Ducati's Marquez back to his best with Hungarian Grand Prix sprint win

June 6 : Marc Marquez delivered a masterclass performance to win Saturday's MotoGP sprint at the Hungarian Grand Prix, leading from start to finish at Balaton Park despite telling fans just days earlier to 'forget' about him even fighting for a podium.

The Ducati rider, who recently recovered from double surgery on his shoulder and foot last month, controlled the race from pole position to finish 1.548 seconds clear of KTM's Pedro Acosta.

The victory also saw Marquez tie Jorge Martin's record of 18 sprint victories in MotoGP, capping a remarkable turnaround from his modest pre-race expectations on Thursday.

"If you're starting on the front row, it's a big help and then the strategy was to push in the beginning. That is when I'm feeling fresh and I survived in the end," Marquez said after his third sprint victory of the season.

"So the strategy works in a better way. Tomorrow will be a longer race, let's see how we can manage."

Aprilia's championship leader Marco Bezzecchi finished third after starting sixth on the grid while Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez came in fourth.

MARQUEZ STORMS INTO LEAD

When the lights went out, Marquez shot away from pole to lead into turn one ahead of Acosta, while Bezzecchi made a superb start to jump from sixth on the grid to third.

Marquez wasted no time implementing an aggressive strategy, streaking away to build more than a second's advantage in just two laps.

"It was amazing, the pace that he put from the beginning," Acosta said.

"I take like some laps to be ready for the push but anyway, we have to be happy ... We have to just try to improve for (the race) tomorrow."

Behind the leading duo, Bezzecchi was fighting to hang on to third as Gresini Racing's Fermin Aldeguer stayed glued to his rear