Eight-time world champion Marc Marquez claimed a first MotoGP sprint win at the Aragon Grand Prix on Saturday, but the Spanish star insisted that his MotorLand feat is not quite the dawn of a second ‘Marquez era’.
First in every session, and with complete control from the first corner until the last of a hot 11-lap sprint at the MotorLand circuit as a prelude to round 12 of 20 in 2024 on Sunday afternoon, Marquez finally regained P1 status after 1042 days and since ending a career-long premier class association with Honda.
It was also the 31-year-old’s maiden trophy on the Ducati Desmosedici and the year-old GP23 model that aced last season’s championship.
Marquez has been formidable across the resurfaced MotorLand asphalt and a modern and sprawling circuit that first welcomed the series back in 2010.
The 2024 edition is the fifteenth visit by MotoGP to central eastern Spain and Marquez already has five victories at the site. It is also one of five current anticlockwise venues in the world championship and Marquez is especially virulent in left-hand turns.
On Saturday morning he scooped his 94th pole position and, crucially, proved he is the absolute master of low grip or mixed conditions; the overnight thunderstorms in the Aragon region had left a dirty film of dust on the surface making grip hard to judge.
His principal rivals – Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin – either suffered tyre degradation issues or crashed during qualifying and sprint sessions at MotorLand.
Marquez, who celebrated six titles in seven years in MotoGP, has been building up speed after his surprising defection to the Gresini team and non-works rider status in 2024 and although Aragon has provided both the rider, his fans and all followers of MotoGP, with a reminder of the scale of his ability and the rabid thirst for spoils, the Catalan was playing down talk of a peak resurgence.
“I think, unfortunately for me, it's only here in MotorLand,” he said when asked if his dominance on Friday and Saturday was evidence of a sluice breaking through the gates. “With the front [tyre] I feel super-good this weekend.
"I'm riding in a good way. I don't have big problems. Tomorrow, for me, the most important thing is to manage the rear [tyre]. The team is already working there to try to be even more constant. But tomorrow I believe it will be different and I need to push [for] more laps.”
“I feel the pressure and I feel tomorrow I have a big opportunity to finish my job in a good way, my good weekend in a perfect way.”
Marquez sets the standard through his sensitivity, his lean angle and his commitment. On Friday he towed around Gresini Ducati team-mate and younger brother Alex. His sibling then had a solid race to fourth in the sprint.
The six-time MotoGP champion has classified as runner-up four times in sprints in 2024 behind three different riders but the younger Alex could judge that Aragon was the ideal stage for an improvement.
“Here the grip is quite low so if the bikes are quite similar or they are same brand then it is quite equal and it is down to the style of the rider, and we know that with no grip or poor grip Marc is able to make the difference and we have seen that in the past with the Honda also,” Alex Marquez said.
“He is better than everyone here because he’s able to do a big gap. I ask him many times how he does it! But it’s very natural and it’s difficult for him to explain it deeply. He says he doesn’t do anything special…he just tries to flow.
He joked: “He won a race after 1042 days or something like this and I said: ‘keep calm, it’s only a sprint!
“Tomorrow is the race and the important day and he knows but for sure this sprint win will give him a lot of confidence. The 25 points are tomorrow.”
The 23-lap distance on Sunday will be a case of preservation of the Michelin rubber and riders such as Ducati’s Enea Bastianini – the person that Marquez will replace in the factory team next to Bagnaia in 2025 – could come more to the fore.
Bagnaia hinted that he was a victim of a rogue tyre issue in the sprint and the kind of irregularity that spelt disaster for Jorge Martin at the pivotal Qatar Grand Prix towards the end of 2023. The world champion is unlikely to be struck by the same predicament twice in the same weekend.
