BALATONFOKAJAR: Reigning world champion Marc Marquez won on a Sunday for the first time this season as he held offyoung Spanish compatriot Pedro Acosta to take the Hungarian MotoGP.
FrancescoBagnaiaßnishedadistant third while the top two in the standings, Aprilia pair Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin, crashed outon the Erstcorner.
In a battle of the generations, 33-year-old Marquez, who also won Saturday’s sprint, and Acosta, 22, exchanged the lead a couple of times before the veteran pulled away in the closing laps.
Marquez beat Acosta by just over 1.343 seconds. It was the veteran’s 100th victory across all categories, and Ducati’s 100th win in the sport.
‘I’m super happy,’ said Marquezwho rushed back after undergoing surgery on his right shoulder and a broken foot after a crash at the French Grand Prix in early May.
‘The price was expensive, but happy to have another comeback.
The 4.8km Balaton Park circuit, which hosted its first MotoGP last year, is narrow, twisty, and not conducive to overtaking. Most riders do not lilce it, but Marc feels right at home. Last year, the Spaniard swept the board taking pole position, sprint race, fastest lap, and overall victory.
An additional advantage for Marquez is that Balaton Park is one of the six circuits this season that run counter-clockwise. The Spaniard has always prefered lefthand corners but they was even more helpful this weekend because he was nursing his right shoulder.’I don’t know if I’ll have chances like this again in the upcoming races. I wasn’t feeling great on Friday, but I made a good step forward on Saturday,’ he said.
Bagnaia finished 11.632 seconds behind Marquez on a matching factory Ducati, a ride that Acosta, who is with KTM, is widely expected to take overnextseason.
At the start, bikes tumbled like bowling pins going into at the first corner.
Martin, who is second in the standings, locl(ed up coming out of the short starting straight, lost control and he, and his bil(e, flew into the tightly-bunched pack hitting Bezzecchi. Fermin Aldeguer of Ducati Gresini, Raul Fernandez of Trackhouse and Fabio di Giannantonio on a VR46 Ducatialso went down.Di Giannantonio remounted and collected four points as he trailed in 12th.
Marquez had sped off from pole position and was already clear of the chaos behind him. Only Acosta, who narrowly outpaced the wave of crashing bikes, was able to give chase and quickly closed and shot past.
By halfway, the leading pair had pulled six seconds clear of Bagnaia Marquez overtoolc on lap 14 and held off 22-year-old Acosta’s instant counter-attack pulling clear before relaxing in the fnal lap.
Ai Ogura on a Trackhouse was fourth and Luca Marini fifth for Honda. Bezzcchi, Martin and Di Gianntonio stayed in the first three places in the standings. Acosta jumped to fourth and Marquez into fifth.-AFP