Ducati Lenovo Team's Spanish rider Marc Marquez won the San Marino Moto GP Sprint Race at Misano, northern Italy

Misano Adriatico (Italy) (AFP) - MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez led almost all the way to win the San Marino Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday ahead of his Aprilia rivals.

The Ducati star beat his two main world title challengers, both riding Aprilias, finishing 1.068sec ahead of Italian Marco Bezzecchi, with fellow Spaniard Jorge Martin crossing third in northern Italy.

Bezzecchi had started from pole position after setting a Misano track record in qualifying, but Marquez got off to a better start and overtook on the inside at the first corner.

From there on it was a dominant display for Marquez who is targeting his eighth top-class championship and his 10th overall.

At the controls of his factory Ducati, the 33-year-old had a one-second lead over his rivals after five laps.

Bezzecchi fought back and managed to close the gap slightly but had no real chance of catching up to the older of the Marquez brothers.

Championship leader Martin, starting from the second row, moved into third place halfway through the 13-lap race.

The battle for the riders’ title is heating up among the three contenders, with Martin 14 points ahead of Marquez and Bezzecchi 22 points off the leader.

On Sunday, Marquez is looking to repeat his success at the Aragon GP where he won both races, against a “very fast Marco (Bezzecchi)” who had started from pole.

“Same tyre as in Aragon, same strategy as in Aragon,” said Marquez, who explained his choice of a medium rear tyre had helped contain Bezzecchi’s aggression on soft tyres.

“Marco will be the man to beat (on Sunday). He has something extra; he’s going to attack.”

“We saw today that he never gives up.”

Bezzecchi is targeting his first MotoGP world title this year after finishing third last season.

“Overall it was a good day,” said Bezzecchi.

“At the end, when I got confidence, I started to go faster and because of this, I’m very happy.”