Marc Marquez became a MotoGP race winner again at the Sachsenring in an enthralling 2025 German Grand Prix sprint.
It was the first time a MotoGP sprint ended without a Marquez 1-2 in 2025 and for a long time it looked like it'd be Marc's second sprint defeat of the season - but a remarkable, occasionally reckless comeback meant he has another Sachsenring win to his name.
Marquez kept the lead off the line but overshot Turn 1 hugely, filtering back into the pack in fifth place on corner exit. He quickly picked off his fellow front-row starter Johann Zarco, then just as quickly was pounced on by a charging Fabio Di Giannantonio.
Di Giannantonio and Marquez remained locked in battle on lap two, Marquez lunging at Turn 1 and Di Giannantonio countering at Turn 2. Two laps later, Marquez made the move stick at the final corner.
Up ahead of them, Marco Bezzecchi had established an early lead - and it grew when his closest pursuer Franco Morbidelli went down in a fast, scary crash at Turn 8, the same place he'd fallen in qualifying.
This time, it was followed by a violent tumble through the gravel, with Morbidelli's suit ending up unzipped in the process and the Italian struggling to get up on his feet.
He was eventually taken to the medical centre for a check-up and diagnosed with a severe contusion to the left collarbone. Morbidelli will be transferred to Chemnitz Hospital for further evaluation.
Morbidelli's crash promoted Fabio Quartararo to second, but with Marquez having moved into third the Yamaha rider was powerless to keep much of a buffer for long - or keep Marquez behind once the Ducati had caught up.
Marquez so nearly highsided at Turn 2 right after overtaking Quartararo, but - with just under seven laps left and a two-second gap to Bezzecchi - he refused to settle for second.
He eroded Bezzecchi's lead over the next few laps, doing much of the damage through the left-handers of the third sector, and finally arrived on the back of Bezzecchi's Aprilia with two laps left.
A Turn 1 overtake followed on the final lap and, though Marquez ran slightly wide and Bezzecchi tried to stay ahead by running a tighter line, Marquez had the inside into Turn 2 and forced his way past.
He then broke away, finishing nine tenths clear of the Aprilia rider.
Quartararo, in one of his finer wet-weather rides in MotoGP, fought off Di Giannantonio on the final lap to claim his first sprint podium.
Jack Miller was the second Yamaha in fifth, followed by KTM's Brad Binder and LCR Honda's Zarco - who struggled in the early laps but recovered to pick off Alex Marquez on the final lap.
The younger Marquez now trails his brother by 78 points in the standings, but he still outscored Pecco Bagnaia, third in the championship, as the factory Ducati man struggled badly in the conditions - like he had done in qualifying.
Bagnaia thus wasn't really a factor in the battle for ninth place and the final point, which came down to a late overtake by Pedro Acosta on Fermin Aldeguer.
This, though, was after Acosta's race was compromised by a long trip through the gravel while in pursuit of Marc Marquez.
