MISANO – Great things were expected from the Italians, especially from the Romagna riders, but at Misano Adriatico it was a day of glory for Spain. And, not too far behind, for Ducati, on a Sunday where Aprilia limited the damage, but were unable to hide some wounds that would have seemed unthinkable just in late spring. The San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix brought another triumph to Marc Márquez, first ahead of his brother Alex and future teammate Pedro Acosta. Not only that, the Catalan world champion returned to the lead of the 2026 championship, tying Jorge Martin, who finished only fifth. For the home heroes, it was one disaster after another: Marco Bezzecchi retired after a few corners while leading, and Pecco Bagnaia also ended up in the gravel in the very early stages of the race. The first Italian to cross the finish line was Fabio Di Giannantonio, who, however, finished only seventh.
«"It will be important to get a good start. We'll try to stay focused and give it our all. I might take the first corner by going further inside, we'll see what we can come up with," Bezzecchi declared shortly before his home Grand Prix began. He was clearly referring to Saturday's Sprint Race, where a less-than-stellar start from the starting grid was enough to hand the victory to rival Marco Marquez. This time, the Rimini native made no mistakes, and at the first Variante del Parco he capitalized on his pole position to stay ahead of the pack. Perhaps, however, his desire to dominate on a friendly circuit and with the deafening support of the Romagna people played a nasty trick on him: shortly after the Curvone di Misano, his white Aprilia, dedicated to Gilles Villeneuve and 80 years of Vespa Piaggio, flew down the escape route. For Italian fans, it was a blow to the heart, coupled with Bagnaia's fate: Pecco, having risen from thirteenth to tenth, crashed at the Variante del Parco on the sixth lap and continued the now humiliating series of retirements at home.
With Marquez in the lead, the one who initially seemed to be making life difficult for him was Jorge Martin. The championship leader even overtook his compatriot's Ducati on lap seven, extending his lead at the top of the standings to 19 points. But Marc wasn't having it, staying in his compatriot's exhausts and on lap 12, he rejoined the Curva del Rio. And for Aprilia, the problems had just begun: a lap later, Martin gave the first taste of his difficulties by running wide and losing contact with the leader. On lap 14, he also ceded second place to the other Marquez: Alex, who thus gave Team Gresini an absolutely impressive result on the very Sunday that commemorates Marco Simoncelli with his iconic 2011 livery. But it wasn't over: on lap 16, Martin also missed out on the podium to a very inspired Pedro Acosta on KTM, only to finish fifth after also suffering an attack from Fermin Aldeguer. Thus, the arithmetic presents a crazy and perfect scenario: the two MotoGP leaders tied on 274 points.
And to think that after Mugello, Marquez was a full 102 points behind the championship lead, a position he closed just before his return to Italy. And the Catalan, despite being cohabiting, regains the championship lead for the first time since last season's final race: Valencia 2025, a full 301 days ago. It's worth noting that on this occasion, Ducati even regained its lead in the constructors' championship, overtaking a sluggish Aprilia by two points on the very Sunday that Bagnaia became the rider to ride it the most in a MotoGP GP. It's a shame he celebrated this milestone with a retirement, but the same outcome at Misano could prove even more serious for Bezzecchi. The rider from Romagna now falls to 33 points behind his teammate and the reigning champion, increasingly with the wind in his sails. After all, Martin had been clear since Thursday: "Compared to them, I have a bit less." And at Aprilia, after having dominated at the start of the season, it is now legitimate to tremble.
