Marc Marquez beats Acosta to win Czech MotoGP sprint
Brno (Czech Republic)
In a first-ever Czech MotoGP sprint at Brno and a first pole start of 2025 for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), there was lots on the line. In an intriguing afternoon, what seemed like a tyre pressure battle led to both 'Pecco' and teammate Marc Marquez slowing up, but the #93 soon pushed his way to the front to make it another sprint success on Saturday.
He took gold ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) after a late charge from the 'Beast', making it two KTMs on a podium for the first time this season.
Marquez won the 11th sprint out of 12 this season to stretch his championship lead and to raise his tally in the championship standings to 356 points.
The 32-year-old leads his younger brother Alex by 95 points and third-placed Italian teammate Bagnaia by 156.
Starting from second spot on the grid, Marquez quickly eased past polesitter Bagnaia, still in the opening lap.
Acosta shot ahead from the third row at the start, passing Bagnaia half way through the race to get just behind Marquez.
He glided into the lead moments later as Marquez slowed down in uncertainty over tyre pressure.
'I saw that the pressure was not enough. I tried to push some laps on the brakes, but I saw that was too much risk. I decided to wait,' said Marquez.
It took the six-time MotoGP champion a while to warm the tyres up and take the lead back with a swift overtake early into the last but one lap.
'When I saw that the pressure was inside the rules, then I pushed the last laps,' Marquez said.
Battling a forearm injury earlier in the season, Acosta relished his podium finish.
'It was the darkest beginning of the season of my life, and being in the podium again is super nice,' Acosta said.
Bastianini was equally happy with third, a week after sitting out the German GP over food poisoning.
Sprint Results
1. Marc Marquez (ESP/Ducati) 19min 05.883sec, 2. Pedro Acosta (ESP/KTM) at 0.798sec, 3. Enea Bastianini (ITA/KTM-Tech3) 1.324, 4. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Aprilia) 1.409, 5. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 2.292, 6. Raul Fernandez (ESP/Aprilia-Trackhouse) 3.358, 7. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 3.648, 8. Johann Zarco (FRA/Honda-LCR) 3.930, 9. Pol Espargaro (ESP/KTM-Tech3) 4.748, 10. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 5.902, 11. Jorge Martin (ESP/Aprilia) 6.000, 12. Jack Miller (AUS/Yamaha-Pramac) 6.379, 13. Miguel Oliveira (POR/Yamaha-Pramac) 7.081, 14. Fermin Aldeguer (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 7.612, 15. Luca Marini (ITA/Honda) 8.681, 16. Ai Ogura (JPN/Aprilia-Trackhouse) 8.992, 17. Alex Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 9.404, 18. Alex Rins (ESP/Yamaha) 9.871, 19. Joan Mir (ESP/Honda) 11.487
DNF: Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Ducati-VR46), Augusto Fernandez (ESP/Yamaha-Pramac), Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Team HRC).
World championship standings
1. Marc Marquez (ESP/Ducati) 356 pts, 2. Alex Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 261, 3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 200, 4. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 142, 5. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 139, 6. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Aprilia) 136, 7. Pedro Acosta (ESP/KTM) 108, 8. Johann Zarco (FRA/Honda-LCR) 106, 9. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 92, 10. Fermin Aldeguer (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 92, 11. Maverick Vinales (ESP/KTM-Tech3) 69, 12. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 60, 13. Raul Fernandez (ESP/Aprilia-Trackhouse) 55, 14. Enea Bastianini (ITA/KTM-Tech3) 49, 15. Ai Ogura (JPN/Aprilia-Trackhouse) 49.
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