Second crash of the season for Marc Marquez on lap three of a race in which he was the heavy favorite; victory goes to his brother Alex.
The race in Jerez seemed like a private affair between Marc Marquez and himself, but the win went to his brother Alex, who claimed his first-ever victory in MotoGP. The eight-time world champion suffered his second crash of the season on the third lap, losing control of his Ducati at Turn 8 while trying to close the gap to Bagnaia. He was forced into a comeback ride, eventually finishing in 12th place.
The crash left its mark on Ducati rider #93, who commented on the incident at the end of the race: “The only thing that makes me smile today is talking about Alex. He’s been chasing this dream for a long time. He can now always say he’s won a MotoGP race. And who knows, he’s leading the championship, so why shouldn’t he be able to fight for the title?”
The Spaniard then added, analyzing the race and the third-lap crash: “We have to understand the crashes. This is actually the year I’ve crashed the least—but always on Sundays. I need to understand why. I understood what happened in Austin, but this time I let the laps go by. I released the front brake and it locked up. I need to be self-critical, and if I want to fight for the championship, I can’t make these kinds of mistakes again.
After the crash it wasn’t easy, because I had to wait seven or eight laps for the fairing to wear down since it was touching the ground on left-hand corners. In the end, I got four points. Getting back up and trying to finish the race was the least I could do.”