Marco Bezzecchi dominated from the very first lap in the COTA MotoGP race as he led Aprilia to back-to-back 1-2 finishes for the first time.
Bezzecchi broke the record for the most consecutive laps led, as he became just the third rider in the MotoGP era to win five races in a row.
Pedro Acosta got the launch from the middle of the front row and took the lead of the race. Just behind, both Aprilias also got a fantastic getaway – Bezzecchi made it into second by the first corner, as Jorge Martin took third ahead of a great start from Marquez from the third row.
Bezzecchi and Acosta made contact down the back straight, but the contact allowed the Italian through into the lead of the race – where he stayed for the four laps he needed to break the record for most consecutive laps led.
The order stayed the same for seven laps, until Acosta made a mistake into Turn 1 and allowed Martin through into second place.
That’s how it stayed at the front for the remainder of the race. Behind the top three, Fabio Di Giannantonio resumed his battle with Marquez, getting the better of the Spaniard and held a comfortable fourth place.
Marquez himself struggled in the early stages. He dropped behind team-mate Francesco Bagnaia before dropping to 11th following his long lap penalty, and struggled to get into the race until the late stages.
After Bagnaia seemed to lack pace in the latter phases of the race, Marquez was brought back into contention for a top five finish. The eight-time World Champion put a strong move on brother Alex Marquez, before getting locked into battle with Enea Bastianini.
Back in front, Bezzecchi completed his dominant victory by crossing the line 2.036s clear of team-mate Martin.
Acosta rounded out the podium after a fairly anonymous second half to the race, over two seconds ahead of the next best challenger.
Di Giannantonio was fourth at the flag, while Marquez held off the challenge from Bastianini for fifth place.
Alex Marquez took seventh ahead of a late charge from Raul Fernandez in eighth. Luca Marini overtook Bagnaia on the final lap as the pair completed the top 10.
Fermin Aldeguer was 11th after struggling with his leg injury, as Brad Binder edged ahead of Diogo Moreira in the battle for 12th.
Franco Morbidelli took the flag in 14th, as Toprak Razgatlioglu finished as top Yamaha to take the final point in 15th.
Jack Miller ended the race just behind his team-mate in 16th as both Pramac Yamahas finished ahead of the factory team – Fabio Quartararo led Alex Rins as the pair finished 17th and 18th.
Johann Zarco was the final rider to take the flag, as he rejoined from a crash to take 19th.
Ai Ogura had strong race pace and looked to challenge for the podium. However, with five laps remaining, after lighting up the timing tower, his Trackhouse Aprilia bike suffered a mechanical issue and he dropped out of the race.
Joan Mir earned himself a long lap after taking a shortcut to get sixth on track, but was unable to serve it after crashing out of the race.
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