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MotoGP riders and Team Managers reflect on Misano II

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2020 MotoGP Round Eight – Misano II

MotoGP Rider Quotes

Maverick Vinales – P1

“We did an amazing job this weekend, and we prepared really well for this race. Pecco was very fast, and I was pushing a lot throughout and trying to save a bit of tyre for the last ten laps. Then I started to push at the end, and I thought I was catching up with Pecco. But after he made a mistake, I just focused on keeping the bike with both wheels on the ground, trying to not crash and take the maximum amount of points. It‘s fantastic! I‘m very happy, because my mentality is exactly the same as it was last weekend and during the last races, but we just found a set-up that‘s a bit better for when we ride with 20 litres at the beginning of the race. I actually made a mistake in Turn 4. I was pushing a lot in the beginning, trying to open the gap. But when we were with only two riders, it was good. I want to say ’Thank you‘ to all the people who are supporting me at home. They know we‘ve had some tough times in our team, but it seems like we‘ve passed it, right now we have some good luck, and that‘s what counts. I‘m very happy and appreciate all the work from the team, and we need to continue like that, pushing very hard, because we have a lot more potential.”

Maverick Vinales
Joan Mir – P2

“It feels so nice to be here on the podium again! I know I need to improve my qualifying results, and that’s something we’ve been trying to work on, but I’m so glad that I was able to fight through for the podium despite starting 11th. I just kept trying to close the gap and stay focused, and it paid off. I’m so happy and I really hope I can enjoy another good result next weekend in Barcelona!”

Joan Mir
Pol Espargaro – P3

“We knew we were taking a gamble with the rear tire but I wanted to really enjoy the race. I also knew we’d have to deal with some drop-off in performance but that came much earlier than we expected. I was very fast at the beginning – with a bike I love – and I kept pushing and keeping Maverick close for some time. In the end I wanted to keep the others behind me and defend my position: that big effort paid off. With Fabio’s penalty we were able to do it…that’s why I never give up.”

Pol Espargaro and Fabio Quartararo
Fabio Quartararo – P4

“I’m really happy about my race, because it is important to finish in third position after all the weekends that we struggled. I received the long lap penalty, but I didn’t receive any messages about track limit warnings on my dashboard so I was a bit surprised by it. I know I had three times where I went over track limits, but the last two ones I didn’t know where they happened at the time. It is disappointing and frustrating to have this penalty, but I am looking forward to Barcelona. Overall I’m happy with my race because I had a good pace and, although it was difficult for us to overtake, I was fighting until the end to be on the podium. Also the start was much better and I feel like we have improved it a lot. Let’s see what we can do in Barcelona next weekend.”

Pol Espargaro and Fabio Quartararo
Miguel Oliveira – P5

“I’m happy about the race. We started far behind and we could manage to gain a few positions and also benefit from a couple of crashes. Our potential was there, we had a very good pace, I felt good with the bike and I made no mistakes, so I kept concentrated all the race. We managed to come out with a top 5, which was our goal from the beginning, plus scoring important points for the championship and now we go to Barcelona, can clean our minds now and have fun also there. I think we can have another good weekend!”

Miguel Oliveira and Danilo Petrucci
Takaaki Nakagami – P6

“I’m pretty happy to finish P6 again, inside the top six which from P12 on the starting grid was really tough, especially at the beginning of the race when there was a big group and I was struggling with my feeling with the front tyre as the tyre performance is not the best behind some bikes. But I was quite strong in sector three and I overtook some riders in sector four and my lap times were quite consistent until the end. We made another P6 so I’m happy and I want to say a big thanks to my team, because yesterday we had two crashes and they prepared my bike overnight and I really appreciate all their effort, this was a big team effort. Also a big thanks to all my sponsors and the team as they did a great job over these two weekends.”

Takaaki Nakagami
Alex Marquez – P7

“Last Sunday, and especially after the test, we managed to make some improvements. We were able to carry these improvements into this weekend and all weekend I have felt very strong. Throughout the weekend we had constant steps. In the race I started well and was aggressive early, which I am happy with. In the first laps I felt good and I was able to keep Dovi behind me for the race. Three laps from the end I had a big moment which allowed Nakagami to get through. Even with this I am pleased as I think we certainly had the pace for the top ten. I want to say thanks to the Repsol Honda Team for their hard work, we are coming stronger and now I am looking forward to Catalunya.”

Alex Marquez
Andrea Dovizioso – P8

“It was a complicated race. Unfortunately, when you start from the back, there is always the risk of wasting time, especially in the first laps. After the start there was a bit of confusion: at Turn 8 two riders fell in front of me and I had to brake, leaving room for two other opponents who overtook me. After a few laps, I finally found my rhythm, and I just thought about trying to stay constant. I felt better than last week, but I didn’t have a great pace and being so far behind, I couldn’t do any strategy. In the end, today we scored some points, and for now, we are still leading the standings, but of course, we cannot be satisfied with today’s result.”

Andrea Dovizioso and Takaaki Nakagami
Franco Morbidelli – P9

“I’m still trying to recover from my stomach bug, I have been feeling very sick. I have to say thanks to my dietician who has been able to give me the right foods to have enough energy for this race. Over the weekend I have been getting better, but I will go home and get checked just to see if there is something to aid recovery further. I hope to be at 100% in Barcelona. Despite this, I think we had the chance to be on the podium this weekend, but unfortunately another rider on the first lap took me out. I lost a lot of time there and I had a small issue with the bike, but I was able to make a good recovery. I’m happy though as I wasn’t expecting to finish ninth, so thanks to the team as well because they have done an unbelievable job with very little input from me this weekend. We now aim to arrive in Barcelona well prepared and ready to attack.”

Bradley Smith and Franco Morbidelli
Danilo Petrucci – P10

“It was another tough race. Right from the start, I didn’t find the same feeling I had in the practices. I started well, but I didn’t have confidence on the front, and I couldn’t stop the bike. Too bad because I felt I could have a good race today. I am happy with the progress we have been able to make compared to the previous races, but it is clear that we are still missing something. Fortunately, next week we will be back on track in Barcelona, where we will try to redeem ourselves.”

Danilo Petrucci
Johann Zarco – P11

“One race more finished, although it has been a difficult situation to handle. The choice of the rear tire was crucial, we chose an option thinking that it would give us some advantage from the second half of the race but this has not been the case. The pace has been very constant but a bit slow compared to the Top-10. Looking forward to Barcelona to continue improving.”

Johann Zarco
Alex Rins – P12

“Today was very difficult for us, I was struggling to stop the bike and also to maintain speed on corner entry. I felt this much more in the race than during the practices or qualifying. We have a few days before we’re back on track in Catalunya, so we’ll try to find the solution. I’m motivated to find the problem, and also to go to a new track, especially one that I like very much where I’ve had good results in the past.”

Alex Rins
Bradley Smith – P13

“The final result is okay, but I’m a bit disappointed with the wide gap behind the leader. The first stage of the race wasn’t bad and I was able to stay with the group. But today we started with an entirely different setting and I didn’t know what to expect, so the last 10 laps were rather difficult. These have been two peculiar weeks for us, with a lot of different sensations. I’ll take the good from the first 16 laps, done at a good pace, and we’ll have to start from them to tackle a vastly different track like Barcelona.”

