Marquez beats Bezzecchi in two-horse Misano race

Bezzecchi led from pole position but lost the lead at Turn 8 when he bowled a wide and opened the door for Marquez to blow by.

Try as he might, the leading factory Aprilia rider couldn’t return serve and had to concede victory to the factory Ducati rider.

Marquez’s win takes him one step closer to the riders’ championship, which looks likely to come at the Grand Prix of Japan at Motegi on September 28.

“Besides the victory, this is maybe the best race of my life because I was super competitive all the weekend – pole position, sprint win, second place, and close to Marc, who is at the moment the strongest on the grid,” said Bezzecchi.

“I am very happy. I gave my whole. I am destroyed to try give the fans the best I could.”

Even before the contest got underway, there was drama when 2024 champion Jorge Martin suffered a failure on the citing lap.

He raced back to the pit lane, first on foot and then by moped, to get onto a back-up bike. He was stung with a long lap penalty for an incorrect starting procedure.

While Martin was in strife, his teammate Bezzecchi was the man to beat at the front of the field.

Bezzecchi led Marc Marquez and his brother Alex Marquez on the Gresini into the first turn.

There was drama just a few turns into the contest when factory Honda rider Joan Mir and Johann Zarco on the Honda LCR satellite went down.

On Lap 3, Yamaha riders Alex Rins and Augusto Fernandez were stung with long lap penalties for jumping the start.

There was plenty of attrition in the opening laps. Trackhouse Racing’s Ai Ogura crashed his Aprilia and then Tech3 rider Maverick Vinales dumped his KTM.

Pedro Acosta’s hopes of a podium were dashed on Lap 8 when the chain on his RC16 cried no more while he was running fourth.

On Lap 9, Francesco Bagnaia’s home grand prix came to an abrupt end when he suffered a low side and dropped his Desmosedici GP25 out of seventh.

Rins became the fifth rider to crash on Lap 10 and on Lap 12 Enea Bastianini followed suit, making it two Tech3 riders to fold.

Finally, on Lap 12, race leader Bezzecchi fumbled and gave the lead to Marquez at Turn 8. Under brakes, the Aprilia rider cast his RS-GP25 well wide of the apex and opened the door.

Bezzecchi couldn’t return serve and had to settle for second, despite a spirited ride in the second half of the race.

Alex Marquez was third for Gresini ahead of VR46 riders Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio.

Jack Miller was 12th for Pramac. His teammate Miguel Oliveira was ninth.

Marc heads to Motegi with a 182-point lead over brother Alex.

Results: MotoGP Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera