Marc Marquez fends off Ai Ogura to blow MotoGP title battle open with Brno win
Marc Marquez fended off Ai Ogura to claim victory in the Czech GP as Marco Bezzecchi was banned
Marc Marquez has blown the MotoGP title battle wide open after fending off Ai Ogura’s late charge to win the Czech Grand Prix in the wake of Marco Bezzecchi’s ban.
Marco Bezzecchi’s points lead had already come down to 65 over reigning champion Marc Marquez, following a crash in the sprint on Saturday.
This lead was put under major threat when Aprilia’s Bezzecchi was hit with a race ban after striking a marshal in the aftermath of his sprint crash.
Marquez pounced on the opportunity this presented to overhaul long-time leader and team-mate Pecco Bagnaia, before fending off a hard late charge from Trackhouse Aprilia’s Ogura.
The reigning champion scored back-to-back grand prix victories to bring his points deficit to Bezzecchi down to just 40 points, having been 102 away after the Italian Grand Prix last month.
Ogura’s wait for a maiden win goes on, though he completes his best weekend in MotoGP with a second-place finish.
Bagnaia held off a late threat from VR46 Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio to complete the rostrum on the sister factory Ducati.
Marquez is now fourth in the standings, while ninth-place for Jorge Martin on the factory Aprilia puts him eight points back of team-mate Bezzecchi.
Ogura converted pole position to the holeshot at the start of the 21-lap race ahead of Di Giannantonio and Marquez.
Marquez was quick to dispatch Di Giannantonio at Turn 3 for second, though he had his nose bloodied by team-mate Bagnaia moments later at Turn 7.
Bagnaia took the lead from Ogura on the second tour, with Marquez quick to follow him through to shuffle the Trackhouse rider back to third.
Thus followed a tense to and fro between the factory Ducati duo, with the gap ebbing and flowing in the sweltering conditions.
But Bagnaia’s challenge began to fade in the closing stages, with Marquez overtaking him at Turn 4 on lap 16 to take the lead.
He instantly put 0.6s between himself and Bagnaia, who was passed by Ogura at Turn 10 on the following lap.
Ogura pushed Marquez hard over the final few laps, by Marquez got to the chequered flag 0.421s clear of the Japanese rider for his second win of the season.
Bagnaia clung onto third by just 0.169s over Di Giannantonio, while Honda’s Joan Mir - who was the only rider on the soft rear tyre - rounded out the top five.
He was gifted the place on the final lap when KTM’s Pedro Acosta dropped out with a mechanical issue, having fallen down the order at one stage, suggesting a tyre pressure problem.
Fermin Aldeguer was sixth on the Gresini Ducati, with Raul Fernandez seventh on the second Trackhouse Aprilia.
Luca Marini was eighth on the second of the factory team Hondas, while Martin brushed off his two long lap penalties to finish ninth.
Enea Bastianini was 10th on the Tech3 KTM, while LCR Honda’s Diogo Moreira, KTM’s Brad Binder, VR46’s Franco Morbidelli, Pramac’s Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and Tech3’s Maverick Vinales scored the final points.
Alex Rins dropped out late on, while Yamaha team-mate Fabio Quartararo crashed on the opening lap.
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