Why championship leader Marc Marquez is ‘laughing in his helmet’ after claiming latest impressive win at Hungarian GP

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Marc Marquez started the weekend at the Hungary Grand Prix as the favourite and ended it with wins in both the Sprint race and Sunday's full-length event. TNT Sports expert Neil Hodgson reflected on how far ahead the championship leader is. Marquez himself said that he had to be "patient" as he waited for a chance to overtake Marco Bezzecchi.

'Marc Marquez comes through' - Spaniard retakes the lead at Hungary Grand Prix

Video credit: TNT Sports

Marc Marquez enjoyed a routine win at the Hungary Grand Prix on Sunday, and Neil Hodgson believes the Spaniard will be "laughing" at how easy it is.

Marquez lost the lead to Marco Bezzecchi at the start, but took his time to line up a pass on his Italian rival as he slipped past him after a straight.

For the Ducati Lenovo rider, it marked a seventh double victory of the season, having already won the Sprint on Saturday afternoon.

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His nearest rival, younger brother Alex Marquez of BK8 Gresini, suffered a costly slide in the race as his mounting errors appear to be catching up with him of late.

The older brother seems destined to win the title short of any unforeseen disaster ahead, and he was one of the few riders to regularly record lap times quicker than 1:38.

Speaking on TNT Sports after the race, Hodgson said: "No one did a 37 lap in the race, except Marc. I'm pretty sure.

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"Maybe Pedro [Acosta] did one [Fermin Aldeguer also recorded one from last place on the track]. Imagine doing a 37.8 on the last lap when you don't need to.

"Talk about just putting your foot on someone else's head. He's laughing in his helmet! He will be!

"You know what Marquez is like. He'll come in and say to Gigi [Ducati Lenovo engineer Luigi Dall’Igna], 'Did you see my last lap?'"

Marquez’s Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia struggled on the same bike, and finished in ninth place.

Bagnaia was unable to match Marquez’s pace, and also received a long lap penalty which further harmed his chances.

That penalty came when the Italian did not drop one second after running wide and cutting a corner.

The two-time world champion has found it hard going to match his team-mate this year, and Hodgson noted how far apart the two riders are this season.

He added: "Pecco's in the 39s. Imagine being in the 39s and Marc is looking like that."

'This is super fast' - Marc Marquez sets lap record at Hungary Grand Prix

Video credit: TNT Sports

'I was patient' - Marquez explains route to victory

Speaking after the race, Marquez explained how he almost lost his way at the start of the race when he touched wheels with Bezzecchi.

He said: "On the first corner, when I saw that Marco was on my inside, I released the brakes and went wide because I didn’t want to have an incident in the first corner.

"Then on the second corner, I expected that he would have more corner speed, and in fact, he kept first gear, and I touched him, but luckily for both of us, I saved the crash; he continued.

"From that point, the race changed a bit. I was patient in the first laps, but then when I saw that the soft tyre started to drop and I was on the medium, I began to attack.

"I had a super good rhythm, I was flowing on track, so I am super happy!"

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