Returning to the podium with his toughest fight of the year at Marc Marquez keeps his top two run alive at Aragon with his fifth podium finish in his last five races on the track. Pol Espargaro saves points in 13th place.
Morning fog delayed Sunday’s warm-up in Aragon, but that would quickly burn itself out as the hottest day of the weekend set in for a gigantic crash, the hot conditions matching the action on the track.
Marc Marquez shot forward from the second row of the grid and made an immediate presence in the podium fight with Bagnaia who was just ahead. These two would stay together throughout the race, comparing each other’s lap times and eventually gaining a significant advantage over the battle for third place. Marquez spent much of the race behind the Ducati rider, studying and looking for weak spots that he could pass later in the race. As the final five laps began, the # 93 increased its pace and began to put pressure on Bagnaia before exploding into a full attack with two laps to go.
In the last three laps the lead changed a total of 14 times as Marquez and Bagnaia fought. In true Marquez fashion, the eight-time world champion did not give up until the last moment in the last lap. After an ambitious move into Turn 12, Marquez finally took a well-deserved second place and his second podium of the season. This is his fifth straight podium at the MotorLand Aragon Circuit and his second since returning from injury in 2021. Marquez now holds 79 points and is tenth overall in the MotoGP World Championship.
The increased temperatures on Sunday did little to help Pol Espargaro’s race as he had to search for his feeling from earlier on the weekend. A solid start from the line saw Espargaro and his RC213V maintain their position in the top ten while those around him desperately struggled for early wins. On lap four, Espargaro was behind Rins, chasing him for several laps as the duo chased the top ten. Espargaro briefly took control of their fight before eventually finishing 13th and scooping up three points for his weekend work. It disappointed # 44 after such a strong and positive start to the weekend, his racing pace from earlier promised a lot more than what he had achieved on Sunday.
Now the MotoGP paddock is going straight to Misano for the 14th round of the 2021 World Championship. Stefan Bradl will start in his second wildcard appearance of the season on a fifth Honda RC213V.