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Bezzecchi wins San Marino MotoGP sprint as Marc Marquez crashes out

football13 September 2025 14:17| © AFP
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Marco Bezzecchi won the San Marino MotoGP sprint race on Saturday after Marc Marquez crashed out just as he looked like further extending his massive championship lead.

Aprilia rider Bezzecchi completed a perfect day on his home Marco Simoncelli circuit in Misano Adriatico by winning from pole position and bringing joy to the Italian crowd, before celebrating with motorcycling icon Valentino Rossi and Formula One star Lando Norris.

He took to the podium with a wooden leg given to him by a fan, a reference to cult Italian comedy film 'Three Men and a Leg' which Bezzecchi also referenced on his helmet.

But the 26-year-old claimed maximum 12 points for the win thanks to Marc Marquez sliding off the track on lap six, only moments after the six-time MotoGP champion had taken the race lead.

The Spaniard had already charged past Fabio Quartararo and his brother Alex Marquez from fourth on the grid in the opening moments of the race, and once he was ahead it looked like a matter or time before he claimed his 15th win from 16 of this season's sprint races.

"It was a fantastic Saturday, very happy to grab the sprint win, I don't really remember my last one, so very happy, very happy," said Bezzecchi, whose last sprint win came at Assen in 2023.

"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 Marco was on the limit, so very happy, very happy, I gave my all."

However, regardless of what happens in Sunday's GP Marc Marquez will have a chance to win the title at the Japan MotoGP in a fortnight and move level on seven championship triumphs with his great rival Rossi.

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His crash most benefitted Alex Marquez who finished second and cut his sibling's lead at the top of the standings to 174 points.

He also moved 77 ahead of Marc Marquez's struggling teammate Francesco Bagnaia who finished over 16 seconds off the pace in 13th and is looking over his shoulder in third place in the championship as Bezzecchi now trails him by 28 points.

"I lost the victory on the start, I was not aggressive enough. And at that point I lost a little bit the way, but later on, you know, I was there behind Marco," said Alex Marquez.

"They were slightly faster than me, I should say, to be fair. But I was keeping the lap time quite constant, quite good, so happy for that.

"And yeah, tomorrow we'll try a little bit harder, a little bit better."

Marc Marquez's crash brought cheers from a chunk of the crowd even though he rides for Ducati as many Italian motorcycling fans have refused to forgive him for, as they see it, from actively working to stop Rossi from winning what would have been his eighth MotoGP title in 2015.

Rossi has openly called Marquez a "dirty" rider for crashing into him in that year's penultimate Malaysian MotoGP, after which Rossi was punished by having to start the final race of that year at the back of the grid, virtually guaranteeing Jorge Lorenzo the title.

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