Dominant triumph of Marc Marquez this past Sunday at 2019 Spanish MotoGP, 4th round of the calendar, celebrated at the Angel Nieto Circuit in Jerez de la Frontera (Cadiz). A sensational Alex Rins and a reborn Maverick Viñales completed the all-Spanish podium on a memorable day for national pilots and fans.
The second win of the year after Argentina has been enough for the Spanish wizard to take back the championship lead after his fall in the United States’ race.
Rins follows him in the standings at just one point behind and a mere three points down stands the Italian Dovizioso, who came fourth at the 2019 Spanish MotoGP. Valentino Rossi, who was sixth this weekend is nine points behind the leader in the general classification.
The Spaniard has asserted his dominance in this the 46th MotoGP victory of his career and the 72nd across all categories. His confidence remains unscathed as he raced solo to the finish line despite his fall in Austin.
A loud and clear message that he wanted to send to his closest pursuers as he crossed the finish line with a 1,654 and a 2,443-second advantage respectively… slowing down in the last few metres to savour the victory before his fans.
Equally remarkable were the performances of his two closest rivals: Rins and Viñales. This is the second consecutive podium for Rins after winning in Texas.
Viñales for his part surprised himself with such a good result. The #12 from Yamaha didn’t set foot in the podium since his victory in Australia in 2018. This is also his first podium in Jerez since he won there in Moto3 in 2013.
For fact lovers here is another number; this would be the 19th all-Spanish podium in the history of MotoGP.
Marquez and ‘Dovi’ are off to a great start
Despite starting from the front row, Morbidelli and Quartararo were taken by surprise by Marquez and Dovizioso. The French poleman and his Italian teammate, however, managed to overtake the Ducati #4 on the first bend.
Viñales, after an incredible start, got into the fourth position before the end of the first lap, overtaking the leader of the standings in the process. Rins at the same time was getting very close to Dovi with the knife between his teeth.
Marquez was observing the battles behind him as he raced at three-tenths over Morbidelli and a little bit further from Quartararo. As much as he tried, however, he could not get rid of the Yamaha satellites.
Slightly behind the top of the pack led by Honda’s #93, Rins was fighting to keep up the pace. On the sixth lap, Rins devoured Dovi and went straight for his next victim: Viñales.
Only five laps after that he would climb up another position over Viñales and set his sight on the following challenge, the Petronas duo. He passed Morbidelli on the 12th lap and Quartararo on the 13th.
Marquez breaks away
Meanwhile, Marquez was racing his own race. He had started his escape and was concentrated on his solo journey away for any troublesome companions. From the moment he said goodbye, nobody could keep up with him.
His rhythm was all about a personal battle with the ghosts of Austin. This time, however, he didn’t lose concentration, quite the opposite, he didn’t show the slightest hint of hesitation.
In case there was any doubt about it, he started sealing fast laps as he went along. By lap 16 he had accrued a gap of 3.8 seconds. It was clear to everyone that Marquez wanted to put a great performance before his home turf.
Meanwhile, the mother of all battles had broken behind. Quartararo took advantage of Morbidelli’s troubles to overtake him. Rins and Viñales were smelling the blood.
They both wanted the magical all-Spanish podium at home. Viñales first assaulted Morbidelli for the third place and then it was the turn for Rins. The first three places were then set with Marquez at the top to the exhilaration of the public in the stadium.
Dovi did not give up so easily and attempted to hunt Viñales in the final lap. But Maverick defended his position with all his might. Valentino Rossi, who started 13th, crossed the finish line in sixth position after Petrucci. Morbidelli had to settle for seventh, a disappointing result after having classified in second position.
As for the rest of Spanish pilots, Aleix Espargaro finished in 11th place, Jorge Lorenzo got a disappointing 12th position and Pol Espargaro was 13th, two places ahead of Tito Rabat. Unfortunately, Joan Mir fell over at five laps from the finish line when he was racing in the top 10.
Images: Repsol, MotoGP, Yamaha & Suzuki.
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