Alex Marquez wins in Catalonia, end of streak for his brother

Marc Marquez's streak is over! The Ducati rider, who was on a run of 15 consecutive victories, saw this momentum come to an end on home soil in Catalonia, where his brother Alex Marquez (Ducati-Gresini) won the Grand Prix on Sunday.

Starting from pole position, Alex Marquez had nerves of steel and drove a superb race to keep his older brother at bay. This prevented the latter from getting his first "match point" next weekend at the San Marino GP in Misano. Marc Marquez, who is on the verge of securing a seventh world championship title, which would allow him to equal his great Italian rival Valentino Rossi, will have to wait at least until Japan at the end of the month to win the title.

The Spaniard had made the best start, taking the lead from the first corner, followed by his brother and a third Spaniard, Pedro Acosta (KTM). But Alex quickly overtook his older brother and, although he never really managed to distance himself, he held on to win the second Grand Prix of his career after Jerez in April, when he took advantage of Marc's crash to win.

The podium was completed by Italian Enea Bastiannini, who delivered an unexpected podium finish to the French KTM-Tech3 team under the watchful eye of its future Italian-American boss, Günther Steiner. The former Haas F1 team principal announced on Friday that he had completed the acquisition of the team founded by Frenchman Hervé Poncharal.

Acosta, the only rider to choose a soft rear tire, had to settle for 4th place after running 3rd for two-thirds of the race. Frenchman Fabio Quartararo, 2nd on the grid and who had taken a superb 2nd place on Saturday in the sprint, finished 5th after holding his own on his Yamaha.

The day's comeback was led by Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati). The two-time Italian world champion, who started in 21st place after a disastrous qualifying session, managed to finish in 7th place.