Pecco Bagnaia – DNF

“It’s a pity , we were very fast, I had a good gap from Maverick, I wasn’t at my limit, I felt that all was perfect with my bike. I managed the tires for the last laps because I know that Maverick is very fast in the last part of the race. At the corner six I crashed and I didn’t know the why. We studied the data and we saw that I didn’t do anything wrong, the lines were the same and the inclination too. We think that I touched something strange like in that corner, we don’t know what it was, but there was something that dropped me. I was very sure while I rode, I managed the race lap by lap and I didn’t need to be aggressive with the tires. I’m looking forward to be in Barcelona in one week because we want to bounce back.”

Pecco Bagnaia
Jack Miller – DNF

“I’am very sad because I had started well and we could have had a good race, we had all the right conditions to make it. Unfortunately it was nobody’s fault, it was a very unlucky day because a tear-off entered the air box. I’am also sorry for the team that had worked very hard and well. We will come back to Barcelona even stronger.”

Jack Miller
Valentino Rossi – DNF

“For sure, it’s a shame that I made a mistake on the second lap. There was a bit of confusion in that moment, because all riders were close together. Unfortunately, I lost the front in Turn 4. It’s a pity because we lose some points. After the mistake I continued. I did some other laps to try to understand the rhythm, because we changed the setting of the bike a bit this weekend. It’s a shame, but this is the way it is. On the bright side, we have another race next week in Barcelona. That is a very good track, I like it a lot. The asphalt and grip level will be very different there. We hope that we will be competitive again. The championship is still long, so anything can happen.”

Valentino Rossi
Brad Binder – DNF

“I felt really, really good today. I made a decent start but then lost the front into Turn 11 and had a big head shake of the bike. I was thinking ‘that was close’ but then tucked the front going into Turn 13. I was a little bit wild. I tried to restart but then crashed again. So, not a great race but I’m happy because I had such a good feeling with the bike, and we’ve worked hard to get to that. Unfortunately we go home with nothing today but we’ll try again in Barcelona. We’ll need to learn quickly there and if I take one thing from this weekend then it’s that a good qualification makes life so much easier! We’ll try for that again next weekend.”

Iker Lecuona – DNF

“I need to say sorry to the team. I finally had a very good Qualifying and a very strong pace in the race. I overtook some riders and had the speed to fight for the top 6, following Miguel was great. I didn’t make any mistakes until three laps to go but finally did a big one and lost the front. I was three seconds ahead of the guys behind me. It’s frustrating for me because I could have taken my best position. Sorry to the team, let’s move on to the next race.”

Tito Rabat – DNF

“From today’s crash we will look on the bright side as always. Our fastest race lap was only one tenth slower than my teammate’s. The track conditions today were very strange and we still had a 1.33 pace. The crash was the result of trying to follow the group in front, as I was forcing it closed from the front and I crashed. Now we have our sights set on next week’s home race.”

Aleix Espargaro – DNF

“First of all, I want to apologise to Morbidelli, because my crash cost him a lot of positions, and to my team, since, considering our performance as compared to the others, we could have finished much better. I knew that I would have to go all-in on the first laps. My pace was very good but, starting from so far back, I had to risk. Difficulty overtaking is our weak point and that makes it hard to recuperate. It’s a pity because I was able to get into the top 10 anyway and I was really feeling good. This crash was not what we needed.”

MotoGP Team Managers

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“I‘m really happy. I think this win is well deserved, both by Maverick and the team. Maverick’s effort was fantastic. Yesterday he got pole, and today he finished the job. He had an aggressive start and kept a very high rhythm, pushing Bagnaia to make a mistake. It‘s a great confidence boost for the next race. These 25 points are a testimony to the hard work the team did on Saturday during FP3 and are very useful for the championship. Maverick made a huge step in the standings and is close to the top. Of course, there are also mixed feelings. It‘s a great shame to see Valentino‘s chance for a podium end so early on, especially because it was his home race, and he was feeling very competitive. It‘s a pity, but these things happen in racing. On the bright side, we have another race weekend coming up. The entire team is determined to keep the progress going in Barcelona.”

Maverick Vinales
Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“It was a good race for Joan, but not so good for Alex. It was great that Joan was able to get second position today and I want to say thank you to him, to all the team and for our people working from home for this result. Alex couldn’t show 100% of his potential in this second race at Misano, but we’ll check all the data and see what we can do in Barcelona next week.”

Team Suzuki excited to watch Mir cross the line for second place
Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager

“What a race from Joan! Once again he did a great job, he started a bit far back but he kept his head down and kept fighting throughout the race, and he was rewarded for his efforts with this podium. He did some fantastic over-takes to get this second place and we’re really happy for him. Alex couldn’t use his full potential, or the potential of the bike, today and he struggled a lot during the race. We need to try and understand what happened but we’ll go to Barcelona feeling positive and ready to fight again.”

Davide Brivio and Joan Mir
Hervé Poncharal – Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Manager

“Finally, we had a very positive day today at Misano for the Gran Premio Tissot dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini. Although the Qualifying was again not what we were expecting, clearly, we knew our race pace was strong and we just hoped for a good start and eventually half way through the first lap, Miguel was in a strong position and we recovered quite a lot. Iker was ahead of him, so we were really pleased. From that moment, we kept our heads down, both Miguel and Iker had a great race. Iker was leading the first half race and Miguel passed him. We were pleased, because Iker could follow Miguel and try to rest a bit. Eventually, Miguel crossed the line in fifth position, which is a great result. We are first KTM in the championship, which is a big pride for us, but we can’t be 100 percent happy, because Iker was right behind him, having a three seconds advantage on the guy following him and less than three laps to the finish, he made a mistake and crashed, which is very unfortunate. It would have been a great team result, fifth and sixth, best result by far for Iker this year. Anyway, the poor Iker is devastated and is so angry with himself. I don’t want to add anything. He did a great weekend and a beautiful race until two laps to the end. Let’s take the positives, they were fifth and sixth with three laps to go, Miguel gets the 11 points for the fifth position, KTM is on the podium today with Pol (Espargaro) and we are closing the gap always. It doesn’t matter how the track is. Thank you to all the guys inside the Red Bull KTM Tech3 garage, thanks to all the guys working in Mattighofen to push and develop the KTM RC16. Just a few days and we are in Barcelona for the next race, so let’s keep our heads down, take a rest and let’s keep the positive vibes, that are inside the team at the moment.”

Red Bull KTM Tech3 duo
Mike Leitner – Red Bull KTM Race Manager

“In general we’re super-happy with the results because a podium was hard to achieve here and especially with the competitiveness of the MotoGP class. We had a really good test on Tuesday and found some technical solutions for the Grand Prix but we had some hard sessions in practice with a few crashes and a front tire that was on the limit. It was important to improve our grid position and it was great to get up to 4th and 6th. Pol did a great race with the soft tire and deserved that 3rd place. We were sorry for Brad: he had been great all weekend but it was a rookie mistake and he’ll learn from that. Both Miguel and Iker did really well also, just a shame Iker could not confirm that 6th place but he again showed his potential. Now we’ll go to Barcelona and focus for the next GP.”

Razlan Razali – Petronas SRT Team Principal

“Not the kind of results we expected after a great Misano last time. We are disappointed but there are positives. Clearly we are disappointed with the penalty that was given to Fabio, but it is what it is. We have to accept the fourth position and that we are still second in the championship. Franco recovered well after the lap one incident to finish ninth, and move to fifth in the championship. We are happy with this, we just need to do better next weekend and maintain consistency. There are still seven races to go, in which we can fight for the championship.

