Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider Marc Marquez extended his lead at the top of the MotoGP 125cc World Championship standings with a convincing victory in the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano, Italy.
The win was the sixth of the season for Marquez, whose lead in the overall standings increased to nine points over closest rival Nico Terol, who finished second, with Efren Vasquez completing another Spanish clean sweep of the podium positions in third.
Despite having problems with his tyres early on in the race, Marquez was rarely troubled as he scored his first GP win since Germany three races ago, following seventh and 10th placed finishes in the Czech Republic and the United States.
The margin of victory was a comfortable 2.185 seconds over terol, with Vasquez over five seconds behind Marquez, who was relieved to be back to winning ways.
"I think it's very important [to win again] because I think this win is more than just a victory, it's great for me and the team for our confidence. The race was very tactical. I knew that Nico [Terol] was the most dangerous rider, so I followed him for the opening laps.
"Maybe it was the new tyres, I'm not sure, but I didn't have a good feeling, but in the last laps with older tyres it felt better and it was easier to go faster, completely the opposite to the start.
"After Indianapolis it was important to get the victory again and we'll see what happens in [the next race] Aragon, but my confidence and motivation is 100 percent."
Meanwhile, tragedy overshadowed the Moto2 race at the same track, where Scott Redding's hopes of victory after gaining pole position in qualifying were dashed as he was involved in the collision that led to the death of Shoya Tomizawa.
The tragic accident occurred when Tomizawa lost control of his bike on one of the Misano circuit's high-speed corners and came off just ahead of Alex Di Angeles and Redding, who could not avoid crashing into the Japanese rider and each other, leaving all three riders on the track.
Tomizawa appeared to take the brunt of the impact and was taken to nearby Cesena Hospital and then to the Riccione Hospital on the Adriatic coast where he was confirmed dead.
Incredibly, Di Angeles walked away from the incident, while Redding left the track on a stretcher and received treatment at the Misano Medical Centre.
The race continued and was won by Toni Elias, whose victory was his fourth in a row in the Moto2 category.
MotoGP 125cc San Marino result
1) Marc Marquez (SPA) Derbi 39min 56.119s
2) Nico Terol (SPA) Aprilia +2.185s
3) Efren Vasquez (SPA) Derbi +5.628s
4) Bradley Smith (GBR) Aprilia +5.912s
5) Sandro Cortese (GER) Derbi +6.378s
6) Pol Espargaro (SPA) Derbi +7.091s
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