Marc Márquez hits the Aprilias in Misano and takes the San Marino GP ‘sprint’

At Aprilia they can’t stop adjusting the rearview mirror, and it’s because Marc Márquez’s Ducati continues to rapidly close in the battle for the World Championship. With his sixth sprint victory of the season in 14 stops, the seven-time MotoGP world champion kept tightening the screws on his main rivals for the title, leader Jorge Martín and Marco Bezzecchi, who secured a stratospheric pole at his home circuit. The defending champion is now 14 points behind the Madrid rider, when not long ago he found himself in a 102-point hole, and could even take the championship lead this Sunday (2:00 PM, DAZN) at the San Marino GP.

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The Italian contender, the man who amazed at the start of the season, saw the red Desmosedici of number 93 slip past him for the third consecutive race at the first corner of the track, just as it did in the sprint and the grand prix two weeks ago in Aragón. That aggressive start allowed Márquez to set the tone for a race where he decided to change strategy at the last minute to go against those everyone points to as his main rival for the crown. Martín, first in the standings but third in most of the paddock’s predictions, couldn’t match his two opponents during qualifying and had to climb from fifth to third place to save face once again this season.

Despite fitting the medium tire, number 93 knew how to set a blistering pace from the start, knocking out the gamble on the soft tire of a bold Bez. A few hours earlier, the Rimini rider had smashed the absolute circuit record with a 1:29.982, the first lap in history at Misano and its 4.23 kilometers under 90 seconds. Crazy, of course, but for these riders it’s everyday bread. Bezzecchi’s first strike in the morning, however, was of little use now that the decisive Saturday blow is dealt during the afternoon session.

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“The plan was to get ahead, because those first laps could be dangerous if Bez found his best pace. Then I saw I had escaped, and I relaxed a bit, but then I had to push again. Luckily, we had the pace saved and I was just trying to manage the risk,” said Márquez, at 33 years old a first-class strategist. He barely lifted a finger at the finish to celebrate, focused on taking another bite on Sunday, when the significant points are awarded.

While the Spaniard continues to rack up Saturday merits, the Italian still hasn’t won any Saturday this season. “It’s the best result of the year in a sprint, and I’m happy about that. We’re ready for tomorrow,” the Rimini rider commented positively. As the final third of the season approaches, Martín remains in the lead one more day with 263 points. Márquez is 14 behind and his teammate Bezzecchi also threatens him just 22 points back. “I didn’t want to take too many risks, and the truth is it’s not been an easy weekend,” Martín admitted after his umpteenth endurance exercise of the season. The Madrid rider looked serious, perhaps aware that to clinch the win he will have to find that extra edge that allows him to compete for race wins again.

Behind the season leaders crossed four seconds behind winner Fabio Di Giannantonio, also fourth in the championship, further back but not completely ruled out at 49 points. Fifth was Alex Márquez, who suffered two crashes during qualifying and had to climb from ninth place, taking advantage along the way of the intense Murcian duel between Pedro Acosta and Fermín Aldeguer, sixth and eighth at the end of the contest.

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