The Red Bull Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera served up a dramatic weekend for teams and riders, with action from start to finish on Sunday as Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) went head-to-head in a magnificent showdown. Marc Marquez took another win, defeating home hero Bezzecchi, while Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) rounded out the podium, sporting a special livery on Sunday in honour of Fausto Gresini.

"It looks like it’s a matter of time"

Marc Marquez charged to another Sunday win, crossing the line a mere 0.568s ahead of Bezzecchi and bouncing back from his Saturday Sprint crash. The #93 also set the fastest lap on Lap 25, further adding to the spectacle in front of the Misano crowd. Now leaving Misano, Marc Marquez has set up his first match point in Japan, giving him his first opportunity to be crowned the 2025 World Champion. Reflecting on his performance, Marc spoke about how hard the battle was and his feelings ahead of our trip to Motegi!

Marc Marquez: "The best way to forget the mistake as a rider is just to try to come back to ride the bike again and give my best, and that’s what I did today from Warm Up. I had that extra concentration, extra energy, but honestly speaking, in the last laps, I fought against a very tough Marco Bezzecchi, who was pushing super hard. I think both of us were pushing more than usual because it was his home GP, and he had extra motivation, and I also had extra motivation from yesterday’s crash.

"It’s getting closer and closer. It looks like it’s a matter of time, but I want to keep the same mentality. Now we need to try to close as soon as possible, but I know that Alex is also super fast, and he’s also fighting for second place in the Championship."

"I thought that I could bring home the win"

Marco Bezzecchi was so close to victory at home, leading the opening stages of the Grand Prix before a mistake at Turn 8 dropped the Italian to second. Bezzecchi kept the pressure on Marc Marquez, ending the weekend with pole position, the Sprint win and second position on Sunday. It was a confidence-inspiring points haul for the #72, who reflected on his feelings after the Grand Prix.

Bezzecchi: "It was a tough race, but it was also a really beautiful race because I was on the limit and Marc was also pushing a lot, and I was able to stay there, which is always fantastic - I’m very happy. Of course, I thought that I could bring home the win as that was my target, but Marc was super fast. I think he still had something more, especially from mid-race to the end. When the tyre grip went down, he was able to be smoother and quicker. In the Free Practice, we suffered less, but then in the race, the conditions changed.

"From Turn 4 to Turn 9/10, he was super quick. I knew that I had to defend there. I made a small mistake. I had a small moment, and so I didn’t lose the front, I had to release the front brake a bit and went slightly wide. Marc passed me, and then I just tried to stay close to him"

"In sector one, I’m always losing time"

Alex Marquez rounded off another solid weekend in Misano, securing valuable Championship points to edge himself 93 points clear of Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). Alex took an impressive second-place finish in Saturday’s Sprint, before crossing the line in third on Sunday – rounding out the podium. However, although Alex Marquez is happy about his performance this weekend, there is room for improvement in one specific area on the circuit.

Alex Marquez: "I’m super happy about our weekend overall. I think we did a really good job. It’s one track that I always struggle a little bit more with. I just tried to give my maximum every session. Trying to make a lot of laps and to be more on the lines than ever. Yesterday, we were able to claim a really good second. Marco and Marc were faster than me during the entire weekend, not just one session.

"In sector one, I’m always losing time here. Historically, it is my weakest point here in Misano, so it’s something that I need to improve for the future. I tried my best. I tried to be really close to them."

"These things can happen"

Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) showcased solid pace throughout the San Marino GP, with the #37 finishing P5 in the Sprint. However, his fortunes would change on Sunday, with a chain issue forcing Acosta to retire from the Grand Prix. Despite the issue, Acosta found positives in his performance and the turnaround that the team made before lights out.

Acosta: "I mean, after a really tough weekend for every KTM, we were more or less able to turn it around and come back from ninth position, which you know is never easy. I was more or less competitive until this lap (Lap 8). It's normal that you become heated because we are coming from the summer break, and we were having some good races. Yesterday we saved the race again. And today we were honestly having a really good race too.

"It is what it is. It's a mechanical sport. These things can happen."

"We have some good things"

Sunday’s San Marino GP delivered a historic moment, as Augusto Fernandez (Yamaha Factory Racing Team) raced Yamaha’s V4 for the very first time. Fernandez finished P14, gaining valuable insight into the direction needed for further development. Fabio Quartararo, Alex Rins and Jack Miller would all get their turn with the V4 during Monday’s Misano Test, following Fernandez’s first taste of racing it in anger. After the weekend, Fernandez shared his initial impressions and highlighted some areas for improvement.

Augusto Fernandez: "Well, it’s the first 27 laps in race pace for the bike, and we have a lot of work to do to understand it, because it looks like the window is very narrow to have either a good feeling or a very bad one.

"We had a lot of problems in terms of the dash not working and fuel consumption. I had the red light on for the fuel, which is not only the map with the weakest power, but you also have to manage from Lap 10. So, there were 17 laps that I was managing the fuel.

"And yeah, it was difficult to have a consistent pace on the bike during the race. Because when you check the fastest lap of the race, it could have been better. It's one second off Fabio. So, we have some good things."