MOTOGP
P98
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 16 / SEPTEMBER 22, 2019
MOTORL AND ARAGON / ARAGON, SPAIN
ONE-MAN SHOW
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
A
ragon was one of those great
current-era races—for second
place. Up front, Marc Marquez
had already turned his 200th GP
start, and indeed the whole weekend,
into a one-man show. The supporting
cast fumed and fretted far behind.
To say the Repsol Honda man now
has one hand on his sixth champion-
ship in seven years understates the
case. He needs to gain only two more
points ahead of Andrea Dovizioso in
two weeks in Thailand to be cham-
pion with four races to spare.
Marquez had dominated from the
first free practice session, with only
Monster Yamaha's Maverick Vinales
within two seconds of his time, which
was the fastest lap he turned all
weekend, with wet patches on Satur-
day and Sunday morning.
Vinales would play an erstwhile
leading role in the secondary race
behind him. But the fine long 3.2-mile
lap, with its variety of corners and
elevation changes, had one aspect
that spoiled the hopes of all Yamaha
riders: the long straight of more than
half a mile. Vinales was the fastest
Yamaha at 210 mph compared with
Dovi's Ducati at 215 mph, only 4.7
mph, but enough to make a con-
siderable difference over that long
flat-out run, especially after his exit
speed from the preceding corner was
spoiled by rear tire problems.
MARC MARQUEZ
LEAVES EVERYONE
ELSE BATTLING FOR
THE SCRAPS
