Marc Marquez takes MotoGP title lead with Misano victory after Marco Bezzecchi crashes
Absolute scenes at the Red Bull Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera. Seven rounds ago, reigning World Champion Marc Marquez of the Ducati Lenovo Team sat a distant 102 points behind the leaders. Now? He is sitting at the summit of the MotoGP World Championship for the first time this season, collecting his 78th premier class victory in style.
The entire complexion of the championship flipped on the opening lap at Misano. Marco Bezzecchi of Aprilia Racing fended off Marc Marquez into Turn 1 and held firm, but disaster struck at Turn 13 when the home hero lost his front end and binned it from the lead. Thankfully the Italian walked away unhurt, but it was a monumental blow to his title ambitions and an immediate gift to the Ducati runners.
That left Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin fighting at the front, separated by just 0.4s on Lap 5, while Alex Marquez of BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP carved his way up from P9 on the grid. Martin seized the lead on Lap 7 at Turn 4, giving Aprilia something to cheer about in front of the Italian crowd. But the reigning Champion absorbed the pressure, clawed back the deficit, and snatched the lead back at Turn 6 on Lap 12.
Things quickly unravelled further for Aprilia. Alex Marquez made a move stick on Martin for second on Lap 14, and Pedro Acosta of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing barged his way onto the podium past Martin on Lap 16 at Turn 8. Soon after, the second BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP machine of Fermin Aldeguer demoted Martin to P5 as well, leaving Marc Marquez and Martin level on points at the top of the standings.
At the flag, Marc Marquez held off his younger brother by 0.5s to take the win, with Acosta finishing a brilliant third. Alex Marquez delivered a stunning ride to second while sporting a beautiful Marco Simoncelli tribute livery at Gresini Racing’s home event. Aldeguer finished a stellar fourth following his recent injury troubles, while Martin crossed the line in fifth to salvage valuable points.
Behind them, Raul Fernandez of the SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team took sixth, Fabio Di Giannantonio of the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team clawed back to seventh, and Enea Bastianini of Red Bull KTM Tech3, Luca Marini of Honda HRC Castrol, and Fabio Quartararo of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rounded out the top 10. Brad Binder, Toprak Razgatlioglu of Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP, Franco Morbidelli, and Pol Espargaro took the remaining points, while Francesco Bagnaia joined Bezzecchi in a dismal retirement to break the hearts of the home fans.
Now, the championship heads to the Red Bull Ring with Marc Marquez and Martin dead level on 274 points apiece, and Bezzecchi sitting 33 points back in third.
