Marc Márquez wins Misano sprint and cuts gap to championship leader Jorge Martín
Marc Márquez won the sprint race of the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix on September 12 at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, further intensifying the battle for the MotoGP world championship title. The Ducati Lenovo Team rider took the lead as early as the first corner, ahead of pole-sitter Marco Bezzecchi, and remained in front for all 13 laps. Bezzecchi managed to reduce the gap in the second half of the race and close in on the leader, but Márquez responded in the closing stages with the fastest lap of the sprint and once again opened up a safe advantage. Jorge Martín finished third on the second factory Aprilia and retained the lead in the overall standings, although his advantage over Márquez was reduced to 14 points. According to the official MotoGP report, only 22 points separate the top three after Saturday's sprint, making Sunday's main race in Misano even more important as the championship continues.
Márquez decided the race on the approach to the first corner
The key moment of the sprint came just a few seconds after the starting lights went out. Bezzecchi had claimed pole position on Saturday morning with a record lap of 1:29.982, the first time below one minute and 30 seconds in the history of the Misano circuit, but he was unable to convert the advantage of the best starting position into the lead. Márquez reacted better from second place at the start, took the inside line and moved into first position at the opening corner. The official MotoGP report states that the reigning world champion then withstood the early pressure from the home favourite and completed the first lap in the lead. It was a move that set the rhythm for the entire sprint: Bezzecchi remained close enough to pose a threat, but never got a clear opportunity to attack.
In the opening laps, Márquez gradually increased his advantage. According to MotoGP data, he set the fastest laps of the sprint on the third, fourth and sixth tours, and at one point held a lead of around 1.1 seconds. Bezzecchi did not give up and, as the laps went by, began to recover the lost time. On laps eight and nine, the gap fell to approximately half a second, bringing an element of a direct duel back into the sprint. Márquez then raised the pace and set a new fastest lap of the race on lap 11, effectively breaking Bezzecchi's final pressure. He reached the finish as a convincing winner ahead of the Aprilia rider, while Martín retained the championship lead with a safe third place.
Different rear tyre choices shaped the duel
One of the important tactical elements was the choice of rear tyre. MotoGP reported that Bezzecchi started on the soft rear tyre, while Márquez selected the medium compound. In sprint races, where the distance is shorter than in Sunday's Grand Prix race, the softer tyre often offers better initial grip and faster warm-up, while the medium compound can provide more stable behaviour throughout the entire distance. In Misano, Márquez's choice proved effective: he lost nothing at the start, and in the closing laps he had enough pace to respond when Bezzecchi closed in. The result is particularly significant because the Italian rider had shown very high speed throughout the weekend, including setting a circuit record in qualifying.
Bezzecchi's second position was nevertheless an important result for his championship campaign. After the sprint he has 241 points and sits 22 points behind leader Martín, according to the standings published by Motorsport.com. Márquez scored 12 points with the victory and reached a total of 249, while Martín added seven points for third place to increase his tally to 263. The gap between first and third in the championship is therefore almost equal to the points haul from one very successful Grand Prix Sunday, showing how tightly packed the title battle has become ahead of the final part of the season. Misano is the 14th Grand Prix weekend of the 2026 season, so despite the growing importance of every result, the championship fight has not yet reached its final stage.
Martín limited the damage with third place
Jorge Martín did not have the pace of the leading pair, but by finishing third he prevented an even greater loss of his advantage. The championship leader started fifth after qualifying and moved up to fourth place in the early stages. Ahead of him was Fabio Di Giannantonio, who had started fourth from qualifying, and according to the MotoGP report Martín managed to find a way past the Pertamina Enduro VR46 rider midway through the sprint. After that he was unable to seriously challenge Márquez and Bezzecchi, but safely brought the race to an end in the final position on the podium.
Martín's situation illustrates how important consistency currently is. Before the Misano weekend he had 256 points, 19 more than Márquez and 24 more than Bezzecchi. After the sprint, his advantage over Márquez fell by five points and his lead over Bezzecchi by two. A single Saturday appearance therefore brought his main rivals even closer, even though Martín did not make a major mistake or fail to score points. In a season in which Ducati and Aprilia are regularly fighting at the front, the differences between the leading positions have an immediate impact on the championship, while Sunday's race offers considerably greater points potential than the sprint.
Di Giannantonio fourth, Álex Márquez fifth
Behind the leading trio, Fabio Di Giannantonio finished fourth. The Italian was ahead of Martín in the early stages and therefore briefly had a direct influence on the title fight, but he was unable to keep the Aprilia rider behind him until the finish. Álex Márquez took fifth place for Gresini, ahead of Pedro Acosta on the factory KTM. Raúl Fernández finished seventh, while Fermín Aldeguer was eighth after a very combative start to the race in which he found himself in a direct duel with Acosta several times.
The final point in the sprint went to Luca Marini, who finished ninth on the Honda. Among the riders who failed to score points was Francesco Bagnaia, who had previously endured a difficult qualifying day. MotoGP reported that Bagnaia qualified only 14th, and in the sprint he gained just one position to cross the finish line in 13th. His result further highlighted the contrast between Márquez's performance and that of the other factory Ducati. While Márquez fully exploited the potential of the Desmosedici and won the sprint, Bagnaia was unable even to break into the top ten.