Piero Taramasso – Michelin

“Another busy weekend and another record-breaking one. It has been a great weekend for the performance of all the tyres across both MotoGP and MotoE. We had a test here on Tuesday and the Grand Prix riders were able to work on the set-up in readiness for this weekend and it showed that they took things to another level and found even more grip from their tyres. We set records across every sector in the two disciplines and witnessed exciting and unpredictable racing all weekend. The MotoGP riders are still learning to interpret the new rear construction tyre and how to get the maximum performance from it and this is also leading to them having many options when it comes to race day, which is something we aim to achieve – to give a choice to all riders and manufacturers. Six winners in seven races shows that we are providing tyres that different riders can win on and we have had three different manufacturers winning and I am sure it won’t be long before we get another new winner from a different marque, which again highlights the diversity that the Michelin tyres provide. This has been a very successful weekend, but we now have to go directly to Spain and start all over again.”

2020 Misano II MotoGP Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 41m55.846
2 Joan MIR Suzuki +2.425
3 Pol ESPARGARO KTM +4.528
4 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha +6.419
5 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM +7.368
6 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +11.139
7 Alex MARQUEZ Honda +11.929
8 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati +13.113
9 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha +15.88
10 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati +17.682
11 Johann ZARCO Ducati +23.144
12 Alex RINS Suzuki +24.962
13 Bradley SMITH Aprilia +30.008
Not Classified
DNF Iker LECUONA KTM 3 Laps
DNF Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 7 Laps
DNF Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 12 Laps
DNF Tito RABAT Ducati 15 Laps
DNF Jack MILLER Ducati 20 Laps
DNF Brad BINDER KTM 24 Laps

2020 MotoGP World Championship Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 84
2 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 83
3 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 83
4 Joan MIR Suzuki 80
5 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 64
6 Jack MILLER Ducati 64
7 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 63
8 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 59
9 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 58
10 Pol ESPARGARO KTM 57
11 Brad BINDER KTM 53
12 Alex RINS Suzuki 44
13 Johann ZARCO Ducati 36
14 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 31
15 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 29
16 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 24
17 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 18
18 Iker LECUONA KTM 15
19 Bradley SMITH Aprilia 11
20 Tito RABAT Ducati 7
21 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 7
22 Michele PIRRO Ducati 4

Source: MCNews.com.au

MotoGP, News

Race reports, results and points from Misano MotoGP II

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2020 MotoGP Round Eight – Misano II

MotoGP Race Report

The season began pretty well for Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in Jerez as the Spaniard took two podiums and a solid haul of points, but after a tough race in Brno, a dramatic Austrian GP and then a high-speed bailout in Styria, ‘Top Gun’ arrived at Misano poised to hit back. Last weekend it didn’t quite go to plan, but take two in the Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini saw everything fall into place as the Spaniard seared his way to his first win of the season and catapulted himself to within one point of the Championship lead. He also becomes the sixth rider so far to stand on the top step in 2020.

‘Top Gun’ hits the bullseye to become the sixth different winner of the season

Viñales broke clear early on, lost out to Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) and then started to haul the Italian back in, the number 12’s tactics readying us for a crescendo at the front. Heartbreak then hit for Bagnaia as the Italian crashed out from what looked like an almost certain victory. Viñales swept past the stricken Pramac Ducati rider and kept it inch perfect to the flag for those invaluable 25 points. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) sliced through from P11 on the grid for another stunning podium in second, with more drama just behind him as Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) took third back from Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Sprinta Racing) as the latter was given a time penalty for exceeding track limits and failing to complete a Long Lap Penalty. The Frenchman looked dark as he retured to the pits and stormed out the back beyond the view of the cameras.

Vinales the sixth different winner so far this season

As to be somewhat expected, Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) got a great launch from P2 to grab the holeshot as the lights went out, with polesitter Viñales slotting into second, Quartararo initially holding onto P3 and Bagnaia making up a place to get past Pol Espargaro. Viñales didn’t take long to secure the lead though, the Spaniard up the inside at Turn 4 to mug Miller as Pecco had a very close look at getting past Quartararo at Turn 8 – although there was no way through for now.

Jack Miller

Drama then unfolded behind for San Marino GP winner Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) as Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) tucked the front and collected the Italian, Morbidelli somehow staying on and continuing but the Italian pushed back to dead last…

Unbeknownst to anyone, a tear-off from Fabio Quartararo, through a dire stroke of misfortune, entered the air-box of Jack Miller’s Pramac Ducati. The tear-off effectively blocked the supply of air to the Desmosedici’s engine and Miller started drifting back through the field. After a confusing five laps for the Australian he then returned to the pits in frustration at the recalcitrant antics of his machine. The reason only found much later when mechanics investigated the gremlin… The Australian then posted this image of the offender on his Instagram story.

A tear-off from Fabio Quartararo through a dire stroke of misfortune entered the air-box of Jack Miller’s Pramac Ducati

Meanwhile at the front, Viñales had a 0.9 second lead over the line as the riders clocked onto Lap 2, but fortunes were flipped for his team-mate Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) as the ‘Doctor’ was soon out of his 250th Grand Prix with Yamaha. Down at Turn 4 and home podium dreams over, Rossi remounted but had a big ask on his hands to score points.

Valentino Rossi

In the meantime, Bagnaia had got past team-mate Miller for P2 and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had charged through to third at Turn 10 but it sadly didn’t last long; the South African down at Turn 14. Bagnaia up ahead, however, was unleashing the fastest lap of the race as the Italian locked his radar firmly onto the back of Viñales’ YZR-M1, edging closer as Pol Espargaro started to do the same to him…

Bagnaia, Miller

Bagnaia was right on Viñales on Lap 5 and by then, the duo were once again pulling away from Pol Esparagro and Quartararo, who was tucked in behind the number 44. Bagnaia set another fastest lap of the race – a 1:32.3 – and it seemed game on, with Viñales then slightly wide at Turn 4, opening the door. Bagnaia needed no second invitation and the Italian took the lead, then immediately half a second clear, although it subsequently stayed pretty constant at 0.6 seconds for a number of laps…

Bagnaia takes the lead from Vinales

Behind that chess match, Mir had managed to get to the front of the battle for the lower ends of the top 10 and get some clean air in front of him – although the gap to Quartararo and the podium was 3.5 seconds on Lap 7. The top two pounded on, Bagnaia started to edge away, and Mir kept chipping away behind.

Joan Mir worked his way steadily forward as Miller drifted backwards thanks to a tear-off blocking the air intake of his Ducati

As the laps went on, the Suzuki edged closer and closer as Bagnaia stretched his legs. Not long after though, it started to turn as Viñales chipped back a tenth and then two, with the lead back down to just over a second and the last few laps looking set to cook up a storm. By that time, Mir was also under two seconds away from the podium fight but with seven to go, huge drama then unfolded. Turn 6 was the place and Bagnaia the rider, the race leader sliding out in some late heartbreak as Viñales shot past. The number 12’s lead was over four seconds then – with no one else having been able to stay near the leading duo.

Pecco Bagnaia

The fight for the podium was then the focus. Quartararo was showing a wheel to Espargaro but the latter was defending brilliantly on his KTM… before Joan Mir finally appeared on the scene. 0.6 faster than the duo ahead of him with six laps to go, it was soon a three-rider dog fight for the remaining two spots on the podium. And also with six laps to go, Quartararo was handed a track limits warning – something that would prove to be costly for El Diablo shortly after.

The Pol Espargaro versus Fabio Quartararo battle was frenetic

With three to go, Mir struck. Turn 2 was the spot as the Spaniard shot through underneath and past Quartararo, and it wasn’t long before Mir was up to second as well. On the next lap at Turn 1, Mir was past Espargaro’s KTM and back into clear air. Quartararo then pounced on Pol at Turn 3 as well, Espargaro going from P2 to P4 in a matter of corners. It seemed that was that for the podium fight too, but there was one last shot of drama.

