Jorge Martin has found form that illuded him in previous seasons. He's always been fast but his previous consistency left something to be desired. The last three races have shown that when Martin is comfortable on that Ducati he has the ability to dominate the rest of the field. Martin smashed the lap record (set on Friday by Brad Binder) during qualifying to put himself on pole. He continued his form with a strong Sprint win followed by another win in the Sunday race. Teammate Johan Zarco also had a strong weekend, much needed as his performances of late have been some what lack luster. Zarco scored a P5 in the sprint, he was unfortunately disqualified from the Grand Prix after taking un unconventional route back to the pits after the race got reflagged.
Pecco Bagnaia managed to limit the damage to his championship hopes, although main rival Martin finished with a perfect weekend, Bagnaia scored a podium both days with a P3 in the sprint and a P2 in the main race, bringing the championship down to 3 points with 7 events to come.
Both VR46 and Gresini only had one rider on track with Luca Marini and Alex Marquez both out due to injuries. Both riders rose to the challenge with Gresinis Fabio Di Giannantonio putting in a strong performance, qualifying well and turning that into a P8 in the sprint and a P8 in the Grand Prix. VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi suffered a high speed, tumbling crash early in Qualifying 2, In true MotoGP fashion he went right back to the box and got on his second bike to put it in P4 on the starting grid. He converted this into P6 in the Sprint and P4 in the Grand Prix.
Both Brad Binder and Jack Miller had a strong weekend for the KTM Factory team, with Binder finishing P2 in the sprint, unfortunately Binder was the first faller in the Grand Prix on Sunday. Team mate Jack Miller defended against Pecco Bagnaia with everything he had in the Sprint, while the world champion was able to pick up the spot, Jack Miller did secure P4 in the Sprint and P6 in the Grand Prix. Considering his form lately, I think he will be very happy with this performance.
Aprilia saw some mixed results, Aleix Espargaró was hit with a technical issue forcing him to retire from the Sprint, the rainy conditions and quick bike swap saw the Spaniard finish in p5 in the sprint. Maverick Viñales did manage to score a point in the Sprint with a P9 finish, the Grand Prix proved less kind to Viñales with a P19 finish.
Raul Fernandez continued his strong showing heading through to Q2 again, he did miss out on points in the Sprint finishing in P10. In the Grand Prix he managed P9. Across the garage Miguel Oliveira had a weekend to forget, finishing outside of the points in the Sprint and retiring from the Grand Prix due to visibility issues.
Yamaha had wildcard Cal Crutchlow on the grid this week, the Brit was left fuming when a tire change saw him only get 4 laps in one session. Fabio Quartararo overrode the Yamaha to secure a points finish in the main race with a P10, unfortunately his Saturday was nothing to write home about. Franco Morbidelli finished outside of the points both days continuing Yamahas woes.
LCR Honda saw Alex Rins try and race, unfortunately he was declared unfit due to the pain in his leg, he was replaced by Stefan Bradl, Bradl picked up 2 points on Sunday with a P14 performance. Teammate Takaaki Nakagami had a difficult home race, while he did finish P11 in the Grand Prix he was without points on Saturday with a P17.
Both Joan Mir and Marc Marquez battled the Honda to secure solid results. Joan Mir has clearly made a step forward on that Honda, he finished P13 in the Sprint and P12 in the Grand Prix which will hopefully continue the journey and move the Honda project forward. Marc Marquez showed his alien like skills with a P7 in the Sprint, the true magic for Marc came on Sunday when he scored his first Grand Prix podium of the season.
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