Marc Márquez and the Ducati Lenovo Team second at the flag in Montmeló. Francesco Bagnaia seventh after a great comeback

• Alex Márquez takes the race win aboard Gresini Racing Team’s Desmosedici machine, making it a Ducati one-two
• Ducati mathematically seals the World Championship title: the only three riders still in the title race – at the end of the fifteenth event of the season – are Marc Márquez, Alex Márquez and Francesco Bagnaia

Marc Márquez and the Ducati Lenovo Team have scored a second-place finish at the end of the 24-lap Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalonia. Francesco Bagnaia completed an excellent comeback to finish seventh.
Márquez took the lead at the start before being overtaken by Alex Márquez on lap four. Marc stayed in contention for the win until the last two laps but was unable to edge his brother. Bagnaia had a sensational start and made his way up to ninth place at the end of the second lap. In the closing stages, Pecco got the better of Marini for seventh place.

As the fifteenth Grand Prix of the season draws to a close, Marc Márquez brings his tally to 487 points, extending his lead over Alex Márquez to 182. Francesco Bagnaia is third, 250 points behind his teammate. The Ducati Lenovo Team continues to lead the Teams’ standings with 724 points, with Ducati already crowned Constructors’ Champion.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action on Friday, September 12th, at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli to tackle the Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera.

Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd
“During this weekend, Alex has been consistently one or two tenths quicker than us. I still managed to ride at his pace for the whole race but took some risks with the front-end, which was tucking a lot. With seven laps left I tried to attack him one last time, but I ended up wide at turn seven and then again at turn ten: in that moment, I came to the conclusion that second place was the best result. We still got very close to the race win on a track where I struggled a bit more than usual, so I’m happy.”

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 7th
“Today’s result was the best possible one: if we consider the 21st place on the grid, it was difficult to imagine that I would have done better than seventh. It’s true that, had I had this type of pace already on Friday or Saturday, maybe I would have been quicker today, but this is the situation and we must focus on the next event, knowing that we can do it and working as usual. Yesterday we made some adjustments to the bike and I was feeling better in this morning’s warm up, so much so that I ended up fifth quickest. The feeling was better also in the race. Now we need to keep calm and see how the next races will be like.”