There’s been drama galore in every sprint race so far this season, and Jerez decided to bring its own spice to the mix.
It was clear that we were in for a spectacular sprint after the qualifying sessions confirmed that the front row would consist of Marc Márquez, Johann Zarco and Fabio Di Giannantonio. Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi would need to chase them down from the second row, and the ever-present threat of rain was more than ready to cause chaos.
Race Start
As the lights went out, it was a clean start for most of the grid. Marc Márquez retained first place as they rounded the first corner, with his brother sneaking up into third. Bezzecchi had a poor start, quickly getting swallowed up by those around him and quickly finding himself all the way down in 17th. Aprilia teammate Martín found himself in fourth behind Álex Márquez, but managed to get past the Gresini through the final corner. As Álex looked to get straight back on the attack into turn 1, disaster struck for Martín as he pulled off the track with a technical issue. The Aprilia’s front brake disc is glowing red, and it looks like there may be something stuck on. Alex was quick to look ahead and put the pressure on second-place man Zarco.
Within a few corners, the Spaniard is past the Frenchman and now only has Marc ahead of him. Martin manages to limp back to the pits, but retires from the race. As Lap 3 begins, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Johann Zarco are having their own battle and keep swapping positions. As the rain flags start to wave, Di Giannantonio seals the deal and Zarco falls even further back into fifth. The Márquez boys start to look like they are trying to delicately navigate the wet sections of track, and Álex is soon ahead of his brother and in the lead at the end of lap seven.
Let The Chaos Begin
On lap eight, the yellow flags were waving in Sector 2. Toprak Razgatlıoğlu dropped his bike in the middle of a tight move past Lorenzo Savadori. The crash took out Aprilia’s wildcard rider and ended Toprak’s race. As if this was the trigger pull, the rain began to fall much heavier than before, and there’s an audible cry from the grandstands as Marc Márquez is down and sliding off into the gravel. He quickly gets his Ducati upright, and manages to cross the track (and grass) and rides into the pitlane to swap for the wet weather bike. There’s a flurry of activity as Brad Binder, Francesco Bagnaia, Álex Rins and Raúl Fernández also come in to swap out their bikes.
Lap nine saw a frustrated Jack Miller in the gravel, and before spectators had a chance to breathe, Álex Márquez drops his Gresini and ends up in the gravel at the Aspar Corner. Di Giannantonio finally has the lead, but he signals to his team that he’s coming in. At this point, it’s too risky to stay out on slicks. Proving this point, Pedro Acosta crashes in sector 3 and is out of the race.
Final Push
The start of lap 10 sees the remaining slick tyre runners diving into the pits. It’s clear that the rain is just too heavy to continue on without wet weather tyres. In a huge gamble, Fermín Aldeguer stays out and takes over the lead of the race! The sudden rush of bike changes has really shaken up the order as well, with Brad Binder now in second, followed by Bagnaia in third. Bezzecchi is stuck in 13th and has a lot of work to do if he wants to extend his championship lead. Binder crashes in the first sector, manages to get going again and rejoins ahead of the two VR46 bikes. Di Giannantonio and Morbidelli quickly manage to pass Binder, with the South African now finding himself in fourth.
With the conditions getting trickier by the second, there’s a collective gasp as Bezzecchi crashes out. Aldeguer is taking a huge risk by staying out on slicks, and his pace is suffering, with both of the Ducati boys streaking past him with ease. It’s Francesco Bagnaia in the lead, and he can taste the possibility of a win, but he’s quickly denied by Márquez who makes a bold lunge past his teammate. There’s more yellow flags in Sector 3, as Joan Mir is the next rider to crash out. It’s the signal that Aldeguer needed – he drops down the order fast and finally enters the pits at the end of lap 10 to swap on to his wet weather bike.
As the riders begin lap 11, Jack Miller’s day goes from bad to worse. Having managed to get himself back to the pit lane following his crash, the Aussie is slapped with a Double Long Lap Penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Last Lap
As the final lap begins, Bagnaia backs off from Márquez – there’s a healthy six-second gap between himself and third-place man Morbidelli. There’s no point in risking his podium in the downpour – he just needs to stay upright. Back in fifth place, Binder is right on the tail of Di Giannantonio, with Fernández not far behind the KTM and ready to pounce if an opportunity presents itself. Binder manages to pass the VR46 and take fourth place – next up the road is Morbidelli, but he’s just slightly too far ahead for Binder to catch now.
Marc Márquez rounds the final corner and crosses the line to take the Sprint win. Bagnaia comes home second, making it a 1-2 for Ducati, whilst Morbidelli manages to hang on and take the final podium spot. Behind them, Binder, Di Giannantonio and Fernández cross the line in quick succession, with Quartararo, Zarco, Marini and Rins rounding out the top 10.
Feature image courtesy of Ducati Media House