Marc Marquez recovered from a shocking start to take a sprint victory from pole at the Italian Grand Prix to extend his MotoGP championship lead.
The factory Ducati rider initially dropped back towards the bottom of the top 10, having reached across his bike to his left handlebar, moments before the lights went out, causing him to lose positions heading into Turn 1 at Mugello.
But come the end of lap one, he’d recovered to third after the commotion caused by slight contact between his brother Alex and Maverick Vinales.
He carved his way back through the field, overtaking team-mate Francesco Bagnaia on lap two before taking the lead off Alex Marquez and then gaining 1.4s to win.
Alex was never a threat to his brother, as he was instead pressured by Bagnaia. He managed to resist the two-time MotoGP champion’s efforts and took second.
Bagnaia could do nothing, even though he led after Marc’s start. He didn’t have the pace to stop the Marquez brothers coming past, so had to be content with the last spot on the podium, just managing to fend off Vinales’ KTM.
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Photo by: Tiziana Fabi / AFP via Getty Images
Tech3’s Vinales took fourth, using a medium front tyre, unlike the factory team. MotoGP’s rocketship bike gave Vinales a great advantage on the run to the first corner. Vinales managed to recover the lost ground after his first corner contact, blasting past Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha on lap five.
While Fabio Di Giannantonio took fifth, Marco Bezzecchi showed some great race pace to bring his Apillia home in sixth. Franco Morbidelli came across the line next with Raul Fernandez in eighth place after starting in 12th.
Fermin Aldeguer took the last point in ninth after an intense battle in the closing laps with Quartararo. The 2021 champion tried all he could with the Yamaha but to no avail. He finished in 10th after starting the race from fourth.
The factory KTM team suffered a disastrous sprint with Brad Binder coming together with Johann Zarco in Turn 1, retiring on the spot. By lap two the factory squad’s day was over as Acosta went down at the last corner after sliding wide onto the marbles.
It leaves Marc Marquez at the top of the championship with 245 points, 35 clear of runner-up Alex with Bagnaia in third on 147 points. Next up is the grand prix on Sunday, with Marc again starting from pole.
MotoGP Italian GP sprint race results
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