MISANO DAY 1: BEZZECCHI TAKES Q2 POLE AS MARC MARQUEZ WINS THE SPRINT

Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli’s Friday afternoon session delivered a tight picture across the MotoGP field, with small margins shaping who could go straight into Q2 and who felt confident about the race direction for the San Marino GP weekend.

On the Gresini side, Alex Marquez set the tone early with a clear sense of improvement. He said the day started well: “It was a good day; already in the morning I felt great.” Marquez also praised the bike’s retro-livery for the Marco Simoncelli GP, confirming the team will race in that design on Sunday.

From a technical and setup standpoint, the Spaniard explained that Misano demands a particular riding approach at the start of the stint. “Misano is a track where, from a riding style point of view, you have to be a bit more consistent at the beginning,” he said. The team tested multiple changes, and Marquez highlighted how tyre choice affected the references. With the medium tyre, he reported a strong pace, while the soft tyre shifted the baseline: “With the soft tyre the references changed a lot. But with the second attempt we managed to get a good time.”

Marquez also described the work as both thorough and directional. “We worked really well from the start again. Then we went into the details of the track. This time it went in the opposite direction,” he said, calling it a useful test rather than a wasted day. He added an important detail about tyre transitions: “Here, for the change from medium to soft, you have to change the bike completely; it’s not just a few clicks on the chassis.”

Looking ahead to race pace, Marquez framed the weekend as a step forward compared with Aragon. “As for the race pace, we are closer here than in Aragon,” he said. He stressed that the qualifying attack still needs to be executed properly, especially when fighting for the championship, but noted that the pressure profile is different for him this time: “We will try everything tomorrow, of course.”

He also referenced a recent adaptation to his steering setup. “It fits, everything is good. I prefer it like this—sometimes with the glove I would accidentally touch a button or lever. Now I can move a bit more on the bike,” Marquez said after day one in Misano.

While Marquez focused on race-direction confidence, the session’s qualifying story was dominated by the battle for direct Q2 access on Sprint-Saturday. Speedweek reported that roughly half a second decided the entire field’s direct Q2 qualification. With Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez absent and landing on P12 in Misano, only two Aprilias made it into Q2 directly.

Marco Bezzecchi topped the comparison, beating Marc Marquez’s time, but Jorge Martin—despite being the championship leader—finished “only” tenth. Martin lost about half a second to his Italian teammate and explained that the gap wasn’t concentrated in one single corner. “If you compare the data from Marco and me here, there isn’t one decisive place. It’s very small differences spread across the whole lap,” he said.

Martin pointed to a bigger underlying factor: his riding style versus the grip level at Misano. “The real point is our style. I knew I wouldn’t find it easy here on a track that offers so much more grip than the circuits recently,” he admitted. He added that the soft tyre changed the balance more dramatically than he expected: “With the soft tyre the balance changes a lot, and I wasn’t set for that—so that’s what we have to react to.”

In the attack mode, Martin described being fully stretched. “In attack mode it hits me hard. I was completely at the limit and I took a lot of risks to get a good lap time,” he said. Even then, he felt he was still short of what he believes he can extract: “In the end I was still far from what I can really get out of it. Of course I’m not satisfied, but we got the best out of it—now we have to work.”

There was also a technology note during the session. Martin tested a new radio communication system at the start of qualifying—one planned for all riders from 2027—but later removed it. “I think the system is generally good, but today it slightly hindered me. I wanted to keep my full concentration, so I removed it,” he said.

Conditions in FP2 were also described as tricky after rain overnight, with damp patches early and an initial deficit of around four seconds versus qualifying pace. As more bikes went out, the gap halved within ten minutes and the session settled into “normal” conditions with medium tyre running. Near the end, the field tightened again, with Bezzecchi and Martin separated by just 0.015 seconds, and Marc Marquez then edging the Aprilia duo by 0.007 seconds in the final laps.

Luca Marini also stood out in the Honda camp, reaching the top group before a mistake in turn 3 sent him off track and back to the garage to repair the bike for Q2. Elsewhere, Fabio Di Giannantonio made Friday one of his key targets at his home event, finishing fourth—just over two tenths behind Bezzecchi—to secure direct Q2. Johann Zarco ended the session eighth and said the times were a new benchmark, while Franco Morbidelli’s afternoon swung between strong pace and a later penalty after an incident in turn 13.

The later Q2 picture then underlined how quickly fortunes could change: with ideal conditions in the final session, Marc Marquez, the Aprilia duo of Bezzecchi and Martin, and Raul Fernandez all featured, alongside Pedro Acosta and Pol Espargaro, Zarco and Marini, and both VR46 riders Di Giannantonio and Morbidelli. Fermin Aldeguer, who had to go through Q1, was also in the mix. In the opening runs, Alex Marquez led briefly before slipping in the second sector, and Marc Marquez then took over with a 1:30.504. Bezzecchi responded with a first 1:29,982, and while Marc Marquez pushed to reel him in, he had to abort an attempt after a slide in turn 8. A second crash struck Alex Marquez again, while Marc Marquez ultimately had to stop, leaving pole at the home race for Bezzecchi, with the Italian starting ahead of Marc Marquez and Aldeguer.

The Sprint result carried extra weight into the weekend narrative. Speedweek noted that Valentino Rossi had predicted Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez would have an edge in speed and pace, and the race played out accordingly: Marc Marquez took the lead at the start and held it to win, celebrating his 21st Sprint victory. Bezzecchi finished second and Martin third, with Marc Marquez extending his advantage in the championship fight by reducing his deficit to Martin by five points, leaving him 13 behind the championship leader.

Speedweek added further detail on how Marquez controlled the Misano Sprint from second on the grid: he “sprinted hard” to the first braking point and again got the better of Bezzecchi, who had not launched as perfectly. Marquez said: “I wanted from the beginning to lead, also because of the tyre choice with the medium tyre and ‘Bez’ on the soft tyre. I took a high risk and pushed.” He described the race as a balance of pushing and risk management: “Then it was pure risk management. When I had the gap, I relaxed a bit. But then the advantage got smaller and I had to increase the risk again.”

For Bezzecchi, the Sprint ended with frustration tempered by progress. He had taken pole in Q2 with a 1:29.982, becoming the first rider to dip under 1:30 on the Adriatic circuit and setting a lap record. After the Sprint, he said: “I’m very happy. That’s my best Sprint result this season, finally better than third.” He added that pole followed by a podium was “fantastic,” and that the team had done “a very good job,” leaving them ready for Sunday’s longer race.

Martin’s podium came after a difficult start to the Sprint. Speedweek reported that his first attempt to pass Fabio Di Giannantonio shortly after the start had to be aborted, and that only after the halfway point could he secure the final podium spot. Speaking after the ceremony, Martin said: “I wanted no to take too big a risk to overtake Fabio Di Giannantonio.” He also explained that finding the right moment for the attack was hard, adding: “I had problems with my medium-hard rear tyre, attacking Diggia on the soft compound.” He spent six laps behind Di Giannantonio before finally getting past in the seventh round.

Martin also reflected on the wider weekend picture. After direct Q2 qualification, he said he was “completely at the limit,” and that in Q2 he ended up with start position 5, with Bezzecchi taking half a second. After the Sprint, he said he was “improving with every lap,” but also admitted it had been “an overall very difficult weekend,” adding: “I hope we improve further.”