MISANO ADRIATICO: Marc Marquez won the San Marino and Rimini Riviera MotoGP on Sunday while Francesco Bagnaia closed in on championship leader Jorge Martin whose gamble on pitting for rain tyres came with a heavy cost.

After going three years without a GP win, Spaniard Marquez won his second in as many weeks, finishing over three seconds ahead of pole-sitter Bagnaia after bursting through from ninth on the starting grid.

The six-time MotoGP champion’s stunning win in front of nearly 90,000 spectators at Misano Adriatico means he is now 53 points behind countryman Martin, who will be licking his wounds after a disastrous Sunday.

Martin pitted with 20 laps remaining to change his bike as it began to rain on the “Marco Simoncelli” circuit in the hope that he would have the better of it on a wet track.

But Martin was the only one of the title contenders to do so and the rain, which was forecast to fall heavily in the afternoon, slackened almost immediately after he exited the pit.

The 26-year-old then pitted again a couple of laps later to get back on his first bike, a strategic error which left the Pramac rider a lap behind his title rivals led to him finishing way back in 15th.

“For me the most important was the speed after that rain. Of course that rain gave me the possibility to lead the race and then when I lead the race I say, Ok, now I will try to find the same pace as the practice’,” said Marquez, who rides for Ducati satellite team Gresini.

“The emotions were super high, when I crossed the line, I was super happy.”

After storming to Saturday’s sprint in stunning style Martin was a good bet to extend his lead on injured Bagnaia but instead he picked up just one point on Sunday, damaging his bid for a first MotoGP title.

The primary beneficiary was Ducati rider Bagnaia, who is now only seven points behind Martin in the championship standings with seven GPs remaining even though he was outdone by Marquez on his home track.

“For sure it was better than yesterday. Yesterday the chance was there to have it and I didn’t take it, today more than second was impossible, Marc was too in shape (for me) to try to win,” said Bagnaia.

“Maybe next time I will be fully fit and I can have a chance, but Marc in this condition is surely very strong.”

Bagnaia’s bid to catch Martin will be further helped by this weekend being the first of two in a row at Misano, as the circuit is being used later in September for the Emilia Romagna GP which replaces the cancelled race in Kazakhstan.

He rode all weekend on painkillers for injuries to his shoulder, neck and collarbone suffered when crashing out of last weekend’s Aragon MotoGP.

Also with an outside chance of the title is Bagnaia’s Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini, who completed the podium and is 62 points behind Martin.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2024