FILE PHOTO: MotoGP - Aragon Grand Prix - Ciudad del Motor de Aragon, Alcaniz, Spain - August 31, 2024 Gresini Racing MotoGP's Marc Marquez celebrates on the podium after winning the sprint REUTERS/Pablo Morano/File Photo
ALCANIZ, Spain (Reuters) -Six-times MotoGP champion Marc Marquez stormed to victory at the Aragon Grand Prix in front of his home crowd on Sunday as the polesitter and sprint winner completed a perfect weekend, while Francesco Bagnaia crashed out after a clash with Alex Marquez.
The 31-year-old Marquez, who claimed his eighth Aragon pole on Saturday, took the chequered flag almost five seconds ahead of fellow Spaniard and world championship leader Jorge Martin for his first win since the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Red Bull GasGas Tech3's 20-year-old rookie Pedro Acosta completed an all-Spanish podium.
Italian twice MotoGP champion Bagnaia had qualified third on the grid but endured a nightmare start, slipping down the pack, identical to Saturday's sprint where he finished a lowly ninth.
But he methodically carved his way through the field and looked on course to seal the final podium spot before colliding with Marquez's brother Alex on lap 19 of the 23-lap race.
Bagnaia was declared unhurt following the incident, MotoGP said on social media platform X.
The crash helped Martin extend his lead over second-placed Bagnaia in the riders' championship to 23 points ahead of next weekend's San Marino MotoGP in Santa Monica-Cella, Italy.
Marquez, meanwhile, looked like a different beast on his Ducati as he ended his 1043-day winning drought.
"It was an amazing race. Thank you very much, Aragon," Marquez, who switched from Honda to Ducati ahead of this season, said. "It's incredible to win in front of these amazing fans.
"Today was a super difficult race, especially because when you have the pace, but then with the gap, it was difficult to fully focus on the riding, especially the last ten laps. But I was able to manage well the gap.
"I had something more there in the pocket, just in case, as we see in the middle of the race. But, yeah, happy and thanks. See you again next year (Aragon). This is just the beginning."
Having qualified fourth, Martin battled it out with Acosta to continue his quest for a first MotoGP championship title.
"It was a difficult start from the beginning, I started spinning and lost some positions and I tried to recover fast but when I tried to take Pedro I almost crashed, from that point I just tried to keep a good pace," Martin said.
"I was focused on the feeling, trying to understand the good line, so second was the maximum we could do today.
"It was a long race, after the last eight laps I was quite long being alone but finally I'm happy for Marc because it's been such a long period — I'm so happy for him."
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; editing by Ken Ferris)
