The Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider took his fourth straight 125cc win at the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya, and with it the Championship lead. Smith and Espargaró completed the podium after a dramatic last-lap crash for Terol.

Marc Márquez became the youngest ever rider to take four successive Grand Prix wins on Sunday when he triumphed in the 125cc Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya. Taking the record off Valentino Rossi, the 17 year-old Spaniard won by a comfortable margin as he underlined his dominance of the category with victory from pole.

Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar) got a fantastic start from the front row and led into Turn 1 but when he ran wide coming out of it Márquez took advantage to shoot through, and immediately started to build an early lead as the field settled into their rhythm whilst he set a pace of his own at the front. Unfortunately for Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX) his race was ended prematurely – as it had been in the previous round at Assen – when he crashed out at Turn 10 on the opening lap.


Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing) made an impressive start to rise from 14th to seventh, whilst towards the front a battle for second started to settle between Smith, Nico Terol (Bancaja Aspar) and Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing) as they became detached from the remainder of the field, whilst Márquez continue to build his lead.

There were further fallers in the shape of Alexis Masbou (Ongetta Team) and Sturla Fagerhaug (AirAsia – Sepang International Circuit) as they pushed for positions further back, butt he real battle was unfolding between the trio competing for the remaining two podium positions. Luis Salom (Stipa-Molenaar Racing) was forced to retire shortly after.

As the final quarter of the race approached Márquez had established an unassailable lead which stood at close to four seconds, but Smith, Espargaró and Terol were incredibly closely matched as they played out a tactical contest. The distance back to fifth placed Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo) had stretched to almost 40 seconds as the last two laps beckoned.

Drama on the final lap saw Terol try to make a move but have to pull back suddenly to avoid hitting Espargaró and he ran wide and dropped to the back of the trio, and the tension peaked when the Bancaja Aspar rider then had a highside as he pushed hard, ending his participation. That left Smith to take his second podium of the season and cross the line in second place at 4.638s off winner Márquez. Espargaró was a further 0.358s back as he took third.

Cortese won the battle with Efrén Vázquez (Tuenti Racing) for fourth place, with Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany) sixth and Krummenacher seventh. Johann Zarco (WTR San Marino Team), Jonas Folger (Ongetta Team) and Danny Webb (Andalucia Cajasol) completed the top ten.

The result moved Márquez onto 132 points and into top spot in the standings, with Espargaró now second at just a point behind. Terol’s non-finish means he is now third on 118, with Smith remaining in fourth and now on 94 points.