LE MANS, France :Ducati’s Marc Marquez became the first MotoGP rider to win six straight sprints as the Spaniard maintained his perfect record in the shorter format at the French Grand Prix on Saturday to retake the championship lead from his brother Alex.
Alex’s Gresini Racing team mate and MotoGP rookie Fermin Aldeguer came third for his first sprint podium while polesitter Fabio Quartararo could only manage fourth place at his home Grand Prix.
Alex came into the weekend with a one-point lead over Marc but after a sixth successive second-place finish in sprints, he is now two points behind his elder brother, who won by just over half a second.
Quartararo had entertained the home crowd as he pushed hard at the start, but the Yamaha rider could not sustain that pace as he lost out to the dominant Ducati machines in an all-Spanish podium.
“Fabio, in the start, was super fast, he was pushing a lot and then I said, ‘Okay, I cannot follow that pace on the first two laps’,” Marc said.
“But then I saw that he started to drop his pace a bit and then I felt better and better. In the last laps I was riding well, maybe the last lap I relaxed a bit too much, but I’m feeling good.”
Frenchman Quartararo had taken pole when he smashed the lap record and he briefly lost the lead off the line before regaining it when Marc Marquez went wide on turn one amid loud cheers from the stands.
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia, third in the riders’ standings, lost a points-scoring opportunity when he crashed on lap two and is now 31 points behind his team mate.
Up front, Marc’s red Ducati was all over the rear tyre of Quartararo’s blue Yamaha and the pair swapped positions on lap six before the Spaniard took the lead and opened up a gap.
Within the space of two laps, Quartararo suddenly went from leading the sprint to falling to third when Alex lined up an overtake and shot past the Frenchman.
French fans experienced a roller-coaster of emotions as Quartararo battled Aldeguer for the final podium spot before the Gresini rider found a way through and held on for third place.
“I feel incredible! It’s a dream for me to be here with top riders… We have the speed but we need more experience,” Aldeguer said.