Mir caught up to the tussling Quartararo and Espargaro

For exceeding track limits too many times, Quartararo was then handed a Long Lap Penalty. His only time to do it? The the last lap. Would he see it? He was just over a second clear of Espargaro and four seconds ahead of fifth place Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3), so it looked like he was going to lose P3…

Mir got Quartararo then Espargaro

Ahead on track, Viñales didn’t have any such troubles. ‘Top Gun’ rounded the last corner to take his first victory since the 2019 Malaysian GP in fine style, taking 25 vital points and moving to within one point of the top. Mir crossed the line a magnificent second to take his third rostrum in four races, and Quartararo took the chequered flag in third… but hadn’t taken the Long Lap. He was therefore demoted to P4 as it became a three-second penalty instead, handing Pol Espargaro his second podium of the season.

Vinales the sixth different winner so far this season

Behind Quartararo classified fourth, Oliveira was stunning in the second half of the race to finish P5, the Portuguese rider had serious pace but starting P15 ultimately cost the Styrian GP winner. The leading Honda across the line was Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) in P6 as the Japanese rider showed strong late-race pace to get the better of Repsol Honda Team’s Alex Marquez in seventh. The reigning Moto2 World Champion produced his best MotoGP ride to date, finishing seven tenths away from Nakagami.

Alex Marquez was dicing inside the top ten

So where’s Dovi? The man still leading the Championship had a tougher day at Misano, but with Quartararo finishing fourth and that very points leader Andrea Dovizioso in P8, it’s the number 04 still ahead. Viñales is now level on points with Quartararo but technically behind him as he has less wins, with Mir now just four points from the title leader – madness!

Dovizioso found himself dicing with Alex Marquez at Misano II – And it was Alex that got the better result…

Despite sitting last on the opening lap, an unwell Morbidelli recovered to salvage a brilliant P9, with fellow Italian Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) completing the top 10. Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing), Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Bradley Smith (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) were the only other finishers in 11th, 12th and 13th respectively.

Iker Lecuona (Red Bull KTM Tech3) crashed out of P6 with two and bit laps to go after stringing together a fantastic race, Rossi pulled in with 12 laps to go after his crash, and Miller encountered issues early on that he later revealed had been caused by a visor tear-off blocking the air filter. Tito Rabat (Esponsorama Racing) crashed at Turn 1 on Lap 12 – rider ok.

Four riders, four points. That’s how it stands at the top of the MotoGP World Championship after the Misano double-header: Dovizioso, Quartararo, Viñales and Mir the quartet leading the way. But this is 2020, and this is MotoGP – it could all change in the blink of an eye! With Barcelona coming up in less than a week’s time, we don’t have to wait long to witness more unrivalled premier class action…

Maverick Viñales – P1

“Amazing, amazing job this weekend, we prepped really well for the whole race. Pecco was really fast! I was pushing a lot, I was trying to save a bit of tyre for the last ten laps, and then I started to push. I thought I was catching him, but then when he made a mistake I just tried to not crash, take the maximum points and wow. Fantastic, I’m really happy, my mentality is the same as the last weekend and last races, but we found a little bit better setup for the 20 litres at the beginning of the race. I made a mistake at Turn 4, I was pushing a lot at the beginning trying to open the gap – if were were only two riders it was good. I want to say thank you to all the people supporting me at home, because they know there have been tough times, but it seems it’s passed, now we have good luck and this is what counts! I’m very happy, I appreciate all the work and we need to continue like that, pushing very hard. We can have a lot more potential!”

Maverick Vinales

MotoGP Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 41m55.846
2 Joan MIR Suzuki +2.425
3 Pol ESPARGARO KTM +4.528
4 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha +6.419
5 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM +7.368
6 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +11.139
7 Alex MARQUEZ Honda +11.929
8 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati +13.113
9 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha +15.88
10 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati +17.682
11 Johann ZARCO Ducati +23.144
12 Alex RINS Suzuki +24.962
13 Bradley SMITH Aprilia +30.008
Not Classified
DNF Iker LECUONA KTM 3 Laps
DNF Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 7 Laps
DNF Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 12 Laps
DNF Tito RABAT Ducati 15 Laps
DNF Jack MILLER Ducati 20 Laps
DNF Brad BINDER KTM 24 Laps

MotoGP World Championship Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 84
2 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 83
3 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 83
4 Joan MIR Suzuki 80
5 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 64
6 Jack MILLER Ducati 64
7 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 63
8 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 59
9 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 58
10 Pol ESPARGARO KTM 57
11 Brad BINDER KTM 53
12 Alex RINS Suzuki 44
13 Johann ZARCO Ducati 36
14 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 31
15 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 29
16 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 24
17 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 18
18 Iker LECUONA KTM 15
19 Bradley SMITH Aprilia 11
20 Tito RABAT Ducati 7
21 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 7
22 Michele PIRRO Ducati 4

Moto2

Italtrans Racing Team’s Enea Bastianini clinched an impressive Moto2 victory at Misano after rain played havoc at the Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini. Red flags were brought out after just seven laps as the heavens opened but, from the restart, and back in the dry, the ultra-aggressive Bastianini bolted clear to take the win ahead of Sky Racing Team VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi and EG 0,0 Marc VDS’ Sam Lowes. With his victory, the ‘Beast’ cut Luca Marini’s (Sky Racing Team VR46) title lead down to just five points.

Enea Bastianini

On the first start it was Petronas Sprinta Racing’s Xavi Vierge managing to squeeze his way into the lead pat Marini and the hit the front of a Moto2™ race for the first time in 2020, with a strong start coming in from his Petronas Sprinta Racing teammate too as Jake Dixon settled into fifth. The Italians suffered a few dramas in the early shuffles, but the biggest drama was about to come down as rain started and the flag came out to let the riders know. By then, Bastianini had muscled to the front and started to bolt despite the worsening weather, but the Red Flag came out not long after.

The riders filtered into pitlane and a ten lap restart was announced, but as the grid reformed, with everyone on slicks, the rain suddenly got heavier again. As the Moto2 field set off on their Warm Up lap, the entire grid instantly pointed skywards and began wagging fingers to signal it was far too wet for the race to start. The rain eventually subsided and, after a short delay, a dry-ish 10 lap dash was back underway – with Bastianini on pole as the grid formed up based on standings before the flag.

Lights out for the second time saw Marini take control into Turn 1, and Bastianini settling in behind him. The Beast struck immediately though at Turn 4, sending the pair wide and giving Vierge chance to pounce. The Spaniard took the lead and Marini lost out big time with his fellow Italian’s move dropping him back to fifth. Bastianini then hit the front at the end of the opening lap, and the plan appeared the same: BOLT.

The Italian made the most of Vierge and Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP) battling over second and didn’t need a second invitation, stretching his lead out to over a second after two laps.

Next, Marini lost out to Bezzecchi for fourth place and then got beaten up by Sam Lowes over fifth place, with valuable points slipping through the fingers of the Championship leader. Meanwhile, an incredible fight was ensuing between Vierge and Schrötter, the German moving through into Turn 7 and on the exit the pair were side by side, bashing elbows for good measure. Some more contact then saw Vierge crash out, with Schrötter dropping back to fourth and then fifth as Marini sliced with his way past. Lowes found himself up to third too, trying to go with the fastest man on the track with three laps left: Marco Bezzecchi.

