Aragon MotoGP: Marquez closes on sixth title with win

The Honda rider, making his 200th grand prix start, nailed his launch off the line and was already a second clear of the field by the end of the first lap, with no one offering up even a hint of a challenge to his imperious pace.

Fabio Quartararo slotted in behind Marquez off the line on the Petronas Yamaha, with Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller jumping to third ahead of the works Yamaha of Maverick Vinales.

Miller made light work of Quartararo on the run into Turn 12 on the opening lap for second, with Marquez close to two seconds clear at the front by the third tour.

Quartararo soon came under threat from Vinales, who eventually found a way through after powering past into Turn 16 on lap five.

Once free of the SRT rider, Vinales was able to immediately put some daylight behind him and set about hunting down Miller.

The massive speed of the Ducati ensured Miller would remain a stubborn obstacle for Vinales for some time, but the Spaniard finally found a way through on lap eight, using the superior edge grip of the Yamaha to execute a daring move around the outside of Miller at Turn 4.

Works Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso would get through on Miller eight laps later, and began to chip away at the second gap Vinales held in second.

With five laps to go, Dovizioso had caught Vinales, and two laps later he capitalised on a slight mistake from his rival through the Turn 14/15 chicane to grab second.

Marquez got his lead up to over six seconds in the latter stages to cruise to his eighth win of the season and a 98-point lead over second-placed Dovizioso, which means the upcoming Thailand race will offer up Marquez’s first chance to secure a sixth MotoGP title.

After losing second to Dovizioso, Vinales dropped a further position as Miller carved past at Turn 1 on the final lap to finish third.

Quartararo was a distant fifth ahead of LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow, who passed Aleix Espargaro's Aprilia after a battle that raged for much of the race.

Valentino Rossi faded to eight on the second works Yamaha, with Alex Rins recovering to ninth from a long-lap penalty awarded to him for wiping out Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha) at Turn 12 on lap one.

Takaaki Nakagami (LCR) prevailed in a fierce fight with Andrea Iannone (Aprilia) for 10th ahead, Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci and Tech 3 KTM’s Miguel Oliveira.

Joan Mir (Suzuki) and Avintia Ducati’s Tito Rabat rounded out the points scorers.

Jorge Lorenzo was a factor for points early on, but the Honda rider faded to 20th in the end behind Aprilia wildcard Bradley Smith.

Mika Kallio’s first race in place of Johann Zarco ended with a 17th-place finish, with teammate Pol Espargaro a non-starter after fracturing his wrist in a crash on Saturday.

Race results:

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Laps	Gap
1	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	23
2	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	23	4.836
3	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	23	5.430
4	12	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	23	5.811
5	20	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	23	8.924
6	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	23	10.390
7	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	23	10.441
8	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	23	23.623
9	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	23	27.998
10	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	23	31.242
11	29	Andrea Iannone	Aprilia	23	32.624
12	9	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	23	33.043
13	88	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	23	33.063
14	36	Joan Mir	Suzuki	23	33.363
15	53	Tito Rabat	Ducati	23	36.358
16	63	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	23	41.295
17	82	Mika Kallio	KTM	23	42.983
18	17	Karel Abraham	Ducati	23	43.880
19	38	Bradley Smith	Aprilia	23	44.279
20	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Honda	23	46.087
21	55	Hafizh Syahrin	KTM	23	47.308
	21	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	0
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