MotoGP Dutch GP Race Report: Marc Marquez Dominates Aragon, Ai Ogura Absent Due to Injury

The 13th round of the MotoGP season, the Aragon Grand Prix, was held at MotorLand Aragon in Spain from August 28th to 30th.

Ai Ogura (Aprilia), who finished the British Grand Prix with his first crash retirement of the season, was expected to bounce back at the Aragon GP, but was forced to withdraw due to a left-hand injury sustained during training.

Marc Marquez (Ducati) dominated the Aragon GP, securing victories in both the sprint race and the main race, despite missing out on pole position.

Ai Ogura Absent Due to Injury

News of Ai Ogura's (Aprilia) withdrawal came on Thursday of the Aragon GP weekend. According to an announcement from his team, Superfile Trackhouse MotoGP Team, Ogura injured his left hand during training. Upon arriving in Europe, it was determined that he had a fracture near his left thumb requiring surgery.

Ogura underwent surgery in Barcelona, Spain, on the morning of August 27th (Thursday) to fix the fractured left thumb with a plate. A plan for rehabilitation would be made after evaluating his condition over the Aragon GP weekend.

Lorenzo Savadori, Aprilia's test rider, served as Ogura's replacement. This marks the second consecutive year Ogura has missed the Aragon GP due to injury, having also been absent in 2025.

Pole Position Goes to Aprilia's Bezzecchi, But...

As mentioned, Marc Marquez (Ducati) ultimately won the Aragon GP. Marquez has historically performed well at Aragon, with seven previous main race victories (and two sprint race wins) at the circuit by 2025. MotorLand Aragon is Marquez's home Grand Prix and a left-handed circuit that he favors.

However, Marquez was not at the top of the timesheets during Friday's practice and Saturday's qualifying sessions. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) outpaced Marquez in both Friday's practice (where finishing in the top 10 grants direct access to Q2, leading to intense time attacks resembling a semi-qualifying session) and Saturday's qualifying, securing pole position.

This season, Aprilia has not only kept pace with Ducati, which had been dominant until last year, but has shown superior performance. Bezzecchi is one of their factory riders.

Despite this, Marquez overtook Bezzecchi in Saturday afternoon's sprint race. Bezzecchi initially led from pole position, but Marquez took the lead with a dive into the first corner. In the subsequent second corner, Marquez's brother, Alex Marquez (Ducati), moved ahead of Bezzecchi.

Marquez maintained his lead to the checkered flag, with Alex Marquez finishing second and Bezzecchi in third.

Main Race: Marquez's Strength Prevails Despite Early Setback

Sunday's main race also saw a fierce battle for the lead right from the start. Marquez led into the first corner, but Bezzecchi took the lead from Marquez at turn three. While Marquez appeared to lose some momentum, he later revealed he had made a mistake.

"As I said yesterday, the points were at Turn 1, so I tried to do the same today, but today I made a big mistake. I forgot the rear device. When I was going from Turn 1 to Turn 2, I activated the rear device, and Turns 2 and 3 became very slow" (from a Parc Fermé interview).

Bezzecchi, in good form, led the race, but Marquez stayed close and overtook Bezzecchi on lap six to take the lead.

On lap six, Pedro Acosta (KTM) also overtook Bezzecchi to move into second place, chasing Marquez. Acosta, like Marquez, is a Spanish rider and is highly regarded for his future potential, set to join Marquez at the Ducati factory team in 2027 as his teammate.

Acosta maintained a similar pace to Marquez, closing the gap to about 0.3 seconds. However, Marquez did not allow Acosta to get any closer. Marquez set his fastest lap of the race on lap 14 with a time of 1:46.736, while Acosta's fastest lap was 1:47.093, a difference of 0.357 seconds.

As the race entered its latter half, the gap between Marquez and Acosta widened, and Marquez went on to win. Ultimately, Marquez demonstrated his dominance at Aragon.

Marquez (center) took first place, with Acosta (left) second and Bezzecchi (right) third. © MotoGP.com

With this result, Marquez moved up to second in the championship standings, 19 points behind the leader, Jorge Martin (Aprilia). Ai Ogura, who has scored no points in two consecutive main races, dropped to fifth in the standings, 53 points behind.

The 14th round, the San Marino Grand Prix, will be held at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in Italy from September 11th to 13th.