MotoGP Grand Prix Aragon – Marc Marquez moves to second in the championship after competing Aragon double

Marc Marquez completed his third double of the season, and his eighth Grand Prix victory at MotorLand Aragon, as he closed in on championship leader Jorge Martin at the top of the MotoGP championship standings after yet another imperious ride.

Marquez overcame an early charge from Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi and Martin in the early laps to eventually take the lead of the race. And, once he retook the lead, he was never headed as he held off a mid-race challenge from KTM's Pedro Acosta to take his third straight Grand Prix victory at the Spanish circuit. Acosta took second, while Bezzecchi finished third.

Marquez's victory followed up on his Grand Prix Aragon victories in 2024 and 2025 as he raced clear to win at the Spanish circuit for the third successive year, and moved himself to within 19 points of championship leader Martin, who could only manage a fifth-place finish.

Pole-sitter Bezzecchi got the best start as he led the field down towards Turn 1 but, just as we saw in the Sprint race on Saturday, Marquez was able to out-brake the Italian as he slipped through into the lead.

But, with Marquez's ride-height device still activated from the race start, his Ducati bogged down through Turns 2 and 3, allowing both Bezzecchi and his Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin to surge through and relegate Marquez into third.

Marquez regrouped, re-passed Martin, then, during the mid-point of the race, passed Bezzecchi after the pair went elbow-to-elbow at almost 200 miles per hour in a thrilling battle down the back straight.

Once he got in front, Marquez held off the hard-charging Acosta, who also swept past Bezzecci with the best pass of the race, as the Ducati man pulled a gap and secured the victory.

It all means that the championship race is now a three-horse race, with Martin holding a narrow advantage over Marquez in second and Bezzecchi in third, with only 24 points separating the trio as they head to Misano for Round 14 in two weeks' time.

The battle at the top of the MotoGP championship is closing up nicely, with the championship well and truly up for grabs in a three-horse race for the title.

Jorge Martin holds a 19-point lead at the top of the standings, but that lead is starting to shrink, thanks to the mid-season form of Marc Marquez, who is now sitting second in the standings following his double success at Aragon this weekend.
Marco Bezzecchi is still a major threat in this championship fight, too. He's only 24 pounds behind Martin, in third.

With 25 points available for a race win, and 12 more on offer if you can claim the Sprint, too, there's plenty of championship points available to fight for, with plenty of rounds still to go.

The season rolls on to San Marino, where the iconic Misano circuit looks set to play host to a spectacular 14th round of the championship as the battle continues.

Marc Marquez admitted that he forgot to deactivate his rear ride-height device after the start of the race as he was forced to fight his way past his rivals after initially taking the lead at Turn 1 of the race.

"As I said yesterday, the key point was the first corner," he explained.

"I did it again, but I did a huge mistake today, because I forget the rear device. And then, when I got from Turn 1 to Turn 2, the rear device was activated and loaded again. And then I was super slow on that fast Turn 2 [and] 3, and yeah, two riders overtook me.

"Then it was more difficult, but yeah, from that point, I just built the pace and [it] was a nice fight in those first laps. But then I was trying to control the race and in the remaining laps, attack, open the gap, and just manage."

KTM's Pedro Acosta paid tribute to his team for their work throughout the race weekend as he claimed a hard-earned second-place finish at Grand Prix Aragon.

Acosta pulled every second of pace out of his KTM machine as he fought his way through to second place with a stunning pass on Marco Bezzecchi, then battled with Marc Marquez through the middle portion of the Grand Prix before being forced to settle for second.

But, after arriving in parc fermé after the race, the Spanish ace was clearly delighted with his race result this weekend.

"I said yesterday that I was going to try. At the end, in front of the Spanish fans, it was a day to try, even if we make a mistake for this, I'm quite happy," he said.

"The team was working super, super hard. Like I said to them at Silverstone, it looks like we are improving during the days during the weekend for this.

"I'm super happy. It was a long way that we were not on the podium for this. Now it's time to enjoy, and let's see if we can improve something for Misano."

Marco Bezzecchi declared himself to be happy after his third-place finish at Aragon in a race where he admitted he didn't quite have enough in his race package to challenge Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta ahead of him.

"Yeah, I'm very happy, very satisfied because that was a tough but wonderful weekend," he said after his podium finish.

"Very happy to grab my first MotoGP podium here. It's a track that I always loved, but I don't know why I was never able to ride in the correct way.

"This weekend, we worked well. I grabbed the pole position. I knew my pace was not the best, but I fought as hard as I could to try to get on the podium yesterday, and today."

Bezzecchi and Marquez went side-by-side in the most thrilling moment of the race, as they battled for the lead at almost 200 miles per hour. Ultimately, Bezzecchi had to concede to Marquez, but he admitted he thoroughly enjoyed the battle.

"Yeah, [the battle] with Marc, it was cool," he said.

"I heard his bike on turn 15, so I tried to cross the line. But when we were close one to one another, the slipstream was pushing each other very much, and it was strange, but it was nice.

