Marc Marquez won the San Marino and Rimini Riviera MotoGP on Sunday while Francesco Bagnaia closed in on championship leader Jorge Martin whose gamble on pitting for rain tyres came with a heavy cost.
After going three years without a GP win, Spaniard Marquez won his second in as many weeks, finishing over three seconds ahead of pole-sitter Bagnaia after bursting through from ninth on the starting grid.
The six-time MotoGP champion’s stunning win in front of nearly 90 000 spectators at Misano Adriatico means he is now 53 points behind countryman Martin, who will be licking his wounds after a disastrous Sunday.
Martin pitted with 20 laps remaining to change his bike as it began to rain on the “Marco Simoncelli” circuit in the hope that he would have the better of it on a wet track.
But Martin was the only one of the title contenders to do so and the rain, which was forecast to fall heavily in the afternoon, slackened almost immediately after he exited the pit.
The 26-year-old then pitted again a couple of laps later to get back on his first bike, a strategic error which left the Pramac rider a lap behind his title rivals led to him finishing way back in 15th.
“For me the most important was the speed after that rain. Of course that rain gave me the possibility to lead the race and then when I lead the race I say ‘Ok, now I will try to find the same pace as the practice’,” said Marquez, who rides for Ducati satellite team Gresini.
“The emotions were super high, when I crossed the line, I was super happy.”