Marc Márquez punches Valentino Rossi at his home

BarcelonaThe years go by and the relationship between Marc Márquez and Valentino Rossi remains tense. Although ll Dottore It's been four years since he left MotoGP. Thus, every visit by the Cerverí to the Misano Circuit, located 50 kilometers from Urbino, Rossi's birthplace, is like going to the enemy's home. The Italian has been present at the circuit this weekend, and even crossed paths with Márquez in the pit lane, but they didn't look at each other. On Saturday, with Márquez's crash during the sprint, the cameras saw Rossi's smile slip away, celebrating. On Sunday, the World Championship leader got his revenge: he won the long race, to the desperation of the home crowd, and left the title within easy reach. He could be champion in Japan and equal Rossi's nine titles, seven of them in MotoGP.

Saturday's crash served as an example for Marc Márquez, who has learned his lesson. In the morning, at the warm upHe was gaining confidence by being the fastest in the session. In the race, he preferred to take it easy, biding his time. He made a good start but didn't push the machine from the outset. The 27 laps were more than enough time to analyze the situation and wait for his moment to take the lead. From the outset, Bezzecchi, starting from pole position, held the initiative. Halfway through, the Italian made a mistake and overshot his braking position, leaving the lead on a silver platter for the Catalan. In the remaining ten laps, he maintained his pace without making any mistakes and made one last push at the end, including a fastest lap, to make it clear who was in charge and give his rival no hope.

The final gaps could have been greater. Márquez looked relatively comfortable on the bike, but he was threatened with a penalty for going off track three times. This forced him to brake slightly in the final stretch. He was more cautious than usual. Bezzhecchi was also threatened with a penalty. However, the Italian took a risk at the end to try to force a mistake from his rival. The World Championship leader didn't fall for the bait and crossed the finish line first and alone. His eleventh win of the season.

For the rest, it was just leftovers. Starting with Álex Márquez, who had to settle for third place on the podium on a bumpy Sunday with many crashes in San Marino. This means the championship heads to Japan, where his brother Marc will have the first. match ball for being champion, precisely on the home of Honda, the bike with which he had won all six premier-class titles until he decided to make the jump to Ducati.

Thus, Bezzecchi regained first place, and Àlex Márquez, who climbed from third to second, never put his victory in danger. One of the riders from Valentino Rossi's team, Fabio Di Giannantonio, took third place on the podium. With this result, Àlex was only able to take nine points off Marc in the sprint race. Therefore, Marc will already have a chance of winning the MotoGP title in two weeks at the Japanese Grand Prix.