The MotoGP title battle ignited at the San Marino Grand Prix as Jorge Martin’s brilliant double victory allowed him to close the gap on championship leader Francesco Bagnaia. Pramac’s Martin broke his pole duck in 2023 with a stunner in qualifying to smash the lap record, and duly converted this into dominant wins in the sprint and the grand prix.
It has allowed him to cut the championship lead down from 50 at the start of the weekend to 36 to Bagnaia, who battled through the pain of his injured leg to take a brace of thirds. It was nonetheless a valiant effort from Bagnaia and fellow injured Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Academy) to grit their teeth, delighting a feverish home crowd in the baking sunshine.
Elsewhere, Dani Pedrosa returned to star as KTM’s wildcard, while getting tongues wagging about the marque’s new carbon fibre chassis.
Off track, Marc Marquez continued to dominate the headlines as rumours of him breaking contract with Honda gathered amid links to Gresini Ducati. But the weekend was overshadowed by the sad news of the passing of IRTA founder Mike Trimby, whose efforts over the last 40 years shaped MotoGP into the championship it is today.
Here is everything we learned from the 2023 MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix.