Marquez’s latest victory means he will be able to win the seventh MotoGP world title in his next race in Japan in two weeks.
Ducati’s Mark Marquez resisted a lively challenge from Aprilia’s Marco Betzecchi to win the San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday, taking the lead in Saturday’s sprint and earning his revenge after getting closer to the MotoGP title.
Betzecchi had inherited the victory in the sprint when Marquez fell crashed. However, this time the set Spaniards began in the second row of the grid and never looked back.
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Marquez’s 11th race victory of the season led him to 512 points (a record tally of MotoGP riders in a single season), thawing his leathers and holding a red suit on the podium like a Matador.
Grecini Racing’s Alex Marquez took a distant third place, with the Mark brothers taking their seventh title this month at the Japan Grand Prix.
“Today I gave everything I had. It’s true that the mistakes I had from yesterday gave me extra concentration, extra strength and extra energy,” said the exhausted Mark Marquez.
“I was there following him (Betzekki) and always trying to push him very close, because it’s definitely impossible to do 27 laps. And in the end he made a small mistake on turn 8 and then I led the race.
“It’s very important for Ducati. I felt the pressure of this weekend.”
With six more rounds remaining, Mark Marquez will be able to win his first title since 2019 if the Alex brothers score just three points in Japan.
Amazing launch
First, Mark made a great launch, and he moved second behind Polesetter Betzekki, quickly heading outwards while Alex was pushed into third place.
With the top three striped, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartarraro found it difficult to maintain that pace and was quickly fighting KTM’s Pedro Acosta.
But hopes to fight for Acosta’s podium rose in smoke when he retired with a broken chain.
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia had another race to forget about in a nightmare season for the two-time champion.
In advance, Mark continued to build up pressure on Betzekki, and the Aprilia rider finally bent over to Lap 12 as he breathed late to the brakes and widened, opening the door to a red Ducati passing him and softening the lead.
Relentless Betzekki
Betzekki mercilessly chased after him, eagerly, trying to get the lead back. However, Mark remained calm and the Spaniard didn’t feel like crashing from the lead twice over the weekend.
Betzekki shook his head in frustration with six laps remaining as Mark set the fastest lap in the race.
Mark did his best to shake off the young Italian. However, the Ducati rider responded once more as he swapped the fastest lap and left third-placed Alex, more than six seconds behind.
“In addition to missing out on a victory, this may be the best race of my life because I was very competitive all weekend. Pole position, sprint wins, second place,” Betzekki said.
“I was close to Mark. He is currently the strongest on the grid. I am so happy, I gave it everything, I was destroyed!”
VR46 racing riders Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio came in fourth and fifth place respectively, while Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer came in sixth place.
