MotoGP: Marquez & Marquez on a mission at Misano
MotoGP: Defeated for the first time in eight weekends, there’s no title on the line this time out. But it’s getting ever closer for Marc Marquez
MotoGP: Defeated for the first time in eight weekends, there’s no title on the line this time out. But it’s getting ever closer for Marc Marquez.
It was within just 1.7 seconds of his reach, but Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) will have to wait at least another Grand Prix to have a chance at completing his history-making comeback and win a seventh MotoGP crown. After seven weekends of glory in a row for the #93, it was instead Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) who came out swinging in Barcelona and took his second Grand Prix win of the season – a redemptive ride after crashing out the lead in the Tissot Sprint. Now, both arrive in Misano on two very different missions.
NO TITLE AT MISANO: the wait for the comeback rolls on
There may be no match point for Marc Marquez but there’s plenty of pride to uphold with it being the second home-round for Ducati. The #93 has five wins here, the most on the grid, although it isn’t one of his most emblematic venues. He also knows he can set up that Championship point for Japan – the easiest way is a seemingly foregone P7 or better in the Sprint. Meanwhile, Alex Marquez has never won back-to-back Grands Prix in MotoGP but with it also being his Gresini squad’s home event, the #73 can’t be written off. Still, they are far from the only home team on the grid – and there’s an armada of motivated Italian riders too.
P3 FIGHT: Bagnaia and Aprilia reload
On the rostrum in every San Marino GP since 2020 – when he took his first MotoGP podium – Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) endured a tough Catalan GP weekend before staging a notable comeback from P21 to P7 on Sunday. He was starting to feel the heat with Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) closing him down too, but Bez’s Barcelona struggles means that it’s now 40 points that split the duo. Just as both race on home turf, so do their factories – and Aprilia would enjoy nothing more than claiming Misano for themselves. Jorge Martin, on the other side of the Aprilia box, returns to where he tested before he returned from injury back in July too, with more and more kilometers on the clock as he looks to get back in the fight at the front.
KTM ON A ROLL: taking the fight to Ducati
Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) led orange charge in Barcelona, and that’s not even one of his best venues – so the ‘Beast’ will be in the spotlight at Misano. Here, he’s both won in MotoGP and taken some incredibly memorable podiums, from his first ever rostrum finish to his street-fighting 2024 charge past Martin to the podium.Likewise continuing to make progress even if Barcelona wasn’t the home podium he was gunning for is Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). He was fast but he was also beaten by Bastianini – what better way to return the favour than aiming to reverse that on the #23’s home turf.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was also in good form to challenge for the top five in Barcelona, part of that stunning three-rider battle – so close it almost looked like a display run. Meanwhile, Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) continues to recover from his shoulder injury, adding the kilometers and likely encouraged by the form shown by the trio able to push at the front last time out.
PODIUM CONTENDERS: high targets and seeking redemption
P3 in the Barcelona Sprint was followed up with fifth on Sunday for Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). Now, the Frenchman returns to the scene of his 2021 MotoGP title and one of his first big standout performances from his rookie year. Three P7s and a P9 from last year’s Grands Prix and Sprints – and fresh from a first test with Yamaha’s V4 in a private outing in Barcelona – ‘El Diablo’ is in form and the Iwata factory have that here too. That very V4 will also wildcard this weekend in the hands of test rider Augusto Fernandez.
Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) had a Catalan GP to forget but this is both his and the team’s home round. He’s tied with teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio and it’s a big weekend for both. Morbidelli took a Sprint podium at Misano last year and a first win here in 2020, whereas ‘Diggia’ took a Sprint P3 in Barcelona but has never had a top eight at Misano. Don’t discount Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) from a rostrum challenge either, despite a tricky last two rounds.
CHASING TOP 10s: battles aplenty through the pack
Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) was disappointed after his fall from fifth on Sunday last weekend and will want more, whereas Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) took eighth last weekend as his uptick in impressive performances continues. His teammate Joan Mir struggled had a tougher one after having been the standout a couple of races ago, and Mir’s best Sunday result in 2024 was taken here. Meanwhile, returning to the top ten for the first time since Mugello was Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and Misano is the scene of his last Moto2™ win last year. Teammate Raul Fernandez is without a top ten since Austria but a best Misano result of P8 in 2023 spurs him on.
P9 and a best result of 2025 last time out for Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) is something he’ll want to build from, whereas teammate Jack Miller hopes for a top ten for the first time since Brno. After a first DNF of 2025, Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) seeks to bounce back at the San Marino GP. Welcomed back after injury, Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) gets ready for a new challenge at Misano too.
Home turf for many, enemy territory for others, and even a balance of the two for some on the grid, Misano brings with it a sense of unpredictability year after year. In the area where so many young Italians get their first taste of motorcycling and the first dreams of becoming Champion, what lies ahead at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli? It’s either a match point in Japan or a huge twist in the tale on the horizon – so tune in for more MotoGP this weekend!
For more MotoGP info check out our dedicated MotoGP News page
Or visit the official MotoGP website www.motogp.com
©Words/Images are from an official press release posted courtesy of www.motogp.com
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