He was eight tenths quicker than Bastianini and suddenly, just like a week ago, Bezzecchi was hunting down the race leader at some rate. By two laps to go it was seven tenths separating the two Italians at the front of the race, with Bezzecchi visibly throwing everything at it and Lowes in close company too. As they started the final lap, it was just half a second between the leading duo.

Despite the mounting pressure, Bastianini remained calm and didn’t fold, however, crossing the line seven tenths clear to take a third intermediate class win of 2020, and his second GP win at Misano. Bezzecchi came across the line in P2 for a third consecutive top three finish, even more closely followed by Sam Lowes. Marini, meanwhile, took 13 points in fourth place and kept hold of his World Championship lead. But only just, with Bastianini now only five points adrift and breathing down his neck heading to Barcelona next weekend…

Schrötter took fifth after his earlier dramas, with Jake Dixon the next man over the line after getting the better of Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) by three tenths. That’s Dixon’s best ever Grand Prix result and after an impressive fight for it, in the dry to boot. Rounding out the top ten were Fabio Di Giannantonio (Beta Tools Speed Up), Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Hector Garzo (FlexBox HP40), who jumped up following a one place penalty for Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) for exceeding track limits on the final lap.

Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing) crashed before the restart in a monster high side, rider ok.

Enea Bastianini – P1

“I’m really happy to be here in first place, today was a strange race because we stopped twice but after I kept good pace in the third race and it was possible to keep a bit of distance from Marco. I put the soft rear tyre on, and it was pushing a bit more on the front and Marco was really close the last two laps! But I’m happy for this victory for my team and my family, and in my town… it’s incredible!”

2020 Misano II Moto2 podium L-R: Bezzecchi, Bastianini and Lowes

Moto2 Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Enea BASTIANINI Kalex 9m50.709
2 Luca MARINI Kalex +0.509
3 Xavi VIERGE Kalex +0.775
4 Marco BEZZECCHI Kalex +0.798
5 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Speed Up +0.994
6 Marcel SCHROTTER Kalex +1.151
7 Sam LOWES Kalex +1.417
8 Jorge NAVARRO Speed Up +1.716
9 Jake DIXON Kalex +1.969
10 Aron CANET Speed Up +2.029
11 Nicolò BULEGA Kalex +2.338
12 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA Kalex +3.376
13 Augusto FERNANDEZ Kalex +3.742
14 Thomas LUTHI Kalex +3.85
15 Hector GARZO Kalex +4.22
16 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI Kalex +4.453
17 Mattia PASINI Kalex +6.222
18 Stefano MANZI MV Agusta +6.582
19 Simone CORSI MV Agusta +6.856
20 Marcos RAMIREZ Kalex +7.06
21 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA Kalex +7.845
22 Bo BENDSNEYDER NTS +8.926
23 Hafizh SYAHRIN Speed Up +9.087
24 Edgar PONS Kalex +11.116
25 Somkiat CHANTRA Kalex +11.877
26 Andi Farid IZDIHAR Kalex +13.024
27 Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI NTS +29.254
Not Classified
DNF Kasma DANIEL Kalex 1 Lap
DNF Joe ROBERTS Kalex 3 Laps

Moto2 World Championship Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Luca MARINI Kalex 112
2 Enea BASTIANINI Kalex 95
3 Marco BEZZECCHI Kalex 85
4 Jorge MARTIN Kalex 79
5 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA Kalex 68
6 Sam LOWES Kalex 67
7 Xavi VIERGE Kalex 59
8 Aron CANET Speed Up 50
9 Joe ROBERTS Kalex 45
10 Thomas LUTHI Kalex 45
11 Remy GARDNER Kalex 41
12 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI Kalex 39
13 Marcel SCHROTTER Kalex 37
14 Augusto FERNANDEZ Kalex 36
15 Jorge NAVARRO Speed Up 19
16 Hafizh SYAHRIN Speed Up 17
17 Stefano MANZI MV Agusta 15
18 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Speed Up 12
19 Jake DIXON Kalex 12
20 Hector GARZO Kalex 12
21 Nicolò BULEGA Kalex 12
22 Bo BENDSNEYDER NTS 5
23 Marcos RAMIREZ Kalex 5
24 Dominique AEGERTER NTS 4
25 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA Kalex 3
26 Somkiat CHANTRA Kalex 3
27 Simone CORSI MV Agusta 3

Moto3

Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) was back on the top step of the podium for the first time in over a year at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, the Italian veteran judging a last lap battle to perfection to pip compatriot Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46). In doing so, Fenati takes Husqvarna’s first Grand Prix victory and becomes the most successful rider in the Moto3 class, overtaking both Joan Mir’s win count and Enea Bastianini’s podium record. He also becomes only the second Moto3 rider to win more than once at Misano, alongside Alex Rins. Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) completed the podium behind the home heroes, moving to within two points of Albert Arenas’ (Gaviota Aspar Team Moto3) Championship lead.

Romano Fenati

Polesitter Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) got the initial launch off the line but Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) ultimately fired his way into Turn 1 ahead, with Championship leader Arenas making a good start from the second row to grab P3. Arbolino’s lead didn’t last long though, with Fernandez through at Turn 5 before Arenas was also past the Italian around the outside at Turn 13.

Further back, third in the Championship John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) was 17th after the opening couple of laps, not making great headway after having started P18. As Fernandez fought it out with Arbolino, Arenas and Vietti near the front though, the top 17 were still covered by two seconds.

After crashing out seven days prior, Arenas was on a mission. The Spaniard was leading from the front early doors, before Vietti took the baton and led for a fair chunk of time. Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) was making good ground up to get the better of Fernandez and move into the top three too, and McPhee was starting to recover by the halfway point; the top 11 locked together and the British rider just behind Ogura at the back of that.

Into the final 10 laps, Vietti was making P1 his own, with Masia was now his immediate threat. Darryn Binder (CIP – Green Power) and Jeremy Alcoba (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) came into contact heading down the back straight before Turn 11 – a close call – but with eight laps remaining, Binder wasn’t fazed and was up to P4 behind Vietti, Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) and Masia. Arenas then got the better of Binder for P4 in the 11-bike freight train, before a change came courtesy of Masia at Turn 8. Rodrigo and Vietti were lucky to stay upright too, as Rodrigo came into the contact with the Italian’s rear tyre.

With five to go, Arenas was almost down at Turn 1 as he ran out of room in the slipstream and just behind, Binder suffered a huge highside as he got shuffled by it too, the South African’s stunning Sunday charge over. With three to go, Vietti was still the race leader but it was all to play for in the lead group, with Ogura was making his presence in the top three known as he got the better of Arenas. With two to go, Masia then led into Turn 1 – and it was the start of some serious, fairing-bashing action. Arenas lunged into Turn 4, but Vietti was aggressive up the inside at Turn 5 and some contact was made between the duo. Further back, Alcoba made contact with McPhee at Turn 4 as well, which left the Scot down in P10.

Vietti led over the line to start the last lap, from Arenas and Fenati, with Masia and Ogura inside the top five. Arenas got a good run down into Turn 8 and was alongside the race leader, but Vietti was late and strong on the brakes. Then, Arenas made a classy move stick into Turn 10 and led with half a lap to go, but the slipstream played its part and heading into Turn 11 as Masia stormed up the inside of Vietti – who in turn was looking for a way through on Arenas – and it got breathtakingly close at high speed. After leading heading onto the straight, Arenas then found himself down in P5 just seconds later as Masia, Vietti, Fenati and Ogura stormed their way through.

