BEZZECCHI STARTS MISANO SPRINT-TO-GP WEEKEND FROM POLE AFTER 1:29 LAP

The San Marino Grand Prix at Misano is set to get underway at 14:00 local time (13:00 BST), with Marco Bezzecchi starting from pole after delivering his first-ever 1m29s lap in qualifying. The Italian’s pace was already evident in the Sprint, where he was beaten to victory by Marc Marquez. Bezzecchi’s bid was compromised by time lost at the start, but Marquez still pointed to him as the rider to beat heading into Sunday, describing Bezzecchi as the favourite for the grand prix.

A home double remains the headline storyline for Bezzecchi: a win in Misano would follow his earlier Italian Grand Prix success this season. For Marquez, the prize is different—another victory would be his seventh premier-class win at the Misano World Circuit.

Jorge Martin enters the race with momentum from Saturday’s Sprint. He finished third after starting fifth, and that result keeps him leading the championship by 14 points over Marquez. Martin’s performance also came with a reminder of how close the Spaniard felt to trouble: he said he was “about to crash” before making a key change that helped him turn the situation around.

The Sprint also delivered a memorable opening-lap battle between Fermin Aldeguer and Pedro Acosta. Aldeguer enjoyed the fight, but it cost him track position in the race that he couldn’t recover, with the issue traced to tyre pressure being set too high. Acosta, meanwhile, called the duel “stupid”, while adding that it was “fair”.

There was further context across the grid. Honda’s Luca Marini took ninth and explained why some manufacturers couldn’t use the medium rear tyre in the way Marquez did to win the Sprint. Joan Mir, who finished 20th in the Sprint, revealed after the race that he has been dealing with an illness this weekend. Fabio Quartararo was also in the mix near the back after crashing while trying to pass Diogo Moreira.

Finally, both Bezzecchi and Martin will race in special livery inspired by Gilles Villeneuve, while also celebrating Vespa, a brand owned by the same Piaggio Group that owns Aprilia.