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.
Marc Marquez drives during the Qualifying session at the Balaton Park Circuit
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 tyre.
But Bezzecchi was able to breathe a sigh of relief when Aldeguer nearly lost control on a chicane before he regained balance and rejoined in fifth place behind Fernandez.
With Marquez in cruise control up front and Acosta unable to mount a challenge as he cut his losses, Bezzecchi secured the final podium spot despite struggling with grip and tyre issues.
“It was a very tough sprint. Very, very difficult because the track was pretty strange, the grip at the beginning especially was very low,” Bezzecchi said.
“So it was difficult for me to find the rhythm. Fortunately the start was good … I started to really have troubles with the rear (tyre), so very happy with this result. It came with a lot of tough moments.”