At Turn 14 Masia went defensive in the lead, but that didn’t stop Vietti lunging up the inside and the Italian ended up a bit out of shape, some slight contact was made, and the top two were wide. Reading that perfectly and slicing through was Fenati, the veteran now in the lead and looking to defend it. That he did, as Vietti couldn’t find a way through and was forced to settle for second, just holding off Ogura to keep P2 as well. Masia was forced down to P5 with Arenas getting through, although the latter just holds onto the points lead…

Fernandez finishes P6 for the fourth time in 2020 to end the race just 0.4 from victory, with Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) showing fantastic late-race pace to finish seventh. Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46) and Kaito Toba (Red Bull KTM Ajo) were also less than a second from the race win in 8th and 9th respectively, the duo finishing ahead of McPhee who now drops to 21 points off Arenas in the standings after a tougher race.

That’s it from Misano, with another twist in the title race as Ogura and Arenas head into Barcelona just two points apart.

Romano Fenati

“The final lap was really crazy, in the last part of the track I thought immediately on the last lap that I didn’t know where they’d overtake me, it was a bit scary! But the feeling with the bike was really good, we were really strong on braking, I’m really happy and now it’s important to be consistent and to always be strong.”

2020 Misano II Moto3 podium
1 Romano Fenati – Sterilgarda Max Racing Team – Husqvarna 39:30.124
2 Celestino Vietti – Sky Racing Team VR46 – KTM +0.036
3 Ai Ogura – Honda Team Asia – Honda +0.121

Moto3 Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Romano FENATI Husqvarna 39m30.124
2 Celestino VIETTI KTM +0.036
3 Ai OGURA Honda +0.121
4 Albert ARENAS KTM +0.199
5 Jaume MASIA Honda +0.28
6 Raul FERNANDEZ KTM +0.439
7 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM +0.678
8 Andrea MIGNO KTM +0.791
9 Kaito TOBA KTM +0.939
10 John MCPHEE Honda +1.125
11 Tony ARBOLINO Honda +1.452
12 Gabriel RODRIGO Honda +1.687
13 Jeremy ALCOBA Honda +4.331
14 Ayumu SASAKI KTM +5.925
15 Stefano NEPA KTM +6.165
16 Filip SALAC Honda +6.249
17 Sergio GARCIA Honda +7.167
18 Niccolò ANTONELLI Honda +12.714
19 Carlos TATAY KTM +18.045
20 Ryusei YAMANAKA Honda +20.184
21 Riccardo ROSSI KTM +20.498
22 Barry BALTUS KTM +20.291
23 Jason DUPASQUIER KTM +20.555
24 Khairul Idham PAWI Honda +24.967
25 Yuki KUNII Honda +25.264
26 Davide PIZZOLI KTM 27.159
27 Maximilian KOFLER KTM +27.848
Not Classified
DNF Darryn BINDER KTM 5 Laps
DNF Dennis FOGGIA Honda 13 Laps
DNF Alonso LOPEZ Husqvarna 15 Laps

Moto3 World Championship Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Albert ARENAS KTM 119
2 Ai OGURA Honda 117
3 John MCPHEE Honda 98
4 Celestino VIETTI KTM 86
5 Tatsuki SUZUKI Honda 75
6 Tony ARBOLINO Honda 75
7 Gabriel RODRIGO Honda 63
8 Jaume MASIA Honda 61
9 Raul FERNANDEZ KTM 61
10 Romano FENATI Husqvarna 47
11 Jeremy ALCOBA Honda 46
12 Dennis FOGGIA Honda 44
13 Darryn BINDER KTM 37
14 Andrea MIGNO KTM 36
15 Niccolò ANTONELLI Honda 26
16 Stefano NEPA KTM 23
17 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM 22
18 Sergio GARCIA Honda 19
19 Kaito TOBA KTM 19
20 Filip SALAC Honda 12
21 Ryusei YAMANAKA Honda 12
22 Ayumu SASAKI KTM 10
23 Alonso LOPEZ Husqvarna 5
24 Carlos TATAY KTM 4
25 Riccardo ROSSI KTM 3

MotoE

Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) is back on top! After Race 1 at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli saw the Italian’s winning streak come to an end, Sunday flipped the fortunes as the number 11 won his fourth race in five at the venue, ahead of a close battle for the podium between Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) ultimately won by the Italian. Big drama erupted at the front too, with former points leader Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) getting taken out by Tommaso Marcon (Tech 3 E-Racing) and failing to score despite remounting.

MotoE

Polesitter Aegerter got the holeshot into Turn 1, tussling past Ferrari, but the the Italian made a move into the lead on the opening lap down into Turn 8 – and led over the line. Tommaso Marcon (Tech3 E-Racing) had made a good start and sat third, but Casadei dived up the inside at Turn 1 on Lap 2. That set the scene for the key drama in the race: trying not to lose the final podium position, Marcon broke late into Turn 2 but it was too late, and Aegerter was in the firing line. Marcon hit the number 77’s rear tyre as both riders went down at Turn 2. Both ok and Aegerter managing to remount but out of the fight for points.

The incident left Ferrari with a comfortable eight tenths advantage up front, with Casadei and Torres chasing the Italian. The gap between Ferrari and the Casadei-Torres battle got down to about half a second initially, but there it stayed as Torres was unable to make a pass stick. The Italian and Spaniard swapped positions at Turn 4 as Casadei ran wide, but Torres was then really wide at Turn 10 and the duo switched again. For Ferrari, it was just more breathing space at the front…

Heading onto the last lap, Ferrari had the win in the bag, but second and third were yet to be decided. Torres was hounding Casadei but the latter was supreme on the brakes into all the passing opportunities. Having a good run down the back straight through the fast Turns 11 and 12, Torres got his rear tyre smoking through Turn 13 and looked like he was going to make a late lunge into Turn 14. However, again, Casadei was simply brilliant on the brakes and Torres held station, taking the podiu and some valuable points. Meanwhile, 1.3 seconds up the road, Ferrari took the chequered flag in P1 to stand on the top step of the podium for the fourth time in five at Misano, taking the points lead.

Casadei rode an awesome race to keep Torres behind him to the line, the duo both happy with podiums at Misano and right in the hunt near the front, with just 15 points covering Ferrari, Aegerter, Torres and Casadei heading into the final round at Le Mans.

Fourth place went the way of Niccolo Canepa (LCR E-Team) who picks up his best result of the season, and the same is true for rookie Alessandro Zaccone (Trentino Gresini MotoE) in P5 in Race 2. After his Race 1 crash at Turn 16, Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) was able to pick up a solid P6, just 0.051 ahead of Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) as both fought through after starting from the back of the grid due to their Race 1 crashes and the new Race 2 grid format.

Alex de Angelis (Octo Pramac MotoE) also crashed in Race 1, and the Sammarinese rider was happy to claim a P8 finish at his home race, with Alejandro Medina (Openbank Aspar Team) being forced to drop one position to P9 after exceeding track limits on the last lap. P10 went the way of Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing).

Maria Herrera (Openbank Aspar Team) finished P11, with 12th place Niki Tuuli (Avant Ajo MotoE) given a time penalty for exceeding track limits. Rookie Jakub Kornfeil (WithU Motorsport) was able to finish P13 and take some points, ahead of an unfortunate Xavier Simeon (LCR E-Team). The Belgian’s title hopes took a huge dent as he was forced to start from pitlane due to a technical issue before the race start.

After his huge crash in Race 1, Lukas Tulovic (Tech3 E-Racing) somehow managed to finish Race 2 in P15, with Aegerter taking the flag in P16 after his unfortunate crash.

Another dramatic MotoE race ends with Ferrari now sitting at the top of the standings heading into the final round and another double-header. Ferrari, Aegerter, Torres and Casadei are split by just 15 points heading to France..

