Marc Márquez soon crashed and was out of the race, and it didn’t take long for two other riders to fall: Aleix Espargaró and Brad Binder got involved in turn 16. Both riders continued in the race but were far behind the competition.
Martín was third behind Luca Marini, the pole position holder, but promised to attack the Italian’s position, especially with the pace he was setting: Martín was the fastest on track and with nine laps to go, he moved into second place.
With seven laps to go, this was the top ten:
Almost half a second advantage for Viñales (0.499) over Martín but sector by sector, the Spanish rider saw ‘Martinator’ getting closer and closer, and if virtually #89 was already leading the championship, he clearly showed he didn’t want to stop there. Marini was third with Marco Bezzecchi, still not at 100%, in fourth place, ahead of Fabio Quartararo. Bagnaia was eighth.
In the second sector of the ninth lap… confirmation: Martín was the new race leader.
The #12 seemed to be struggling and possibly his tires didn’t have much left to “give”. Marini, on the next lap, moved into second place and Bezzecchi was about to do the same, just 0.026s behind the Aprilia Racing rider: the Italian moved into the lead shortly after, but the Spanish rider managed to respond and regain the position.
However, it was expected that sooner or later Bezzecchi would confirm the overtaking, which would indeed happen and the Mooney VR46 Racing Team had two riders on the podium.
The race ended afterwards, with a small scare for Martín at the end, who still secured another victory and… the lead in the championship.
