Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1539282
I had something more or if I had to settle for second place, so I put in a push and managed to extend the gap." Acosta salvaged fourth, Quartararo took fifth, and Ogura impressed again with sixth. Ba - gnaia's charge ended in seventh, followed by Marini, Oliveira, and reigning champion Jorge Martin completing the top 10. bidelli, crashing out, and Fabio Di Giannantonio followed mo- ments later while trying to avoid the incident. By lap four, Alex slipped past Marc into turn one for the lead, while Acosta and Bastianini stalked close behind. Quartararo dropped into a fight for fifth with Marini and Zarco. Binder then crashed out, while Bagnaia finally started to do something on the GP25 and carved through from 22nd on the grid to climb into the top 10 by lap eight. Up front, Alex controlled the proceedings with Marc and Bastianini in close company. Zarco's strong run ended with a fall at turn 10, leaving Marini in fifth. Acosta began to fade by midrace, his soft rear tire crying, "enough," as the Marquez broth - ers and Bastianini pulled clear. With five laps remaining, Alex and Marc were trading tenths, the pair over a second quicker than anyone else in a blitzing display from the brothers. A couple of small errors cost Marc late race, giving Alex breathing room at the front. This time, there were no mis - takes as Alex Marquez claimed his second MotoGP victory, 1.7 seconds ahead of Marc, with Bastianini scoring his first Sun- day podium in KTM colors. "I feel really good, although it's true that yesterday's race is still on my mind a little—it left a bit of a thorn," Alex said. "But anyway, I already said that today I had to push throughout the whole race and manage the tires. In the last six laps, I thought it was time to find out if it's like we lost the difference we used to have in the past. Maybe now with this new aero, we're los- ing some other areas of handling. I think it's not missing a lot. Rear grip is not fantastic. Maybe more turning needs to improve com- pared to other riders. But stabil- ity is super good and braking is good. Stability is much better compared to test. But rear grip could be better." HONDA GETS ITS HOUSE IN ORDER Honda confirmed two more names for its MotoGP lineup in 2026, with Luca Marini remain- ing in the Honda HRC Castrol for a third straight season, while Johann Zarco was confirmed in LCR for a further two seasons. "It's good to confirm two years," said Zarco. "I wanted to have this chance to go and to do this 2027 season, because I believe that with these new regulations, new tires, there will be some random situations that with my experience, I can have chances of more podiums—more victories maybe—because I still believe I can play in this playground to be a top rider." Briefly... VOLUME 62 ISSUE 36 SEPTEMBER 9, 2025 P87 (Above) Francesco Bagnaia's Saturday was the worst of his career, but the Italian fought hard on Sunday to finish a credible seventh after slicing through the pack from 22nd on the grid. (Left) Miguel Oliveira (88) celebrated his axing from the Pramac Yamaha squad for 2026 by trouncing his teammate, Jack Miller, by five positions on Sunday.