Jerez (Spain), April 26 (IANS) Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) achieved a dream as he rolled out a stunner by storming to back-to-back victories at his home GP in a dramatic 2026 Grand Prix of Spain that saw Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) crash out of second place on Lap 2 in Jerez in Spain.

Marco Bezzecchi’s (Aprilia Racing) record-breaking victory run is now over, but the Italian’s P2 is another fantastic result for the championship leader as compatriot Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) earned P3 to jump up to third in the standings.

Marc Marquez got away from pole perfectly and grabbed the holeshot with both arms as the field dived into Turn 1, with Bezzecchi getting a stormer – unlike in the Sprint – from the second row to jump to P2. And Alex Marquez (#73) got a corker too. The 2025 Spanish GP winner was P3, then P2 behind Marc Marquez after the Gresini Racing star shoved his way past the Championship leader at Turn 9.

Alex Marquez didn’t wait long to pounce on Marc Marquez either. Turn 6, the Dani Pedrosa Corner, saw the #73 shove his way past the reigning World Champion. Now, could Marc Marquez respond?

Huge drama unfolded for the #93 on Lap 2 as Marc Marquez crashed out at the rapid right-hand turn of 11. The front-end washed away, and there was no chance of saving that one, as the home-crowd hero suffered a very early DNF in Jerez for the second year running. Thankfully, the Spaniard was up on his feet and OK, but that’s another early dent to the Champion’s title charge.

Back on track, Alex Marquez was lapping 0.6s ahead of Bezzecchi as Di Giannantonio also passed Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) for P3 on Lap 5. At this stage of the Grand Prix, Diggia was a second behind compatriot Bezzecchi.

A small but costly mistake from Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) at the start of Lap 6 saw the Spaniard slip to P9 from P7 following contact with Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team), leaving the #37 one place ahead of Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and without some front-end aero. That was then one place behind Pecco, as the Italian made a move stick on the KTM rider at the final corner.

Up front, Alex Marquez was beginning to stretch his legs. At the start of Lap 10, his lead was 1.6s over Bezzecchi, who in turn had Di Giannantonio lingering 0.6s behind. Martin remained well within reach of the podium battle too; the 2024 MotoGP World Champion was a further 0.6s back in P4, with Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) a second back from the second Aprilia in P5.

At the start of Lap 12, misery was compounded in the factory Ducati box. Pecco encountered some form of problem with his Desmosedici, and the sight of the #63 pulling into the pitlane signalled a nightmare Sunday in Jerez for the top two in the Tissot Sprint.

CONTROLLING IT TO THE FLAG

While there was disappointment in the red corner of Ducati, there was pending delight in the blue corner. Alex Marquez’s lead was now just under two seconds at the end of Lap 15 of 25, with Di Giannantonio 0.9s away from second-place Bezzecchi.

With six laps left, Alex Marquez was controlling the gap back to Bezzecchi, and the same can be said for the title race leader in his attempts to keep Di Giannantonio at bay.

While the podium positions were looking settled, the battle for the top six wasn’t. And Zarco, with three laps to go, got a face full of Trackhouse – first from Fernandez, then from Ai Ogura. Two classy moves pulled on the impressive Frenchman.

The 10 seconds up the road from that particular fight, Alex Marquez had 4.4km left to arrive at the chequered flag as a Spanish GP winner for the second year in a row. A wave to the jubilant, packed hillsides through Turns 9 and 10 capped off a phenomenal Sunday for the recently turned 30-year-old, as Alex Marquez clinched a dream Jerez win again.

This time, it was Bezzecchi who finished P2 to Alex Marquez. The unbeaten Sunday run ends, but that’s another brilliant result for the Italian and Aprilia. A treasured 20 points means Bez’s lead in the championship extends to 11 over fourth-place Martin, and sandwiched between the Aprilia duo was the in-form Di Giannantonio, who bagged a second podium of the season. That moves the Italian up to P3 in the World Championship, with Martin 19 points clear in P2 after another great weekend.

The winner of that P5 battle we mentioned? Ogura. The Japanese rider shoved past his teammate at Turn 6 on the final lap to pick up 11 points, with Fernandez in P6 on home turf. Zarco’s strong weekend ended with a solid P7, as Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) acted as the lead KTM rider on Sunday with a P8. Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) crossed the line in P9 as his recovery continues, and a frustrated Acosta had to settle for P10. Not what the #37 had ordered.

Acosta’s teammate Brad Binder was one place and 0.3s behind in P11, with Sprint podium finisher Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol), Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), and Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) – after a double Long Lap penalty for the 2020 World Champion – closed out the points-paying positions.

–IANS

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