San Marino MotoGP: Bezzecchi wins sprint after Marc Marquez crashes out of lead
Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi won Saturday’s sprint at the San Marino Grand Prix after championship leader Marc Marquez crashed out of the lead on Ducati’s home turf as the Spaniard failed to finish on the podium for the first time in sprints this season.
An aggressive Marquez had elbowed his way through from fourth on the grid before overtaking polesitter Bezzecchi halfway through the sprint to take the lead.
But six-time champion Marquez, who had won 14 sprints this season, made a rare mistake in the final sector to crash out of the lead, gifting Bezzecchi his first sprint victory since the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix.
“It was a fantastic Saturday, very happy to grab the sprint win. I don’t really remember my last one,” said Bezzecchi, who celebrated the win with his mentor and MotoGP great Valentino Rossi.
“The race was not perfect because we had some issues during the race. But even having these problems, I was able to have a good pace and I knew that Marc was on the limit. So very happy, I gave my all.”
Marc’s brother Alex Marquez of Gresini Racing finished second to reduce the gap in the championship to 173 points and keep alive his slim title hopes while VR46 Racing’s Fabio Di Giannantonio edged teammate Franco Morbidelli to take third.
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After clinching pole position, Bezzecchi led into turn one but all eyes were on Marc as he had the ideal launch off the line and bulldozed his way from the second row to second place.
Marc rode aggressively — elbows out and unforgiving — to overtake both his brother Alex and Quartararo in the first three turns and slot in behind the Aprilia.
As one Ducati rider was moving up the field, the other was going backwards as Francesco Bagnaia fell from eighth on the grid to 13th — where he eventually finished with no points — while Quartararo crashed out of fourth place.
MARQUEZ CRASHES
Marc stayed on Bezzecchi’s rear wheel and when the Italian made a mistake on lap six, it opened the door for the Spaniard who capitalised to take the lead.
But just moments after seizing control, it was Marc who lost it. He misjudged a corner and suddenly the Spaniard was sliding across the gravel as his red bike cartwheeled and hit the wall, the paddock watching on in disbelief.
It was the first time Marc had crashed in a sprint this season, ending a streak of 15 podiums which included 14 wins and one silver medal.
That was the invitation Bezzecchi needed to take the lead and he never looked back, beating Alex by exactly one second to take the chequered flag.
“I lost the victory on the start, it was not aggressive enough,” Alex said.
“In that point I lost the way a little bit. But later on, I was there behind Marco. They were slightly faster than me, I should say, to be fair… Tomorrow we’ll try a little bit harder, a little bit better.”
Published on Sep 13, 2025