As the Hungarian GP weekend got underway, there was a shared opinion in the paddock that Marc Márquez would be a real contender upon his comeback from injury. Those words turned out to be very true, as the reigning champion not only took pole, but went on to take a dominant Sprint win at Balaton Park.
Lights Out
It was a strong start for Márquez, who managed to get off the line to claim the holeshot. Pedro Acosta was close behind, whilst Marco Bezzecchi managed to get himself up to third. Fabio Di Giannantonio had a terrible start, dropping six places off the line. Acosta was making sure to stick to the back of Márquez, determined not to let the Ducati break away. Further back, Jorge Martín managed to pass the secnd Ducati of Pecco Bagnaia.
By the second lap, it was Márquez leading from Acosta, Bezzecchi, Fermín Aldeguer and Raúl Fernández. Aldeguer was piling on the pressure as he was now being held up by Bezzecchi. Meanwhile, Martín made a long lunge in a bid to try and pass Diogo Moreira. The rookie had managed to get up to sixth at the start, and was doing a solid job of defending against the former champion. Martín’s move was too bold on this occasion, and he ran off the track before relinquishing the position back to Moreira.
Márquez was flying up at the front, setting the fastest time on Lap 3. By Lap 4, he was 1.5 seconds ahead of Acosta, and perfectly safe from any threat from the KTM. As Aldeguer continued to get held up by Bezzecchi, he lost the front – he managed to stay on the bike, but dropped back behind Fernández. This provided Bezzecchi with some much needed breathing room.
Second Half Scraps
With 8 laps to go, it was a solid race so far for Jack Miller, who was the lead Yamaha in 12th. Further up the order, Di Giannantonio was now putting pressure on Bagnaia. Four laps later, and Fernández was catching the Aprilia of Bezzecchi, but had his own pressures in the form of Aldeguer, who was now right behind him. With two laps to go, Aldeguer rocketed up behind Fernández at a rate of knots. Luckily, he managed to avoid running into the back of the Trackhouse.
On the last lap, it was clear there was no way anyone could catch Márquez. Toprak Razgatlıoğlu made a neat move past Miller to take over as the lead Yamaha – the two factory riders, Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins, were struggling down in 17th and 21st respectively. Di Giannantonio made a move past Bagnaia, but ran wide and allowed Bagnaia to cut back underneath him to retain 9th.
As the chequered flag waved, it was Marc Márquez who claimed the win. He had been dominant and there was simply no stopping his form, despite only recently returning from injury. Pedro Acosta took a solid second, with Marco Bezzecchi holding on to the final podium spot.
Feature image courtesy of Ducati Media House