Marquez Wins Misano Sprint: Martin’s Title Lead Cut to 14 Points

• Marquez took his sixth sprint win of the season and his 21st overall
• Bezzecchi set the first sub-1:30 lap at Misano in qualifying with a 1:29.982
• The top three in the standings are covered by 22 points ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix

The MotoGP Sprint at Misano was the 14th of 22 rounds this season, and it has tightened the title fight. Going into the weekend, Martin, Marquez and Bezzecchi held the top three places in that order. After 13 laps at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, the gap between the championship leader and the defending champion has shrunk to 14 points. The race was not decided at the end, but in the opening seconds.

Who won the Misano sprint?

Marc Marquez on the factory Ducati won the sprint ahead of Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin on the two factory Aprilias. Marquez led from the first lap to the last and crossed the line 0.743 seconds clear of Bezzecchi.

It was Marquez’s sixth sprint success of the season and the 21st of his career. For Bezzecchi, second place was his best sprint result of the year. Until Misano he had finished third four times in this format, with no win and no runner-up finish. Martin stood on a sprint podium for the 36th time. He came through from fifth on the grid.

Why was the first corner decisive?

Bezzecchi started from pole, but Marquez out-braked him into turn one and took the lead. After that Bezzecchi never got back into an attacking position, because the first two corners here are very tight and make overtaking difficult.

Marquez deliberately braked late. He knew it would leave him slow on the exit of turn two, and that is exactly what he used. The field stacked up behind him and nobody could build the momentum for a counter-attack. After the race he described his plan simply: he wanted to lead the race from the front. It was the same pattern as two weeks earlier in Aragon, where Bezzecchi also lost the lead straight off the line.

Which tyres did Marquez and Bezzecchi run?

Bezzecchi ran the soft rear tyre, while Marquez and Martin opted for the medium compound. The title contenders only made their choice shortly before the start, after it had initially been expected that almost the entire field would go soft.

Aldeguer, Di Giannantonio and Marini also went for the soft rear. Over a race of just 13 laps that makes sense, because the tyre delivers grip early and wear barely matters. The medium compound, on the other hand, offers a more stable base over the distance. At the same time, Marquez and Martin were gathering data for Sunday’s Grand Prix, where the race distance is twice as long.

How Bezzecchi closed back in and then lost touch again

Marquez set a high pace in the opening laps and stretched his lead to more than a second by lap six. Then he eased off slightly, and Bezzecchi came back at him.

By lap nine the gap was down to around half a second. Bezzecchi was noticeably quicker in the third sector during this phase, where the Aprilia and its aerodynamics work particularly well through the fast right-handers. Marquez responded on lap eleven with his best lap of the race and restored the margin to 0.7 seconds. On the final lap it grew to around a second. Bezzecchi visibly shook his head out on track and took the nine points for second.

What happened behind the top three?

Behind the leading trio the race was considerably busier, above all for Fermin Aldeguer. The Gresini rider started third and dropped back to eighth by the flag.

Di Giannantonio caught him as early as turn four, then Martin went past, followed shortly afterwards by Pedro Acosta at turn eight. On lap four there was contact between Aldeguer and Acosta at the first chicane. Alex Marquez profited, passing both and finishing fifth. Martin needed until lap seven to pass Di Giannantonio at turn six. In his interview he said he had struggled to find a gap on the medium compound and had deliberately avoided taking big risks.

Fabio Quartararo crashed early at turn 14 while attacking Diogo Moreira for eleventh. He rejoined and finished last in 21st. There were no retirements. Luca Marini took the final championship point in ninth. Francesco Bagnaia, who started 14th, finished 13th. For the Italian it is his last home race as a factory Ducati rider.

How do the standings look after the sprint?

Martin leads on 263 points, Marquez follows on 249 and Bezzecchi is third on 241. The gap from first to third is therefore 22 points, meaning that mathematically any of the three could top the table by Sunday evening.

Marquez took five points out of Martin’s lead in the sprint. After the Aragon sprint he was still 19 points adrift. Behind them, Di Giannantonio is fourth on 214 points. Ai Ogura is fifth on 203 points, even though he is not racing at Misano. The Japanese rider is absent with a left-hand injury sustained in motocross training in August, missed Aragon as well and was not declared fit for this weekend either. Acosta follows on 193 points, Raul Fernandez on 189.

The shape of the season is remarkable from Marquez’s point of view. At the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello he was more than 100 points behind Bezzecchi and had all but written off his title defence. On his next visit to Italy he is 14 points off the championship leader. On top of that, his right arm is said to be only partly up to the load by his own account. Marquez had raised the issue publicly before the weekend after being asked repeatedly about his physical condition.

Honours and anniversaries on Saturday at Misano

A ceremony was held on the grid before the sprint. Umberto Masetti was inducted posthumously into the MotoGP Hall of Fame, with Carlos Ezpeleta presenting the medal to his son Nello. Masetti won the 500cc world championship with Gilera in 1950 and 1952. Libero Liberati was also inducted into the Hall of Fame, his medal likewise going to his son. Loris Capirossi had already been named a MotoGP Legend after qualifying.

Gresini Racing is contesting its 30th season in the world championship this year. To mark the anniversary, the team will run Marco Simoncelli’s colours in Sunday’s Grand Prix, in white and red. The livery was presented on Thursday evening, attended among others by Paolo Simoncelli, Carmelo and Carlos Ezpeleta and Ducati Corse boss Gigi Dall’Igna. Simoncelli was born in Cattolica, just a few kilometres from the circuit that carries his name.

What is coming up on Sunday at Misano?

The San Marino Grand Prix starts on Sunday at 2:00 pm local time and runs over 27 laps. The winner scores 25 points, more than double the twelve points on offer in the sprint.

Bezzecchi starts from pole again, ahead of Marquez and Aldeguer. Two penalties change the picture: Johann Zarco drops three grid positions for impeding Bezzecchi in qualifying. Franco Morbidelli has to serve a long lap penalty issued by the stewards after an incident with Enea Bastianini in Friday practice. Both penalties apply only to the Grand Prix, not to the sprint.

For several riders it is a farewell. Alex Marquez and Di Giannantonio are contesting their final Misano weekend for Gresini and VR46. After the race, Marquez summed up what matters to him: „the most important is tomorrow“. Aprilia have generally looked stronger on Sundays than on Saturdays this season, and Bezzecchi said in his interview that his team is ready for the Grand Prix.

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