Marc Marquez overcame a shaky start and on-track chaos to win the 2025 Italian MotoGP Sprint at Mugello, extending his championship lead and ending Pecco Bagnaia’s dominant streak on home soil.
Lining up on pole, Marquez encountered last-second drama as he fiddled with his launch control system on the grid, briefly taking his hand off the throttle. The mishap saw him drop to seventh heading into Turn 1.
“I don’t know exactly what happened… the launch control was in, then I take it out, then I put it in again — and I lost a lot of positions. But we gave a good show out there!” Marquez said after the race.
Despite the setback, the factory Ducati rider quickly regained ground. By lap 4 of the 11-lap Sprint, he passed his younger brother Alex Marquez to seize the lead. The Marquez duo then began to distance themselves from Bagnaia, who had initially led but lacked the pace to respond.
Bagnaia’s run of five consecutive Mugello wins across Grand Prix and Sprint races came to an end as he settled for third, narrowly holding off a charging Maverick Vinales. The KTM rider had passed an injured Fabio Quartararo earlier to take fourth.
Quartararo, still nursing a shoulder injury from Friday’s crash, struggled in the closing laps and slipped to tenth.
All riders opted for soft rear and medium front tyres, except for KTM’s Pedro Acosta, Brad Binder, and Pramac’s Jack Miller, who went with a hard front. Binder’s race ended early after contact from Fabio Di Giannantonio at Turn 1, which also eliminated Johann Zarco as Binder’s sliding KTM took him out. Acosta crashed solo a lap later.
Despite threatening clouds, the race stayed dry.
Rookie Ai Ogura returned to action following injuries, while Honda’s Luca Marini remained absent due to multiple injuries from Superbike testing, with Takaaki Nakagami filling in. Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori continued to replace injured reigning world champion Jorge Martin.
Mugello’s reputation for top speed remained unmatched — although no new record was set this time, the benchmark of 227.5mph (366.1km/h), set by Brad Binder in 2023, still stands.
