BRNO: Ducati’s Marc Marquez took a record-extending 11th sprint win of the MotoGP season at the Czech Grand Prix on Saturday, but the Spaniard’s celebrations were briefly put on hold during an investigation for tyre pressure infringements.

Marquez and factory Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia were both forced to slow down during the race and surrender first and second place due to low tyre pressure, or risk incurring an eight-second penalty.

Six-times champion Marquez relinquished his lead but was able to overtake KTM’s Pedro Acosta with two laps remaining and cross the finish line first.

Asked if he had done enough to avoid a penalty, Marquez said: “Yeah, we did it. For that reason, I’m smiling. So it’s true that it was super towards the limit. And yeah, we’re riding comfortable.

“Then I saw that the pressure was not enough. I tried to push some laps on the brakes, but I saw that was too much risk to get on that correct pressure. And then I decided to wait.

“I just stayed super close to Acosta to increase the temperature. And then when I saw the temperature was already inside the rules, pressure was inside the rules, then I pushed in the last few laps.”

MotoGP confirmed that no further action would be taken against Marquez.

The 32-year-old leads the riders’ championship table with 356 points, with his second-placed younger brother Alex, who finished 17th after a disastrous start, 95 points behind on 261.

KTM-Tech3’s Enea Bastiani, who missed the previous round with appendicitis, ended in third at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic.

Pole-sitter Bagnaia finished seventh after he was overtaken by Trackhouse Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez in the final lap.

Reigning world champion Jorge Martin returned to the sport with an 11th spot. Martin sat out the first three races following two pre-season crashes and when he returned at Qatar in April, he crashed heavily again and missed the next seven races.

Marquez won the last four grand prix, taking the honours in both the sprint and the main race each time, and he will be looking to add another perfect weekend at Brno.

He is eyeing his seventh MotoGP world title — and first since 2019 — that would put him level with the legendary Valentino Rossi.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2025