Marco Bezzecchi scored Aprilia's first MotoGP sprint win of 2025, as presumed champion Marc Marquez crashed out from the lead.
Marquez had won 14 out of 15 sprints - finishing second in the other one - coming into Misano, and looked on course to adding a 15th win here.
Fourth on the grid, he eased past Fabio Quartararo off the line, worked his way around the outside of brother Alex Marquez at Turn 2 and latched on to the back of Bezzecchi's Aprilia.
But after finally overtaking Bezzecchi on the sixth lap, at Turn 6, Marquez immediately crashed out at the track's penultimate corner, restoring the Aprilia rider to the lead.
? @marcmarquez93 HAS CRASHED OUT OF THE LEAD! #SanMarinoGP ?? pic.twitter.com/xIRhnoipQM
Alex Marquez, who ran close behind the pair, put some pressure on Bezzecchi afterwards but ended up setting for second place - reinforcing the same place in the championship, as he still trails his brother by 173 points but leads Pecco Bagnaia by 77.
Bagnaia was a total non-factor from eighth on the grid, losing ground early on to drop out of the points-scoring top nine and never recovering - eventually taking the flag in 13th. Though Marquez non-scored, too, it was enough to mathematically eliminate Bagnaia from 2025 title contention.
At a loss to explain what happened ?
Quartararo has gone down ?#SanMarinoGP ?? pic.twitter.com/FJBSSCF5YL
Quartararo had exited the race at Turn 2 a lap before Marquez, their two crashes opening the door to an all-VR46 battle for the final podium spot - which ultimately went to Fabio Di Giannantonio over Franco Morbidelli.
The grid's youngest riders Pedro Acosta and Fermin Aldeguer both worked their way past Honda's Luca Marini before duking it out for fifth place, Acosta hanging on by 0.126s as KTM's sole Saturday points-scorer.
Behind Marini, Bezzecchi's team-mate Jorge Martin and Trackhouse Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez completed the top nine.
The V4 Yamaha's race debut was a rather inconspicuous one, Augusto Fernandez coming home in 18th place, 28 seconds back from the winner, his fastest lap just under two seconds down on Bezzecchi's.
In addition to Marquez and Quartararo, Brad Binder (KTM) was a retirement from the race, albeit his came due to a technical issue - the third time this weekend he's been halted by a bike problem.
