Alex Marquez Wins His Home Race

On the 26th of April it was time for the well beloved Spanish grandpix at the circuit of Jerez. This is also an important race for the Spanish drivers, because winning in front of your home crowd is a thing almost all drivers want to experience.

(Image credit to gpblog.com)

The riders arrived in Jerez, with high pressure on them, but the factory teams were hoping to keep control of the pace, it was Gresini Racing that stole the show this weekend.The Márquez brothers were looking strong the whole weekend, with Marc winning the sprint race, so Marc looked like the man to beat for the race, so when the grid was getting into their position all eyes where on him, besides winning the sprint he also got pole for his home race.

The top of the grid for this race looked like this:

Pole Position: Marc Márquez

Front Row: Johann Zarco, Fabio Di Giannantonio

Second Row: Marco Bezzecchi, Alex Márquez, Pedro Acosta

Race Start

When the flag was waved the race began on a high pace, but Marc managed to keep the lead into turn 1, while behind him Alex was making his way up in the standings, where he got into third place behind Bezzechi. He ended up shooting passed Bezzechi by the end of the first lap, which means he was right behind his brother Marc in second place

The early stages of the race got a dramatic shift in the 2nd lap. Alex Márquez was looking strong and he was racing with incredible precision, and was fighting his brother at turn 6 for the lead, but just five corners later Marc Márquez lost control of the front end and crashed at over 200km/h. This got Alex Márquez into the lead, while the reigning champion suffered from another early DNF.

(Image credit to motorsportmagazine.com)

The Final Sprint

After Marc crashed, Alex Márquez got into a consistent pace and kept control of it. Marco Bezzechi who was in second place tried to get the lead, but he couldn’t close the two second gap between him and Alex. Alex showed control and precision in his riding, never giving Bezzecchi a good chance to attack.

(Image credit to motorsportmagazine.com)

In the last few laps, Bezzechi managed to close the gap to Alex slightly, but Alex Márquez kept his pace and stayed calm under the pressure.  Alex Márquez crossed the finish line and secured his second consecutive Spanish Grand Prix win. He kept championship leader Marco Bezzechi behind him and ended up passing the finish line with a 1.9 second gap between him and Bezzechi. Fabio di Giannantonio finished the race third.

The teams will now turn their focus to the next race of the season, which is taking place in France at the Le Mans Bugatti grand prix race circuit. They will try to improve their setup to get their riders as high up as possible. The race at Le Mans will take place from 8 till 10 may.

Article written by Zoë Wokke