From 102 points behind to being in the lead, Marc Marquez’s relentless pursuit of adding to his World Championship tally went up a notch at the San Marino Grand Prix.

Sprint

The drama began just as the riders set off for the Warm-Up lap when we found out that Marc Marquez had opted for the Medium rear tyre.

He was one of seven who made that choice, with Jorge Martin (3rd), Alex Marquez (5th), Raul Fernandez (7th) and Johann Zarco (10th) combining to make up half of the top ten. Unfortunately, the tyre choice couldn’t do much to help the Pramac Yamaha duo of Jack Miller (17th) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (18th).

It looked like being a fairly standard Marquez Sprint win after he got the holeshot and built a lead of just over a second over Bezzecchi. The local rider put in four sub-31 lap times, on laps 8 to 11, to make it interesting, but that was as far as it went.

Marquez chuckled to himself – perhaps remembering how his crash at Turn 15 whilst leading in last year’s Sprint was cheered by the partisan crowd – chucked three such lap times back at Bez (including a 1:30.734) and took his sixth Sprint Race victory of the season.

Main Race

What the Main Race lacked in tyre choice jeopardy – with everyone going for Mediums front and rear – it more than made up for in on-track drama. Bezzecchi blasted off from the start line and than barrel-rolled through the gravel in front of his own fan club at Turn 12.

This was Bez’s chance and, sadly, he blew it. He got the start by squeezing out Marquez, but it was as if he felt he had to disappear into the distance as soon as possible. He asked for too much from his front tyre and down he went, stunning the Misano crowd in the process.

Jorge Martin briefly looked like he might give Aprilia something to cheer when he took the lead on Lap 7, but first Marc and then Alex caught him napping at Turn 6 and the former championship leader ended up having to settle for fifth. Although he’s still level on points with Marquez the Elder, Martin’s claims of being the title underdog earlier in the weekend perhaps were driven by honesty rather than false modesty.

We had the usual ‘will Alex actually try to overtake Marc’ question for a few laps before the older brother settled back into a rhythm and made it a moot point. Pedro Acosta put on a typical charge to take his KTM to an unlikely podium – finishing the 27-lap race more than 18 seconds ahead of the next KTM, Enea Bastianini in a still-creditable 9th placed finish.

Where Does It Leave Us?

The momentum is firmly on Marc Marquez’s side heading to Austria next weekend.

You can also say the same for Ducati generally, as they took three of the top four spots (and four of the top seven) and head to a track that has generally favoured their bike in recent years.

Looking a bit further down the line, this was a weekend in which Ducati started to firmly push back against Aprilia’s rattling of their cage. The team from Noale can still try to ruffle Ducati’s feathers by claiming to be the true Italian brand – with Italian ownership and two Italians set to be on their bike in 2027 – yet that’s unlikely to dent the Bologna-based team’s confidence.

Aprilia had a huge opportunity to claim a MotoGP title in the final year of these regulations. They still could, of course, but we’re starting to see chinks in their armour and it looks like they are starting to buckle under the pressure.

Unfortunately, no one more so than Bezzecchi. He’s given up enough points already through injury lay-offs and marshal-pushing transgressions. This was his chance to reassert his title push and he let it slip.

Then on Lap Six the Aprilia-bound Pecco Bagnaia also ended up in the gravel to cap off another woeful weekend. It’s genuinely depressing to see a two-time MotoGP champion looking so lost. We can only hope that moving to a new manufacturer next season will enable him to get back to his best, on a bike that gives him the grip and feedback he needs to recover his confidence.

Yet, right now, every weekend seems to be adding more question marks against Aprilia’s supposed dream pairing of Bezzecchi and Bagnaia, and especially the decision to give the latter a four-year contract.

One thing’s for sure: irrespective of the nationality on their passports, this weekend showed once again why Ducati will have no such doubts about their Marquez/Acosta line-up.