Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta were involved in a thrilling battle for the race win at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Marquez started on pole, but Acosta took the lead at the start of lap two. The KTM rider held the lead until lap 14, and while he saw off the first assault (which saw them make contact), he had to concede defeat a lap later.
Marquez comfortably held on thereafter, eventually crossing the line 1.3 seconds ahead of Acosta for his first Grand Prix win since his season-ending shoulder injury last autumn.
What does Marc Marquez’s tense battle with Pedro Acosta in Hungary get out of 10?
Marc Marquez was supposed to struggle ‘in close combat’
Marquez had led start to finish in a serene Sprint, but Ducati still had doubts going into the main race.
The reigning world champion had tired during the Italian GP a week earlier, slipping from fourth to seventh as his lack of fitness showed. It was only a month ago that Marquez underwent surgery on his shoulder and foot.
One of Ducati’s ‘top officials’ told El Periodico on Saturday evening: “It will still be a while before Marc can compete in close combat, but when he does, you won’t see him – say goodbye to him. It’ll be tough for him, but he’s working on it, and you can tell by the smile on his face.”
As such, it was a surprise for Ducati, 24 hours later, to see Marquez hold his own in ‘close combat’ against Acosta, who had got the better of him in a protracted battle at Mugello.
Marc Marquez is the first rider EVER to hit 100 wins and 100 poles, but is he better in qualifying or the race? 💯
Marquez is clearly riding a superior bike, but crucially, he got stronger rather than weaker as the race went on.
On the record, Davide Tardozzi said Marquez still isn’t 100%, so this was an ominous performance from a rider who still hasn’t been knocked decisively out of title contention.
Marquez’s factory teammate Francesco Bagnaia, who finished third, has already predicted that Marquez will be the quickest at Brno in two weeks’ time and expects him to be ‘incredibly fast’ at the Dutch GP too (via Motosprint).
Ducati were optimistic about Marquez’s chances coming into the Balaton Park weekend given the slow-speed, less demanding nature of the layout.
With a fortnight to recover and train, he should be in considerably better position come Brno, a worrying proposition for Marco Bezzecchi and Aprilia. They needed to maximise their points before he hit 100%, but Jorge Martin’s loss of control at turn one prevented them from doing so.
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