Marquez fends off Bezzecchi for Czech MotoGP victory
Brno (Czech Republic)
The 'unstoppable' Marc Marquez emerged victorious yet again on Sunday at the Czech MotoGP to become the first Ducati rider to win five Grands Prix on the spin, but he was made to work for it in the first half of the battle.
It was the Spaniard's eighth victory in 12 races this season and fifth in a row, extending his commanding lead in the world championship.
The factory Ducati rider beat Marco Bezzecchi on an Aprilia by almost two seconds, while Pedro Acosta on a KTM came in third in his first race podium finish of the season.
Marquez had a fifth straight perfect weekend, winning both the sprint on Saturday and Sunday's race.
The 32-year-old Spaniard now leads the world championship with 381 points, 120 ahead of his younger brother Alex who crashed, and 168 ahead of Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia.
'It has been a super first part of the season and especially these last races,' Marquez said.
'I feel better and better and I'm riding super good,' he added.
Bagnaia started from pole in bright sunshine but only retained the lead until the second lap when Bezzecchi eased past him, with Marquez following suit soon afterwards.
Acosta did the same to settle down in third after getting a boost from a second-place finish in Saturday's sprint.
Marquez glided past Bezzecchi in lap eight as the runaway trio kept building up their lead, and as so often this season kept widening the gap comfortably.
The three stayed put until the finish line, although fourth-placed Bagnaia gave Acosta a hard time pressing from behind.
'The first lap was unbelievable,' said Bezzecchi.
'I had so much fun in the first half of the race but unfortunately when Marc passed me I immediately saw that he had something more.'
'I tried to attack but he was strong. Anyway, I made a fantastic performance, I'm very, very happy,' added the Italian.
Marquez took 40min 04.628sec to complete the 21 laps on the resurfaced 5.4-kilometre Brno circuit returning to the MotoGP calendar after a five-year break due to financial woes.
Bezzecchi crossed the line 1.753 seconds adrift, while Acosta trailed Marquez by 3.366sec.
Almost 220,000 fans gathered in the stands for the weekend as Marquez sped to his fourth MotoGP win at Brno after 2013, 2017 and 2019.
The MotoGP circus will now take a summer break and resume with the Austrian GP on August 15-17.
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13 hours ago
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Marquez fends off Bezzecchi for Czech MotoGP victory
Agencies Brno (Czech Republic) The 'unstoppable' Marc Marquez emerged victorious yet again on Sunday at the Czech MotoGP to become the first Ducati rider to win five Grands Prix on the spin, but he was made to work for it in the first half of the battle. It was the Spaniard's eighth victory in 12 races this season and fifth in a row, extending his commanding lead in the world championship. The factory Ducati rider beat Marco Bezzecchi on an Aprilia by almost two seconds, while Pedro Acosta on a KTM came in third in his first race podium finish of the season. Marquez had a fifth straight perfect weekend, winning both the sprint on Saturday and Sunday's race. The 32-year-old Spaniard now leads the world championship with 381 points, 120 ahead of his younger brother Alex who crashed, and 168 ahead of Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia. 'It has been a super first part of the season and especially these last races,' Marquez said. 'I feel better and better and I'm riding super good,' he added. Bagnaia started from pole in bright sunshine but only retained the lead until the second lap when Bezzecchi eased past him, with Marquez following suit soon afterwards. Acosta did the same to settle down in third after getting a boost from a second-place finish in Saturday's sprint. Marquez glided past Bezzecchi in lap eight as the runaway trio kept building up their lead, and as so often this season kept widening the gap comfortably. The three stayed put until the finish line, although fourth-placed Bagnaia gave Acosta a hard time pressing from behind. 'The first lap was unbelievable,' said Bezzecchi. 'I had so much fun in the first half of the race but unfortunately when Marc passed me I immediately saw that he had something more.' 'I tried to attack but he was strong. Anyway, I made a fantastic performance, I'm very, very happy,' added the Italian. Marquez took 40min 04.628sec to complete the 21 laps on the resurfaced 5.4-kilometre Brno circuit returning to the MotoGP calendar after a five-year break due to financial woes. Bezzecchi crossed the line 1.753 seconds adrift, while Acosta trailed Marquez by 3.366sec. Almost 220,000 fans gathered in the stands for the weekend as Marquez sped to his fourth MotoGP win at Brno after 2013, 2017 and 2019. The MotoGP circus will now take a summer break and resume with the Austrian GP on August 15-17.
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21 hours ago
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Marc Marquez won the Czech MotoGP for his eighth victory in 12 races this season and fifth in a row, extending his commanding lead in the world championship. The factory Ducati rider beat Marco Bezzecchi on an Aprilia by almost two seconds on Sunday, while Pedro Acosta on a KTM came in third in his first race podium finish of the season. Marquez had a fifth straight perfect weekend, winning both the sprint on Saturday and Sunday's race. The 32-year-old Spaniard now leads the world championship with 381 points, 120 ahead of his younger brother Alex who crashed, and 168 ahead of Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia. 'It has been a super first part of the season and especially these last races,' Marquez said. 'I feel better and better and I'm riding super good,' he added. Marquez outpaces his rivals Bagnaia started from pole on a sunny Sunday at Brno but only retained the lead until the second lap when Bezzecchi eased past him, with Marquez following suit soon afterwards. Acosta did the same to settle down in third after getting a boost from a third-place finish in Saturday's sprint. Marquez glided past Bezzecchi on lap eight as the runaway trio kept building up their lead, and as so often this season kept widening the gap comfortably. The three stayed put until the finish line, although fourth-placed Bagnaia gave Acosta a hard time pressing from behind. 'The first lap was unbelievable,' said Bezzecchi. 'I had so much fun in the first half of the race but unfortunately when Marc passed me I immediately saw that he had something more.' 'I tried to attack but he was strong. Anyway, I made a fantastic performance, I'm very, very happy,' added the Italian. Reigning world champion Jorge Martin collected his first points after finishing seventh in the first race he has completed this year. Martin sat out the first three races following two pre-season crashes, and when he returned at Qatar in April, he crashed heavily again during the race and missed the next seven events. Brno returns faster than ever Marquez took 40min 04.628sec to complete the 21 laps on the resurfaced 5.4-kilometre Brno circuit returning to the MotoGP calendar after a five-year break due to financial woes. The enhanced on-track results of the Brno resurfacing was evident with lap times this year several seconds under the previous lap record. Bezzecchi crossed the line 1.753 seconds adrift of Marquez, while Acosta trailed the six-time MotoGP champion by 3.366sec. Almost 220,000 fans gathered in the stands for the weekend as Marquez recorded his fourth MotoGP win at Brno after victories in 2013, 2017 and 2019. Alex Marquez retired after crashing on lap two to leave Brno without a point following a disappointing 17th spot in the sprint race. He took out Joan Mir who also walked away from the gravel safety area, just like Enea Bastianini a lap later. Japan's Takaaki Nakagami was ruled out of the race after suffering a knee injury in a crash in Saturday's sprint. The MotoGP circus will now take a summer break and resume with the Austrian GP on August 15-17. 'Now it's the summer break but still 10 races to go. Time to relax, but in Austria I (will) keep the same mentality with the same intensity,' said Marquez. He is eyeing his seventh MotoGP world title – and first since 2019 – that would put him level with Valentino Rossi and one behind the legendary Giacomo Agostini.
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2 days ago
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Agencies 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.
