Spain’s Marc Marquez completes rare family double with decisive Catalunya MotoGP triumph

Spaniard Marc Marquez and brother Alex have made it a double family celebration with the five-time world champion claiming the Catalunya MotoGP after his sibling won the Moto2 category.

Repsol Honda Team's Spanish rider Marc Marquez after winning the Catalunya MotoGP. Picture: AFP

Spain’s Marquez brothers have conquered Catalunya and now have their sights on claiming unprecedented dual world championships.

Defending world MotoGP champion Marc, 26, blitzed the field at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the factory Honda after most of his main rivals went down in a dramatic second-lap accident.

And in Moto2, Alex, 23, recorded his third straight victory in the class to jump to the top of the championship standings.

It is the second time the brothers have won both classes, with the pair achieving the result in the French MotoGP.

Ducati's Italian rider Andrea Dovizioso (left) and Honda's Spanish rider Marc Marquez after the start of the Catalunya MotoGP.

But despite their remarkable home Grand Prix double, the main talking point will be the incident early in the MotoGP race in which Marquez’s Honda teammate Jorge Lorenzo torpedoed Andrea Dovizioso’s Ducati and then Maverick Vinales’s Yamaha withValentino Rossi unable to avoid the falling bikes and riders.

Marc Marquez on his way to a dominant victory.

It left Marquez to skip away and win his fourth race this season.

Aussie Jack Miller on the Pramac Ducati finished fifth to cement his sixth place on the championship table.

Pole-sitter Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) nabbed his first ever podium result at the top level while last-race winner Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) was third.

Quartararo, 20, had arm pump surgery last week and admitted that his scar was feeling sore late in the race.

Marc Marquez celebrates with the huge crowd at the Montmelo circuit.

“Ten days ago I was in the hospital having surgery and now we are on the podium,’’ he said.

Australian Remy Gardner crashed out on the opening lap of the Moto2 battle, the latest in a string of disappointing results after starting the season with a fourth and a second placing.

Moto3 was typically chaotic and thrilling, with Spaniard Marcos Ramirez taking his first race in the series and becoming the 12th different winner in 12 grands prix.

Countryman Aron Canet and Italian Celestino Vietti shared the podium with the 21-year-old.

CATALUNYA GP, SPAIN

1 Marc Marquez (Honda, SPA)

2 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha, FRA)

3 Danilo Petrucci (Ducati, ITA)

4 Alex Rins (Suzuki, SPA)

5 Jack Miller (Ducati, AUS)

6 Joan Mir (Suzuki, SPA)

WORLD STANDINGS

Marc Marquez 140

Andrea Dovizisoso 103

Alex Rin 88

Danilo Petrucci 82

Valentino Rossi 72

Jack Miller 42

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Marc Marquez shows his approval of his victory on the podium. Picture: AFP

Originally published as Spain’s Marc Marquez completes rare family double with decisive Catalunya MotoGP triumph