2020 Misano II MotoE Race 2 podium
1 Matteo Ferrari – Trentino Gresini MotoE – Energica – 12:11.053
2 Mattia Casadei – Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse – Energica – +0.996
3 Jordi Torres – Pons Racing 40 – Energica – +1.098

MotoE Race Two Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Matteo FERRARI Energica 12m11.053
2 Mattia CASADEI Energica +0.996
3 Jordi TORRES Energica +1.098
4 Niccolo CANEPA Energica +3.907
5 Alessandro ZACCONE Energica +4.619
6 Mike DI MEGLIO Energica +6.046
7 Eric GRANADO Energica +6.097
8 Alex DE ANGELIS Energica +6.775
9 Alejandro MEDINA Energica +6.672
10 Xavi CARDELUS Energica +7.042
11 Maria HERRERA Energica +7.868
12 Niki TUULI Energica +11.514
13 Jakub KORNFEIL Energica +12.652
14 Xavier SIMEON Energica +15.533
15 Lukas TULOVIC Energica +27.21
16 Dominique AEGERTER Energica +38.363
Not Classified
DNF Josh HOOK Energica 2 Laps
DNF Tommaso MARCON Energica 6 Laps

MotoE World Championship Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Matteo FERRARI Energica 86
2 Dominique AEGERTER Energica 82
3 Jordi TORRES Energica 79
4 Mattia CASADEI Energica 71
5 Eric GRANADO Energica 43
6 Niccolo CANEPA Energica 42
7 Xavier SIMEON Energica 37
8 Mike DI MEGLIO Energica 35
9 Alex DE ANGELIS Energica 29
10 Lukas TULOVIC Energica 28
11 Alejandro MEDINA Energica 28
12 Alessandro ZACCONE Energica 26
13 Josh HOOK Energica 23
14 Xavi CARDELUS Energica 23
15 Tommaso MARCON Energica 22
16 Maria HERRERA Energica 17
17 Niki TUULI Energica 12
18 Jakub KORNFEIL Energica 11

Source: MCNews.com.au

MotoGP, News

Half-a-second covers Misano II MotoGP Grid Top Ten

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2020 MotoGP Round Eight – Misano

MotoGP Qualifying Report

Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) has done it again. A week on from pole at the San Marino GP, the Spaniard slammed in 1:31.077 to set a new lap record in qualifying at the Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini, taking his third pole of the season and third in succession at Misano when including 2019. It was still pretty close, however, with Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) cutting the gap to 0.076 as the Australian leapt up the time-sheets to take second on the grid, with Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) taking third to lock out the front row.

2020 Misano II MotoGP front row
1 Maverick Viñales – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – 1:31.077
2 Jack Miller – Pramac Racing – Ducati – +0.076
3 Fabio Quartararo – Petronas Yamaha SRT – Yamaha – +0.145

Sunny skies on the Riviera di Rimini since the paddock arrived have seen the times tumble and tumble, right down to another new lap record in Q2. On the way there though, there was Q1 to decide first and it was a real shootout. In the end, Miller was the man on top, with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) in second as two of the key contenders moved through to fight it out for the top 12.

Once Q2 was underway, it was a familiar story for Viñales: two stops, three runs. He was the man on top first as Bagnaia slotted into P2, but then the Italian really got the hammer down on his second lap – a 1:31.313 handing the Pramac Racing rider provisional pole. Quartararo then slotted into P2 less than a tenth off ‘Pecco’, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder slotting into third ahead of Viñales and teammate Pol Espargaro.

Quartararo was right on the money again though, just 0.032 off Bagnaia coming through Sector 3, but the Frenchman made a mistake coming into Turn 16 – lap over. That was the first runs down for most but as the field filed in, Viñales was back out.

Already on his second run, ‘Top Gun’ was flying. The number 12 nailed the lap to the end but he still didn’t quite manage to beat Bagnaia, 0.073 off and forced to reload for another run at it. Next time around the Spaniard was a quarter of a second up through the first sector and it looked like this might be it, but he lost time in the middle of the lap – with just 0.013 covering him and Bagnaia into the final sector. Viñales was on rails through Sector 4 though and sure enough, a Yamaha was at the summit – a 1:31.268 was now the time to beat for pole position.

Maverick Viñales

Meanwhile Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) – one of the pre-race favourites – was lingering down in P10 after his opening few flying laps, one-lap pace still seemingly hampering the Spaniard and Suzuki on Saturday afternoons. Dovizioso was P8 heading into the final three minutes, and his nearest title rival Quartararo P3. With two minutes to go though, Dovizioso found some time and moved up into P6 – a provisional second row start.

Tucked in behind VR46 Academy protégé Bagnaia, Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) then improved from P9 to P5, shuffling Dovizioso onto Row 3, as Binder and Bagnaia lit the timing screens red. The South African moved into P3 with a great lap, but an even greater one (kind of) was coming in for Bagnaia. The Ducati rider rounded the final corner with Rossi and Miller in tow and it was a scintillating 1:30.973, the fastest ever lap round Misano, but it had looked outside track limits… and it ultimately was. Bagnaia’s record-breaker was cancelled for the infraction on the exit of Turn 16 – the same thing that had bitten Viñales earlier in the season.

Miller’s lap, meanwhile, put him second and then provisional pole as Bagnaia’s lap disappeared off the screen, but Viñales was still out on the hunt. The San Marino GP polesitter would take the chequered flag in P1 with another new Misano outright lap record, making it three poles in a row for Viñales, and Yamaha, at Misano as well as Viñales’ fourth overall at the venue. That, in turn, sees him equal Jorge Lorenzo for most MotoGP™ poles at the track.

Quartararo set a personal best on his last lap to claim P3, 0.069 off Miller, with Pol Espargaro just beating Bagnaia’s valid fastest time to give the KTM rider his second best qualifying result of the season. Bagnaia didn’t seem too disheartened in fifth, however.

Binder joins his KTM team-mate Pol Espargaro on Row 2 after qualifying in sixth, which is also the rookie’s best Saturday afternoon result of 2020. Rossi spearheads the third row in P7, The Doctor just three-tenths away from Viñales’ time, with the nine-time World Champion sitting ahead of San Marino GP winner Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT). It was P8 for Morbidelli this time around, who is nursing an illness this weekend.

Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) eventually got the better of teammate Dovizioso and the factory GP20 machines will line-up P9 and P10 for the Emilia Romagna GP. What can the title chase leader do from P10? And what can Mir do from P11 on the grid? The Suzuki rider has been one of the leading contenders throughout the weekend, but finishing outside the top 10 in Q2 wasn’t how the script was supposed to go – although it’s only 0.540 covering the leading 11 riders. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) will want more too, the Japanese rider having crashed at Turn 15 in the early stages. Rider ok, and P12.

The top six in Emilia Romagna GP Q2 were all faster than last week’s pole position, but it’s the same man emerging at the top. Viñales will again launch from pole at Misano, but he’ll be hoping the story of the race plays out a little different his time around.

2020 MotoGP Misano Qualifying Quotes

Maverick Vinales – P1

“We worked really hard today and we got the job done. We hope that tomorrow all the hard work will pay off as well. We are going to try the maximum. I’m very happy and comfortable with the bike. I was very relaxed in FP4 in conditions that are similar to tomorrow’s race, so we will see. Today I focused mainly on riding with a full fuel tank and the race set-up. Tomorrow is a new opportunity to improve. If we don’t, we will try again at the next race in Montmeló. We have good potential, and I think we can still do better. We’re going to try to be at the best level.”

