Marc Márquez wins Aragon sprint race from second on the grid, cutting Jorge Martín's championship lead

Turn one decisive move

Marc Márquez secured victory in the Aragon Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday, taking the lead off the start at MotorLand Aragón. Starting from second on the grid, the nine-time world champion dove down the inside of pole-sitter Marco Bezzecchi at the first corner to claim first place. His brother Álex Márquez followed through before turn two, overtaking Bezzecchi from third on the grid to put both Cervera natives at the front of the field. Marc Márquez steadily built his advantage, opening a gap of seven-tenths of a second over Álex by lap four and crossing the line with a clear margin. The result marks Márquez's fifth sprint victory of the season and his 20th career sprint win, breaking a tie with Jorge Martín for the most Saturday race wins in MotoGP history.

I knew that Marco was on the soft tire, so the opportunity was in the first corner. A good start helps a lot, and then I had good pace; the idea for tomorrow will be to improve a little bit and stay as consistent as today.

Qualifying battle and lap records

Earlier in the day, Marco Bezzecchi secured pole position for Aprilia after setting a lap record of 1:44.962 during Q2, becoming the first rider to break the 1:45 barrier at the circuit. Marc Márquez had set an initial reference time of 1:45.136 before improving to 1:45.051 on his second attempt, finishing 0.089 seconds behind Bezzecchi. Álex Márquez completed the front row in third position, while Raúl Fernández qualified fourth, championship leader Jorge Martín qualified fifth, and Pedro Acosta took sixth after a fall during the session. Bezzecchi competed while managing persistent pain in his leg following an injury sustained at the Dutch Grand Prix in late June.

It was a fantastic day, because I did not see myself being so fast for qualifying and the sprint. On Friday I was not as comfortable as it seemed.

Championship standings and race pace

Jorge Martín finished the sprint race in fifth place on his Aprilia after contending with KTM rider Pedro Acosta, who took fourth. The outcome allowed Marc Márquez to gain seven points on Martín in the riders' championship, reducing the leader's advantage over the Ducati rider to 33 points with 358 points still available in the season. Bezzecchi held on to third place in the sprint despite fading on his soft rear tire, retaining second place in the overall standings, 29 points behind Martín's tally of 245 points. Fermín Aldeguer placed sixth for Ducati, while Raúl Fernández took eighth place to collect the final point-scoring position of the afternoon.

Support classes and grid penalties

In the lower classes, Alonso López secured pole position in Moto2 on a Kalex with a lap record of 1:49.405, marking his first pole in three years since the 2023 Assen round. He led an all-Spanish front row alongside Izan Guevara and Dani Holgado for Sunday's race. In Moto3, David Almansa took pole position on a KTM. Several premier-class riders faced difficulties earlier in the day, with former champions Francesco Bagnaia, Fabio Quartararo, and Joan Mir contesting Q1; Bagnaia progressed alongside Diogo Moreira, while Honda and Yamaha riders missed out on the top 14. Johann Zarco qualified ninth for LCR-Honda but carries a double long-lap penalty into Sunday following an incident at Montmeló.