The first victory must wait
The first seasonal win in a Sprint does not come even at Misano, on the home track, for Marco Bezzecchi. The Rimini rider of Aprilia had beaten everyone in qualifying, securing pole position with a track record, but once again in turn 1 he was overtaken by Marc Marquez, just as had happened in Aragon in both races. Once #93 got ahead, it was then impossible for Bezzecchi to reverse the positions again.
Read more Martin: “Nice P3, but Bezzecchi and Marquez are still far away. Tomorrow I can get closer”
Applause for Marquez
“Am I mending my relationship with the Sprint? Actually, I never had a fight with it – Bezzecchi told Sky Sport MotoGP – simply, in some Sprints this year I made mistakes. But today I am happy, I did well in my opinion: the only thing is that Marc [Marquez] was better than me at the first corner and in the first three laps. I can’t complain, I have to congratulate him and hope to do better tomorrow. Marquez’s choice of the medium tire? Honestly, it didn’t surprise me much, but it wouldn’t have changed things. When they told me that he and Martin were on the medium, I still chose to use the soft“.
Read more GP San Marino 2026, the Sprint report
Bezzecchi then explained why he was so convinced to use this type of tire: “I am happy with the choice – confirmed the #72 of Aprilia – with the medium I would have struggled even more in the first laps. With the soft, however, we lack stability and I had a lot of trouble leaning the bike, it was very nervous. This problem in the fast section of the track continued throughout the race, while in other parts of the track fortunately the situation improved and I managed to keep a good pace and maintain a fixed distance from Marc. This is my best result in a Sprint this year, so I am happy. Let’s hope the GP is less tiring – concluded Bezzecchi – Misano is tough by itself, with the soft the bike was nervous and I got very tired“.
Read more MotoGP 2026 Riders World Championship after the Misano Sprint