"Marc, with the experience that he has, and the speed that he has today, was unbeatable. So a shame that I lost the place immediately with Pedro [Acosta]. I think I probably I would have lost the place anyway, but I wanted to have a a bit more [of a] battle. But anyway, very very happy."

Marc Marquez celebrates with the Spanish fans after claiming the Grand Prix victory at Aragon.

2. Pedro Acosta - Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - +1.754

3. Marco Bezzecchi - Aprilia Racing - +3.629

4. Alex Marquez - BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP - +8.687

5. Jorge Martin - Aprilia Racing - +12.572

6. Fermin Aldeguer - BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP - +17.687

7. Fabio Di Giannantonio - Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team - +23.136

8. Enea Bastianini - Red Bull KTM Tech3 - +25.741

9. Diogo Moreira - Pro Honda LCR - +25.899

10. Brad Binder - Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - +26.441

11. Jack Miller - Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP - +27.206

12. Joan Mir - Honda HRC Castrol - +27.999

13. Alex Rins - Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team - +28.276

14. Luca Marini - Honda HRC Castrol - +29.794

15. Johann Zarco - Castrol Honda LCR - +30.003

16. Pol Espargaro - Red Bull KTM Tech3 - +35.874

17. Lorenzo Salvadori - SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team - +49.761

18. Fabio Quartararo - Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team - +51.657

Marc Marquez has win Grand Prix Aragon at MotorLand, and completed the double at the Spanish circuit to close the gap at the top of the MotoGP standings.

Ducati boss Davide Tardozzi is applauding in pit lane, with a mile-wide smile. After playing it cool and talking down Marquez's championship chances a few rounds ago, he knows they're right in contention now.

Pedro Acosta takes an excellent second for KTM, while Marco Bezzecchi takes third for Aprilia.

If the race finishes as things currently stand, the championship race will look like this...

1. Jorge Martin - 256

2. Marc Marquez - 237

3. Marco Bezzecchi - 232

That's right, Marquez will leap-frog Bezzecchi and move to within just 19 points of championship leader Martin.

Cue the Jaws music, Marquez is coming...

We've seen this movie before.

Marc Marquez has broken the resistance of Pedro Acosta and now has a healthy 1.8-second lead at the front of this Grand Prix.

Acosta is second, 1.3 seconds clear of Marco Bezzecchi in third, who has a 4.4-second buffer to Alex Marquez in fourth.

It's looking like our podium is set, unless there's some late-race drama...

It's been a nightmare of an afternoon for Francesco Bagnaia, and the Ducati man's day just went from bad to worse as he slid off, and out of the race.

While Marquez has pulled a gap on Acosta, Marco Bezzecchi has regrouped and is starting to close in on Acosta for second. The Aprilia man, who sits second in the standings, will want to ensure he concedes as few championship points to Marquez as possible, and he's a couple of strong laps away from potentially being able to challenge Acosta for second.

Has Marc Marquez been holding something in reserve? The Ducati man has started to turn up the pace, and has pulled a 0.9-second lead over Acosta with the fastest lap of the race.

Can Acosta answer, or will Marquez extend his gap and manage his way to victory?

Neil Hodgson is super impressed with the performance of Pedro Acosta here. The KTM man is all over the back of Marc Marquez, and he's doing it on a bike that, in general, is considered a poor relation when compared to the likes of Ducati and Aprilia.

"The KTM is one of the best bikes on the grid... said no one, ever," said Hodgy.

Pedro Acosta is sitting right on the rear wheel of Marquez's Ducati, and at the moment, he seems quite happy to just sit there and keep the pressure on by breathing down Marquez's neck.

Marquez is having to work very hard to stay ahead, while Acosta looks far easier on his KTM.

It looks like Acosta is keeping his powder dry before making his move against his future teammate later in this race.

Often, when Marc Marquez hits the front, he has the ability to disappear off into the distance, but Pedro Acosta is sticking to the back of the Ducati, and looking pretty comfortable in doing so.

The KTM man seems to have his bike perfectly set up for this MotorLand Aragon circuit, and he can definitely smell a race win here.

Marquez and Acosta have turned up the pace and caught Bezzecchi out front. Marquez dives up the inside of the Aprilia and the pair go side to side as they battle, elbow-to-elbow, down the back straight.

Eventually, Marquez wins the battle of the late-brakers at the end of the straight and takes the lead. And with Bezzecchi looking to get into the Ducati's slipstream, Acosta dives through for second on his KTM!

That was one of the best pieces of MotoGP action we've seen this year, and the Aragon crowd absolutely LOVED it.

Pedro Acosta isn't here to be happy with third. He's closing in on Marc Marquez in second, and looks noticeably quicker than the multi-time world champion in these early stages.

Marquez, meanwhile, is trying to stay in touch with Bezzecchi out front, who has pulled a 0.750sec gap.

Despite his good start, Jorge Martin is struggling in these early laps. He's dropped down to fifth, having just been mugged by Alex Marquez.

The championship leader is conceding a lot of points to his two main championship rivals here, and he'll have to fight his way back to limit the damage.

Marquez knows he can't sit around and let the Aprilias get comfortable out front. He immediately forces his way past Martin to take second, and is follower past the championship leader by Pedro Acosta.