jack Miller 68
13 Alvaro Bautista 64
14 Tito Rabat 35
15 Pol Espargaro 32
16 Franco Morbidelli 31
17 Aleix Espargaro 29
18 Hafizh Syahrin 24
19 Bradley Smith 18
20 Takaaki Nakagami 18
21 Scott Redding 12
22 Mika Kallio 6
23 Karel Abraham 5
24 Michele Pirro 1
25 Thomas Luthi 0
26 Stefan Bradl 0
27 Xavier Simeon 0
28 Sylvain Guintoli 0
29 Christophe Ponsson 0
29 Jordi Torres 0



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