Sprint boss: Marc Marquez taught Bezzecchi & Aprilia a MotoGP lesson

In qualifying, Marc Marquez had to settle for second place behind Aprilia challenger Marco Bezzecchi. However, by securing second on the grid, the world champion had put himself in a position – much like in Spain recently – that was good enough to quickly take control of the race.

From second place, Marc Marquez sprinted hard towards the first braking point and once again caught the Italian off guard after he’d not got off to the best of starts. In the opening laps, Bezzecchi was still right on the tail of the number 93 – but neither the third-placed rider in the World Championship nor any other MotoGP rider could find a way past.

Marc Marquez: “I wanted to lead from the start, partly because of the tyre choice – I was on the medium tyre whilst ‘Bez’ was on the softs. I took a big risk to do that and really pushed.”

The lead grew tenths by tenths – in the first half of the 13-lap sprint, the world champion alone was clocking 1:30-minute lap times – and that on the medium rear tyre. Then Bezzecchi stepped up a gear, getting faster, whilst Marquez took a breather. That didn’t last long, however. Once Bezzecchi had halved the gap, the champion accelerated again and broke the resistance with the fastest lap of the race in 1:30.7 minutes.

Marc Marquez kontrollierte Verfolger Marco Bezzecchi

Foto: Gold and Goose

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The Lenovo rider, who celebrated his 21st sprint victory at Misano in front of the Tifosi, continued: “After that, it was purely a question of risk management. Once I’d opened up the gap, I relaxed a bit. But then the lead started to shrink again and I had to take more risks. I’m absolutely delighted with the win – but tomorrow is the more important day,” said the outstanding rider at Misano.

Márquez’s latest triumph in Rossi country added further spice to the World Championship mix. The world champion is now just 14 points behind Jorge Martín, who, however, limited the damage by finishing third. There are now eight points between him and his closest rival, Bezzecchi, following the Misano Sprint.

Ducati will also be thanking the world champion. Following their third consecutive victory, the Bologna-based team have closed the gap on their rivals from Noale to just 12 points.