Bezzecchi set a new standard in Misano qualifying
Saturday's story did not begin with Márquez's victory, but with Bezzecchi's exceptional qualifying lap. The Aprilia rider claimed pole position with a time of 1:29.982, becoming the first rider to complete an official lap of the Misano circuit below the one-minute-and-30-second mark. According to MotoGP, Márquez was 0.198 seconds behind him, while Aldeguer, after progressing through Q1, secured third place on the front row. Di Giannantonio was fourth despite crashing in the closing stages of the session, and Martín was fifth. Luca Marini took sixth place, Pedro Acosta seventh, Franco Morbidelli eighth, Álex Márquez ninth and Raúl Fernández tenth.
That qualifying result further explains why Márquez's start carried so much significance. Bezzecchi had the best starting position and speed confirmed by the circuit record, but the lead was taken from him before he could impose his own rhythm. On a narrow and technically demanding circuit such as Misano, where braking and exits from slower corners are particularly important, riding in clean air allows the leader to control the pace and tyre wear. Márquez used that advantage precisely, but at the same time had to maintain enough speed to prevent Bezzecchi from entering a safe attacking range. The final fastest lap showed that he still had something in reserve at the crucial moment.
Sixth sprint victory of the season for the reigning champion
The official MotoGP report states that the victory in Misano was Márquez's sixth sprint win of the 2026 season. For the reigning world champion, the result also has broader significance because it comes during a period in which he has reduced his championship deficit and once again moved closer to the very top. He arrived at Misano after a highly successful weekend in Aragón, where, according to the standings at the time, he reduced Martín's lead to 19 points. The sprint in Italy continued that trend and opened the possibility that the balance of power could shift further as early as Sunday's race.
The championship battle is also becoming increasingly concentrated around Márquez and the two factory Aprilia riders. Martín currently has 263 points, Márquez 249 and Bezzecchi 241. Fabio Di Giannantonio is fourth with 214 points, followed by Ai Ogura, Pedro Acosta and Raúl Fernández. Such standings show that the battle at the top remains open enough for one weaker weekend to significantly change the situation, especially among the leading trio. On the other hand, consistently scoring points remains crucial because the sprints and main races during the same weekend provide two separate opportunities to gain or lose an advantage.
Misano once again at the centre of the Ducati-Aprilia battle
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli is located in Misano Adriatico on Italy's Adriatic coast, near Rimini. According to official MotoGP data, the circuit is 4.23 kilometres long, has ten right-hand and six left-hand corners and is ridden clockwise. A motorcycle Grand Prix was first held there in 1980, while Misano once again became a regular part of the MotoGP calendar in 2007. The circuit now bears the name of Marco Simoncelli, in whose memory it was renamed.
For Ducati and Aprilia, this weekend carries additional symbolic and sporting significance. Ducati is competing on home Italian soil, while Aprilia placed two of its riders, Bezzecchi and Martín, on the sprint podium. The result confirms that the leading motorcycles from the two Italian manufacturers are currently capable of fighting on equal terms for the top positions, but also that details such as the start, tyre choice and a single fast lap can decide a race. On Saturday, Márquez made the difference precisely in those areas: he took the lead immediately at the start, controlled the middle of the race and raised the pace when his rival began to reduce the gap.
Sunday's race can further change the championship standings
The main MotoGP race of the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix is scheduled for Sunday, September 13, 2026, at 2 p.m. local Central European Summer Time. According to official MotoGP data, it will be run over 27 laps, for a total of 114.1 kilometres. The starting order remains the one from Saturday's qualifying, so Bezzecchi will once again start from pole position ahead of Márquez and Aldeguer, while Martín will start from the second row in fifth place. After the experience of the sprint, attention will once again focus on the first corner, but the longer distance will increase the importance of tyre management, pace in the second half of the race and physical endurance.
Márquez enters Sunday with a significantly smaller points deficit than before the start of the weekend, but Martín still controls the championship from the leading position. Bezzecchi is close enough that every result of the leading pair directly affects his chances as well. The sprint showed that all three have the pace for the podium, although they achieved their results in different ways: Márquez through control from the front, Bezzecchi through pressure in the second half of the race, and Martín through moving up from the second row of the grid. With such a balance of power, the main Grand Prix in Misano is not merely a battle for a single victory, but another important stage in a championship in which the leading trio is separated by only 22 points.
Sources:
- MotoGP - official report from the Misano sprint race, standings of the leaders, the course of the duel between Márquez and Bezzecchi and the state of the points gaps (link)
- MotoGP - official qualifying report, Bezzecchi's circuit record and the starting order for the sprint and main race (link)
- MotoGP - official San Marino Grand Prix page with information about the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli and the length of the main race (link)
- Motorsport.com - championship standings after the Misano sprint and the total points of the leading riders (link)
- Motorsport.com - schedule of the 2026 San Marino Grand Prix and the time of the main MotoGP race on Sunday, September 13 (link)