Having held off a heap of constant pressure from Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) in the second half of the Grand Prix, Marc Marquez’s (Ducati Lenovo Team) title-winning comeback is drawing ever closer after the #93 clinched victory on a fascinating Sunday in Misano. It means we head to the Japanese GP knowing Marquez can be crowned MotoGP World Champion if results go his way, and the only rider who can stop that from happening was third place finisher Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP).
PRE-RACE DRAMA FOR MARTIN
Before a wheel had been turned in anger, there was drama for Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) after his RS-GP encountered an issue on the sighting lap. Because of that, he started the warm up lap from pit lane, would retake his original grid slot and then had to take two Long Lap penalties.
BEZZECCHI AND MARC MARQUEZ HIT THE FRONT
Once we got going, Bezzecchi held onto P1 at the start and just like in the Tissot Sprint, Marc Marquez got a pearling start and was immediately climbing all over Bezzecchi in P2, while Alex Marquez and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) sat in P3 and P4.
There were three early DNFs to report as Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) and Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) were both down at Turn 4 on Lap 1, with Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) crashing on Lap 3 in Sector 3. Then, Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) was out of the Grand Prix on Lap 5, as fellow KTM rider Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) started to look threatening in P5.
On Lap 6, the top three – Bezzecchi, Marc Marquez and Alex Marquez – were 1.5s clear of Acosta, who picked off Quartararo at Turn 8. However, a couple of laps later, Acosta’s RC16 said no more – the #37 was out after his chain fell off on the way down to Turn 8, the same problem teammate Brad Binder suffered on Friday.
Then, another big name was out of contention. This time, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). While running in P7, the Italian crashed at Turn 10 to end a forgettable weekend in Misano.
SMALL BEZ ERROR HANDS MARQUEZ THE LEAD
At the front, Bezzecchi had Marc Marquez for close company, while Alex Marquez sat around a second back in P3 on Lap 10 of 27. Then, a mistake came at Turn 8 for the leader. Bezzecchi was wide and that opened the door for the #93 to stroll on through to hit the front for the first time on Lap 12.
Now then Marco, what did you have in return? On Lap 17, the pair were separated by 0.2s as Bezzecchi clung onto Marc Marquez’s coattails, with Alex Marquez still lapping 1.1s behind. However, on Lap 20, Alex Marquez dropped to two seconds back and it looked like the fight for Sunday’s top honour was between Marc Marquez and Bezzecchi.
Lap 21 saw Marc Marquez set the fastest lap of the race, which saw the gap rise to 0.495s. Was that the warning shot? Was it the hammer blow? It was certainly a statement, but Bezzecchi responded by going slightly faster on the next lap – but it was only by 0.010s. The Italian was digging in, but would it be enough?
At this stage, it wasn’t. Marquez’s advantage rose to 0.6s with four laps to go, but then Bezzecchi threw in the fastest lap of the race. 0.3s in one lap, had Bezzecchi saved his best until the last three laps? But in response, the six-time MotoGP World Champion threw another stinging punch to set the fastest lap and go 0.5s clear.
So then it was last lap time. The gap? 0.415s. The penultimate lap was Bezzecchi’s personal best of the Grand Prix, but it didn’t look like it would be quite enough. And unfortunately for the Italian, it wasn’t. A tantalisingly tense affair saw Marc Marquez hold on to put his Sprint crash behind him and collect 25 points ahead of Bezzecchi, who did brilliantly to pile on the pressure for the second half of the Grand Prix. The top two were in a league of their own on Sunday, with Alex Marquez handing Gresini a special home turf podium 7.7s behind the top two.
YOUR MISANO POINTS SCORERS
Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) beat teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio as the VR46 duo finish P4 and P5, as rookie Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) leaves Misano with a solid P6. Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) continued his fine form to finish P7 on home soil, the Italian crossing the line ahead of Quartararo, Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and Binder, the South African completing the top 10.
Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) was P11, Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) earned P12 ahead of Martin in P13, Augusto Fernandez (Yamaha Factory Racing Team) on the V4-Powered YZR-M1 in P14 and Thailand’s Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) in P15.
NEXT STOP: JAPAN
It’s confirmed. At Motegi, Marc Marquez will have his first match point as the great comeback loads. Will the #93 be crowned World Champion next time out in Japan? It won’t be long until we find out.