THE TRUTH ABOUT: Marc marquez reveals big mistake that made aragon gp win difficult

Marc Marquez has revealed he dropped from first to third on the opening lap of the Aragon Grand Prix because he failed to disengage his rear ride-height device.

As was the case in Saturday’s sprint, the factory Ducati rider made a rapid launch from second on the grid, passing polesitter Marco Bezzecchi into Turn 1.

But as the reigning MotoGP world champion tried to defend his position, the rear of his bike bottomed out at Turn 2, allowing the Aprilias of Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin to overtake him.

Marquez was able to repass both riders and then fend off a mid-race attack from Pedro Acosta to claim his fourth victory of the season, but the Spaniard admitted his task was made much harder by an avoidable error.

“Today, I repeated the strategy from yesterday, attacking the first corner, but I made a very big mistake that I forgot to disengage the rear device,” he explained. “On the warm-up lap, normally you activate it on the back straight and then you need to remember to deactivate for the start.

“I didn't remember [to do so]. Then, I did a perfect start, a perfect first corner. But when I jumped from first to second corner, the rear device was there and the bike was super low during all of sector one, and it was a scary moment.

Sparks were flying at the start from @marcmarquez93's Ducati 💥#AragonGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/Z4Me4YnNbs
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 30, 2026

“This makes everything more difficult, but then as soon as I lead the race, I try to manage the pace. In the remaining laps, push a bit, open a gap and control again.”

Bezzecchi said Marquez slowed down to such an extent exiting Turn 2 that he felt he was going to run into him.

“He passed me in Turn 1, so I tried to cross the line,” said the Italian. “When he went back into corner two, I saw something coming out from his bike like sparks and I almost hit him because he stopped completely. Then, fortunately I was able to pass him.”

Marquez’s double victory at Aragon GP has brought him back in the thick of the title fight after a tough weekend at Silverstone earlier this month.

With Ai Ogura withdrawing from Aragon GP and Bezzecchi only managing a pair of third-place finishes after qualifying on pole, the Spaniard has jumped from fourth to second place in the championship, only 19 points behind Martin.

Marquez, whose right arm continues to be a limiting factor, admitted it was important for him to capitalise on his strong form at Aragon, where he has now won eight times in MotoGP.

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team (Photo by: Pierre-Philippe Marcou / AFP via Getty Images)

“It's what I need to do if I want to have a small chance to fight for this championship,” said the nine-time world champion.

“It looks like Jorge and Marco are riding in a very good way. They are super fast. Not only them, also Ogura will come back; [Fabio] di Giannantonio and Acosta, as he showed today.

“But if I want to have a small chance to fight for the championship, I need to do my best at the good tracks for me.”