Marco Bezzecchi “kept calm” after Marc Marquez pass: “I wasn't expecting it”

Marco Bezzecchi thrilled the Misano home fans with a home Sprint victory, becoming the first rider other than a Marquez to win a Saturday race this season, and the first non-Ducati winner since last May in Catalunya.

That was by Aprilia predecessor Aleix Espargaro, who benefitted from Francesco Bagnaia crashing out of the lead on the final lap.

A much earlier mistake by another factory Ducati rider, Marc Marquez, handed Bezzecchi the advantage on Saturday.

The title leader overtook the home star on lap 6, and looked set for a ninth Sprint win in a row, but pushed too hard into Turn 15 and sent his Desmosedici into the gravel.

Bezzecchi then held off Alex Marquez to claim his first Sprint win since Assen 2023.

“I'm just happy for the win,” Bezzecchi said of ending Ducati’s Saturday domination. “It means that we worked it in a good way this weekend and that we can also do a good job tomorrow.”

Marc Marquez’s move for the lead came in the form of an unusual pass at Turn 6.

“I didn't really expect it, but I knew that he would be close because I’d made a couple of mistakes,” Bezzecchi explained.

“I lost a bit of concentration and I prepared Turn 6 to exit fast onto the back straight, because I thought Marc wanted to pass me on the braking, but then he passed me there.

“So I wasn't really expecting it. But I kept calm and I was there. I don't know how it could go [if he stayed on], but it went like this.”

Did it look like Marquez was pushing too hard before his accident?

“It's difficult to say the reason that he crashed out. Of course, I was pushing a lot, so I hope that he was also pushing a lot to pass me!" Bezzecchi replied.

“The track conditions was different from the other sessions. This is why maybe I struggled a bit more also. So we have to analyse everything and try to understand it.”

"Fantastic to meet Lando"

Among those to congratulate Bezzecchi was F1 title contender Lando Norris.

“It's fantastic to meet Lando, first of all, because we were talking to each other sometimes, making congratulations, one to the other one.

“Finally I had the possibility to meet him in the box, and he's such a cool guy.”

Bezzecchi will now look to add a second grand prix victory, after Silverstone, to an impressive debut Aprilia season.

The Italian also hinted that he could gamble on racing the soft rear tyre again on Sunday, rather than moving up to the medium.

“It's possible with both tyres. I worked very well with the soft, to be honest. But seeing how the sprint was, I want to analyse everything,” he said.

Team-mate Jorge Martin finished in eighth place, 11-seconds behind Bezzecchi, who has now closed to within 28 points of Francesco Bagnaia and third in the MotoGP world championship standings.