"Predator" Marc Marquez’s Misano MotoGP win "like winding back the clock"

Marc Marquez’s dramatic San Marino MotoGP victory was the starting point on this week’s Crash.net MotoGP podcast.

Returning to the scene of his final Honda victory, in 2021, Marquez took advantage of a mid-race shower to surge from ninth on the grid to his second win in a week.

To top it all, the victory came at Ducati and the Gresini team’s home round, while racing in retro colours as a tribute to the late Fausto Gresini.

Podcast host Jordan Moreland said: “It’s two wins in two races for Marc Marquez after a dramatic San Marino Grand Prix. Pete, if it followed the pattern of Saturday’s race it looked like being Martin and Bagnaia at the front again. But the weather gods intervened and Marc Marquez took his opportunity, like he often does in these conditions.”

“It was Marc the predator again, wasn't it?” replied Crash.net MotoGP editor Pete McLaren. “Marc thought he'd destroyed his weekend in qualifying, starting 9th on the grid. No one wins at Manzano from that far back! And then we have this mid-race rain shower, which is almost like a pace car situation.

“Everyone closed up, and that was his moment. He gained all those positions, took the lead and then managed a 17-lap head-to-head with Bagnaia. Then there was that great line in parc ferme about 'Fausto sprinkling some rain’.

“Okay, Pecco was injured and knew Martin was out of the picture. But the pace that Marc had at the end of the race, setting a new lap record, is what he’ll take into the next round.

“It sets things up for a rematch between all three in two weeks.”

MotoGP journalist Lewis Duncan added: “Marc had the pace from Friday but without that rain, I think we were looking at a completely different Grand Prix for him. He was fifth in the Sprint and when he was in traffic in the GP he was losing one-second to the leaders.

“But the best generally rise to the top in those difficult conditions. Everyone else backed off whereas he saw the rain and thought ‘game on’. He overtook five guys in one lap, including Pecco. Then the conditions settled down and he could control the pace at the front. That was the real genius and it was like winding back the clock again for Marc.”

McLaren said: “It was only one year ago at Misano that all the rumours of him leaving Honda broke into the open. Now he’s returned to Misano with a factory Ducati contract in his pocket and taken his second MotoGP win in a week.

“It’s remarkable how much things have changed for him in a year. And now he's building confidence every week, which is when Marc is most 'dangerous' as an opponent. His ride in the rain showed how confident he is now. 

"Let's see where he can go from here because he's not out of the title fight yet…”

“Definitely not,” said Moreland. “He seems really comfortable with his set-up since Austria. He's now 53 points off the championship lead. Marquez brushed it off by saying ‘well, I’m closer to the points lead than last week’.”

“When Marc said those comments, you could see the twinkle in his eyes, it is starting to dawn on him that this is now possible,” said Duncan. “It's three races in a row now that he’s hit the ground running on a Friday.

“53 points isn't a big gap anymore, you get 37 points for a weekend and we've seen over the past few weeks how quickly things can change. Both Pecco and Martin have had their moments or problems, while Marc has found consistency.

“I think they will start to be worried about that because he's got nothing to lose. There's no expectation on him to win a championship in his first year, on a GP23, versus the reigning double world champion and guy that was runner-up last year on GP24s.

“There is more expectation on them and Marc will know that.”