Marc Marquez will chase a hat-trick of Grand Prix victories when the 14th round of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship, the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna, is held at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in Italy, on the afternoon of Sunday 22 September.
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Marquez has secured back-to-back wins in the last two rounds in Aragon and San Marino (the latter of which was held at the same Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli as this weekend's round will be), underlining his return to top form on the Gresini Racing Ducati.
"This one [win] was totally unexpected, especially because starting in ninth place, without those drops [of rain] it was impossible to fight with the top guys,” said Marquez, who is now 53 points off the pace of Riders' Championship leader Jorge Martin.
“We knew that our second part of the race was super strong and for me, the most important thing… okay, one point is to lead the race, but the other point is to open a gap to the world champion and to Pecco [Francesco Bagnaia] who is super fast here.”
Ducati Lenovo rider Bagnaia came home in second place but it was a strong result for him, given that in the previous race he suffered a horrendous crash which left him in physical pain, in addition to closing to within seven points of Prima Pramac Ducati’s Martin at the head of the table.
Martin made a major tactical error by pitting for a wet-weather bike during a light rain storm. His rivals, such as Bagnaia and Marquez, stayed out on the track and were quickly rewarded by the rain stopping and the track drying out. Martin then had to pit for a second time to get back on his dry-weather set-up and ultimately only managed a 15th place finish – his worst result of the season (outside of ‘did not finish’ in Spain and Germany).
“I was quite comfortable, but it started raining heavily in sectors one, two, and three. For this reason, I decided to change bikes," Martin explained.
He added, “Yeah, for sure, rolling the dice maybe sometimes is not the best choice when you are battling for a championship. So next time I won't do it. I will stick to Pecco’s decision and do the same! I’ve learned my lesson, and now it’s time to look ahead.”
Martin can be confident of competing for honours in the Emilia Romagna GP, having won the sprint race at the same track in the previous round and being in contention for the full-length victory before his ill-advised pit stop.
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Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna broadcast details, 21-22 September
All times CAT
Saturday 21 September
12:45: MotoGP Qualifying – LIVE on SuperSport Variety 1
15:00: MotoGP Sprint Race – LIVE on SuperSport Variety 1 and SuperSport Maximo 2
Sunday 22 September
10:00: Moto3 Race – LIVE on SuperSport Variety 1
11:15: Moto2 Race – LIVE on SuperSport Variety 1
13:00: MotoGP Race – LIVE on SuperSport Variety 1