Marquez wins San Marino MotoGP as leader Martin pays for rain gamble
The Peninsula
Misano Adriatico, Italy: Marc Marquez won the San Marino and Rimini Riviera MotoGPon Sunday while Francesco Bagnaia closed in on championship leader J...
Misano Adriatico, Italy: Marc Marquez won the San Marino and Rimini Riviera MotoGP on Sunday while Francesco Bagnaia closed in on championship leader Jorge Martin whose gamble on pitting for rain tyres came with a heavy cost.
After going three years without a GP win, Spaniard Marquez won his second in as many weeks, finishing over three seconds ahead of pole-sitter Bagnaia after bursting through from ninth on the starting grid.
The six-time MotoGP champion's stunning win in front of nearly 90,000 spectators at Misano Adriatico means he is now 53 points behind countryman Martin, who will be licking his wounds after a disastrous Sunday.
Martin pitted with 20 laps remaining to change his bike as it began to rain on the "Marco Simoncelli" circuit in the hope that he would have the better of it on a wet track.
But Martin was the only one of the title contenders to do so and the rain, which was forecast to fall heavily in the afternoon, slackened almost immediately after he exited the pit.
