Marco Bezzecchi won the MotoGP Tissot Sprint race Saturday afternoon at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, in San Marino. Riding his Aprilia RS-GP25 on Michelin control tires, the Italian won the 13-lap race by over one second.
Alex Marquez was the runner-up on his BK8 Gresini Racing Ducati Desmosedici GP24.
Fabio Di Giannantonio placed third on his Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Ducati Desmosedici GP25.
His teammate, Franco Morbidelli got fourth.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pedro Acosta finished the race fifth.
Six-time MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez was leading when he crashed his Lenovo Team Ducati Desmosedici GP25 out of the race at turn 15. His teammate, Francesco Bagnaia was 13th.
Marc Marquez leads the championship with 487 points, 173 ahead of Alex Marquez who has 314 points. Francesco Bagnaia is third with 237 points.
Classification sprint motogp
worldstanding motogp
More from a press release issued by Dorna:
Bezzecchi completes perfect Saturday as Marc Marquez crashes. A rare mistake from the #93 is capitalised on by the Italian on home turf as Alex Marquez and Di Giannantonio earn Saturday podiums.
Simply the Bez. Saturday well and truly belongs to Marco Bezzecchi and Aprilia Racing at the Red Bull Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera after the Italian clinches his first gold medal in two years with a sublime ride on home territory. Bezzecchi and title race leader Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) engaged in battle in the Tissot Sprint, but a rare mistake saw the #93 crash as Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) complete the medal honours list at Misano.
HOLESHOT FOR BEZ, MM93 GET A GREAT START
The run into the first corner in terms of the holeshot was a hotly contested one and hanging it around the outside through Turn 1 and into Turn 2 was Bezzecchi, as Marc Marquez got aggressive to get past Alex Marquez to earn an early P2. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) lost one place and was P4 at the end of Lap 1, as Bezzecchi held off Marc Marquez on the opening lap.
On Lap 2, Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez traded fastest laps of the Sprint, which meant Quartararo sit 0.4s away from the latter’s rear wheel. Lap 3 passed by and it was a very good one from leader Bezzecchi, a 1:30.970 meant his advantage was up to 0.4s over Marc Marquez and Alex Marquez.
QUARTARARO AND THEN MARC MARQUEZ CRASH
Quartararo’s Sprint then came to a premature end on Lap 5 as Turn 2 bit. The Frenchman slid out of P4 to promote the Pertamina Enduro VR46 duo into P4 and P5 – Fabio Di Giannantonio leading Franco Morbidelli.
Bezzecchi’s lead then vanished on Lap 5 and on Lap 6, the #93 pounced at Turn 6 following a small error at Turn 4 from Bezzecchi that opened a door. So, what did the title chase leader have in his pocket, and what did Bezzecchi have in response?
Well, it wouldn’t be long until a potential battle between the two ended dramatically. Marc Marquez, at Turn 15, crashed out of the lead. His first big Saturday blunder of the season unfolded and despite his best efforts to dig in his elbow and pick his Ducati up, that was his Sprint over.
Now, it was Bezzecchi vs Alex Marquez for the gold medal. At the start of Lap 9, Bezzecchi led by 0.5s and in the chase for what was now the bronze medal, Di Giannantonio was just under half a second clear of teammate Morbidelli.
BEZ HOLDS ON FOR SPRINT GOLD
With three to go, Bezzecchi had stretched his lead to just under a second now and it looked like the home hero had this one covered. Di Giannantonio didn’t have P3 under control though because Morbidelli began to swarm, the latter setting his best lap of the Sprint on Lap 11.
Last lap time! Bezzecchi led by 0.8s at the beginning of it, and the Italian held his nerve to bring his RS-GP home to back up his pole position into a Sprint win, as Alex Marquez and Di Giannantonio brought their Ducatis over the line in P2 and P3.
YOUR SPRINT POINT SCORERS
Morbidelli didn’t quite have enough to get the better of his teammate in the closing stages, so it’s P4 for the Italian on Saturday. Fifth went to Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) as he and rookie Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) came home a tenth apart, as Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) collect the final Saturday points.
COMING UP: GRAND PRIX SUNDAY
After Marc Marquez’s crash and Francesco Bagnaia’s (Ducati Lenovo Team) disappointing P13, it was a rare Saturday afternoon to forget for the factory Ducati squad. On the other hand, Aprilia will be delighted. Can they double up with victory on Sunday? The fight for Grand Prix honours looks set to be a phenomenal watch, so make sure you tune in.
