MotoGP: Marc Marquez extends dominance with sprint race victory at Spanish GP

Jerez de la Frontera, April 26 (IANS) Marc Marquez continued his dream run in the 2025 MotoGP season, securing a fifth consecutive half-distance victory with a commanding performance at the Sprint Race in Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday.

Racing in front of a raucous home crowd at Jerez, the Ducati star shrugged off an early challenge from Yamaha’s surprise polesitter Fabio Quartararo to extend his lead in the championship standings.

The atmosphere was electric as Quartararo, who stunned the paddock with a blistering qualifying lap to deny Marquez a fifth straight pole, lined up alongside the Spaniard. But once the lights went out, it was Marquez who reacted first, surging ahead before Quartararo muscled back into the lead with a bold move at Turn 1.

However, Quartararo’s challenge was short-lived. Marquez quickly retaliated, using the Yamaha's slipstream to retake first place at Turn 6. Just moments later, the Frenchman's hopes unraveled spectacularly as he lost control and crashed out on lap two, allowing Alex Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia to move up into podium contention.

From there, it was the Marc Marquez show. Maintaining a relentless pace despite rising track temperatures, the eight-time world champion steadily built a gap to his brother Alex, who finished second for a fifth consecutive sprint race. Bagnaia held firm in third, but neither could touch Marc, who crossed the line with the crowd chanting his name in a moment of pure redemption at the very circuit that nearly ended his MotoGP career back in 2020.

The result sees Marquez stretch his championship lead to 20 points over his brother Alex, with Bagnaia a further 11 points adrift.

Behind the top three, VR46 Racing's Franco Morbidelli delivered a strong ride to finish fourth, ahead of Fermin Aldeguer in fifth. Fabio Di Giannantonio rounded out an all-Ducati top six, underlining the Italian manufacturer’s dominance in Jerez.

--IANS

hs/