Marco Bezzecchi

Yes, yes.

It's tightened up a little bit or, like, narrowed down, I guess I should say, where, like, there's two, uh, Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin are within 12 points of each other with Jorge leading the championship, and then it's, like, another 30-some back to Marco Bezzecchi.

And then somewhere still within 60 points of the leaders is Pedro Acosta and Fabio Di Giannantonio.

So there's still, like, five people who are, like, like, two people who are definitely, like, actual fi- actually fighting for the title, and then another three who are in it to relatively varying degrees.

And then I guess, uh, what is your prediction for the podium in the Grand Prix?

Okay.

Well, I'm gonna throw in, uh, Marco Bezzecchi into the mix.

Um, I actually...

situation

he's going up against two of the same bike and the same team and it's like well they're kind of Yamaha but I'm not saying they are Yamaha but it's like It's a fascinating trio we have, even though Buzek is kind of a bit from it.

I still think it's like, what are you going to do? I was surprised by his Austria weekend, how well he actually, in the end, actually salvaged something.

And I'm like, well, if he's getting to tracks where he showed last year how good he is...

like a strong show again on a stop and go track with the different rear tyre so it shows that that bike is working well everywhere so yeah Martin is I don't know I still feel like we've not seen the best out of him I feel like he's got another little speed so if that comes now and he can carry that momentum well he's you know so yeah again I'm doing like Neil I'm changing my mind because for me after Misano it was all all day Matt Marquez

i think i'm with you though that there's still another level for jorge i still feel like i think so yeah i still don't feel it's perfect even though we saw what we did i still feel like there is you know he could probably extract more from that bike i'm just on the other side of the garage now while we're talking about uh aprilia is marco bezzecchi out of it what he seemed strangely happy with the weekend which i i found so weird confusing situation because he's now 42 points behind his teammate i mean that's got to be some confidence that you know it's gonna work he was quick in mandalika last year we know and maybe the flowing tracks maybe places like there he uh bez feels like he's gonna have a little bit more uh there and in sepang and those kinds of things but Well, that's some confidence, isn't it? Not saying it's been a bad weekend for Bez, but two third places isn't ideal.

No.

And if you saw his reaction in the car after the sprint race, he was giggling and laughing like he'd won, just been beaten by a teammate.

But for me, it was at that time I said after Misano, they probably didn't really know how to manage the medium rear tire in the race.

But later we learned that Jorge Martin at Ampam and Bezzecchi just made a silly mistake.

I know there's ifs and buts, but it's just a few ifs and buts.

And it's cool to win an Aprilia 1-2 in Misano.

That's who I'm running with.

And Alex or Benz in fourth.

Okay.

That's what's

Sunday.

Tyson, don't laugh at me, all right? Tyson.

I'm going with Benz first.

I knew he was going to laugh at me.

And he just came b- like a, like, uh, like, you know all those racing movies when you're down like 10 cars in stock car racing, like Stroke a Race or like Days, Days of Thunder, and then the star of the movie just fucking puts it to the floor and starts passing everybody? It's like, dude, why weren't you doing that the whole fucking race? It doesn't, doesn't make any sense, right? He's actually doing that in real life.

So in the main race, Marco Bezzecchi got out in the lead, and all Marc does is he just rides on your ass, and he gets in your fucking head, and then people try to do stuff, and then they just wipe out.

You know? Like imagine if you were swimming to shore and there was a great white shark behind you, okay? And he's not gonna eat you unless you panic.

He's just sort of curious, and you're swimming to shore, and you have to just... [laughs] That's what it, I feel like that's what it's like.

Time now to move on to MotoGP, the San Marino Grand Prix.

Marc Marquez took advantage of an opening lap crash for home hero Marco Bezzecchi to claim a dominant San Marino Grand Prix victory at Misano.

Marquez briefly lost the lead to Jorge Martin mid-race before charging back to seal his 78th career MotoGP win ahead of brother Alex Marquez.

So the 37-point weekend sweep moved the reigning champion to the top of the world championship standings for the first time in 2026, while Bezzecchi fell 33 points off the lead.

For the first time in 2026, Marc Marquez leads the championship standings after a shock early exit for Marco Bezzecchi, and a missed opportunity for Jorge Martin.

Hello, you're listening to the Crash MotoGP podcast with Pete McLaren, Lewis Duncan, and Amy Reynolds.

It's the morning after the San Marino Grand Prix, and Marc Marquez finds himself equal on points with Jorge Martin after this winning the San Marino Grand Prix.

Pete, this could be a pivotal part of this year's championship story.

Um, Marco Bezzecchi crashes out early, on lap one in fact, in the lead.

How much do you think pressure played a part in that?

It's a good question.

And, and it kind of, uh, builds on comments that Ducati made last year when, you know, people like Gigi Dall'Igna said, "Look, now we know why we never won championships against him, because, you know, this is a special, special rider is Marc Marquez." And when you are the rider on the receiving end of that, you know, that's hard to deal with.