Marc Marquez wins San Marino Grand Prix to edge closer to MotoGP title

MISANO ADRIATICO, Italy : Ducati's Marc Marquez resisted a spirited challenge from Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi to win the San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday, taking his revenge after crashing out of the lead in Saturday's sprint, and inching closer to the MotoGP title.

Bezzecchi had inherited victory in the sprint when Marquez crashed out. This time, however, the determined Spaniard overtook the Aprilia rider on lap 12, having started on the second row of the grid, and never looked back.

Marquez's 11th race victory of the season takes him to 512 points - a record tally for a MotoGP rider in a single season - and he celebrated his victory by unzipping his leathers and holding his red suit up on the podium like a matador.

Gresini Racing's Alex Marquez finished a distant third and brother Marc, with a 182-point lead, can clinch his seventh title at the Japanese Grand Prix this month.

"Today I gave everything I had. It's true that the mistake from yesterday gave me extra concentration, extra power, extra energy," an exhausted Marc said.

"I was just there following him (Bezzecchi), trying to push him always super close, because it's impossible to do 27 laps without any mistake. And in the end, he did a small mistake on turn eight, and then I lead the race.

"Super important for Ducati, I felt the pressure this weekend."

Six more rounds remain but Marc can now win his first title since 2019 if he outscores Alex by just three points in Japan.

SUPERB LAUNCH

At the start, Marc had a superb launch off the line and he veered to the outside to quickly move up to second behind polesitter Bezzecchi while Alex was pushed down to third.

As the top three streaked away, Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo found it difficult to maintain that pace and he was soon