The San Marino Grand Prix at Misano delivered one of the messiest races of the MotoGP season, and when the dust settled on Sunday, Marc Marquez had his fifth win of the year and the championship lead for the first time in 2026.
The race turned on lap one. Home favourite Marco Bezzecchi, riding for Aprilia in a special white livery at the team's home track, crashed out at Turn 12 while trying to build an early gap, his bike cartwheeling across the gravel in front of stunned Italian fans. Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia went the same way, retiring at his home race for the fourth time in five rounds, leaving Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali visibly crushed in the pit lane.
Jorge Martin, the other title contender, briefly looked like the winner when he passed Marquez on lap 7. But Marquez fired back on lap 12 with a dive into Turn 6, and from there he was untouchable. His brother Alex chased hard on the Gresini Ducati but couldn't find a way through, with KTM's Pedro Acosta completing the podium. Fermin Aldeguer finished fourth, demoting Martin to fifth — an all-Spanish top five.
The standings are now extraordinarily tight: Marquez and Martin level on 274 points, with Marquez ahead only on race wins. That's a remarkable turnaround for the seven-time champion, who trailed Bezzecchi by 102 points after the Italian Grand Prix in May. Bezzecchi, who led the standings earlier in the season, now sits 33 points back and watched the finish from the Aprilia garage. "I never give up. I will push until the end," Marquez said afterwards, while acknowledging that rivals are all riding at the limit and small mistakes — as Misano proved — can swing the title.
For travellers, this is the context for one of the most atmospheric race weekends in Europe. The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli sits on Italy's Adriatic coast, a short hop from the republic of San Marino, and the September round doubles as Aprilia's homecoming, complete with special liveries and a passionate Italian crowd. The 2026 race showed exactly why fans make the trip: title drama, sibling rivalry on the podium and a home-hero heartbreak, all in one afternoon. With Marquez, Martin and Bezzecchi separated by just a handful of results, the run-in to the championship looks like appointment viewing — and Misano remains one of the best-value ways to see it live. Full race report courtesy of Reuters via Daily Sabah Travel.