Maverick Viñales is on pole for the third time this season, along with Austria and San Marino, which is as much as the whole of 2019. It’s his fourth pole at Misano, equalling Jorge Lorenzo as the riders with most poles here. This is Viñales’ 12th premier class pole, equalling Johnny Cecotto and one less than Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau.
Jack Miller – P2

“Very happy for the qualifying, I didn’t make the Q2 directly, but we have been working all the weekend, we tried many different tires combination, now we know very clear which tire and set up we are going to use. The most important thing will be do a good start,  and be in front row for sure will help.”

Passing through Q1, Jack Miller qualified second as the top Ducati. This equals best qualifying result from the Austrian GP, which is his only other front row start so far this season. This is Ducati’s best qualifying result at Misano since Jorge Lorenzo was on pole in 2018 ahead of Miller in second.
Fabio Quartararo – P3

“It was a tough qualifying and I didn’t feel that good on the bike. I was surprised with my lap because I made a mistake in Turn 14, but it was still good enough. I’m happy to be on the front row again, this was our main goal and also our pace is great. We tried many things in FP4 with the bike, so it was a little bit difficult for us, but we’ve shown that we have a good pace and I’m feeling strong. I think there are seven or eight riders who could fight for the victory tomorrow. It will be important to have a good start, which I have been working on this weekend to improve. I think it will be a fun race and hopefully we should be able to have a good result.”

Fabio Quartararo has qualified third for his 19th front row start in MotoGP. On his 18 previous front rows, he went on to finish on the podium nine times (50% rate), including two wins.
Pol Espargaro – P4

“I’m very happy because it was a crazy fast lap and it was difficult to put it all together. There was a lot of risk today. In the end the fast lap came through taking chances through those left corners and I ‘sent it’ through the last sector. I did not care so much about crashing, I wanted the lap. I’m happy we got the time, but we also had an amazing performance with our rhythm in FP4 and this is what matters for tomorrow’s race.”

Pol Espargaro has qualified fourth as the highest-placed KTM rider, which is the fifth time this year he starts from the front two rows (although he qualified seventh in Spain and started from sixth).
Pecco Bagnaia – P5

“Unfortunately I made a mistake and I touched the green area when the pole was mine, in T3 I had a big advantage and I didn’t have an advantage touching the green indeed I lost time but the rules are made to be respected and I made a mistake. I’m sorry because I would like to do my first pole position in MotoGP here in Misano. Our pace is one of the fastest, also Yamaha and Mir but we can play it.”

Francesco Bagnaia, who missed out on pole after exceeding track limits, has qualified fifth, which means he’s been on the front two rows for all the races he’s started this season (Spain, Andalucia, San Marino and Emilia Romagna). He will be aiming to take his second MotoGP podium following last Sunday.
Brad Binder – P6

“Much better. Much happier with qualifying today and to be in 6th place is fantastic. Not only is the rhythm better but also the lap-time: 1.2 seconds faster. In the second exit of FP2 we made some changes that gave me a little bit more feedback from the front tire as well as a little bit more support on the rear, so I felt stronger and it gave me the opportunity to push a bit harder. The more I pushed the better I felt, so it was good. I’m not really setting a goal on positions tomorrow. All I know is that starting in 6th position is going to be much nicer than last week. Starting in 16th was so tough. I’m happy with the steps we have made so hats-off to the boys for getting everything ready and we’ll try to have a solid race tomorrow.”

Brad Binder has qualified sixth for the best qualifying result of his rookie season in MotoGP so far. This is the second time there are two KTMs within the top six in MotoGP qualifying, along with Brno last year.
Valentino Rossi – P7

“Today was a good day for me, because during this second weekend in Misano everybody raised their level, but so did we. We were able to improve the setting of the bike and to be stronger. In the afternoon, in FP4, we made some modifications to the bike that give me more grip, so I feel good and I have a good pace. I’m not very happy about my position in the quali. It’s true that I’m only 0.3s off pole, but I had the potential to do better, because my bike was good and worked well. I didn’t ride fantastic on my hot lap, and I can do better. Anyway, I will start from seventh. A lot of riders have good pace, but we are also strong. Starting from the third row is a bit difficult: you have to do everything well from the start. But like I said, I feel stronger than last week, and we improved in some places where I was losing something last week. So, I hope I will be able to fight for the top positions.”

Heading the third row is Valentino Rossi, who is the most successful current rider in MotoGP at Misano with three wins. This is the fifth time so far this year he has failed to qualify within the top six on the grid.
Franco Morbidelli – P8

“Today was not too bad. I am feeling better than yesterday, but I am still not 100% so I had to manage this in today’s sessions. In qualifying I didn’t feel like I had the energy to be able to attack how I wanted, but I will try to rest some more to be as prepared as possible for the race. The pace doesn’t look too bad, but we do still need to decide which tyres we will use. I think tomorrow’s race will be more demanding compared to last Sunday. I have been sick all week, lost one day of testing and I don’t feel completely fit yet. The gap between a lot of riders is really tight so I think it will be a close race.”

Danilo Petrucci – P9

“Finally, we were able to find some solutions that have improved my feeling with the bike. Unfortunately, in qualifying, I wasn’t precise, and I made some mistakes that made me lose a few tenths. In general, I am satisfied because I’m back being fast and I’m happy with the steps forward that we’ve been able to make. Let’s see how tomorrow’s race will go: it will be crucial to know how to manage the tyres well.”

Andrea Dovizioso – P10

“It has been a difficult day. This morning we weren’t able to get through to Q2 directly, but luckily we found something in FP4 that improved my feeling with the bike, and that allowed me to set the second-fastest time in Q1. Unfortunately, in Q2, I wasn’t able to do a perfect lap. Tomorrow we will start the race quite from behind, but I hope this won’t penalise us too much”.

After passing through Q1, Andrea Dovizioso, who has finished on the podium twice at Misano in MotoGP including a win in 2018 (the last win for Ducati at the track to date), has qualified 10th, which is his worst qualifying result at Misano in MotoGP since he was 14th in 2008.
Joan Mir – P11

“I improved my pace today, which was good, but I still for found it hard to set a fast lap. My one-lap pace is something I’ve struggled with for a while; I actually perform better with less grip and on worn tyres. For that reason I’m confident with my race pace, because I feel good with my bike and I know I can do well over race distance. It’s not easy starting from further back on the grid but I will fight to be on the podium again and try to take as many points as possible.”

Joan Mir
Takaaki Nakagami – P12

“It was a tough day for us, especially this afternoon as in FP4 I had one crash, then in qualifying Q2 I had a crash again. After the session I was disappointed because we ended up in P12, so it will be difficult for tomorrow’s race as the starting grid is not the best. But, fortunately, I am ok after these two crashes, it was high speed and there is quite a lot of damage to the bike. I’ll try to stay positive and the team will work hard to prepare another bike for tomorrow and we’ll see what happens. We’ll concentrate on tomorrow and be ready for the race.”

Takaaki Nakagami
Iker Lecuona – P13

“In FP3 I struggled and found it difficult to improve my lap time but finally, in FP4 we worked really well with used and harder tires, which made me truly confident for the Qualifying. I was so close to the Q2. I have to say, that I’m very happy anyway. I have a good feeling for tomorrow, we have a good pace for the race, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Iker Lecuona
Miguel Oliveira – P15

“It was not the best Qualifying for us. After this morning’s crash I lost a bit of feeling and I also hurt my right shoulder. In any case, we went faster than the whole weekend, so we must be happy for that. We have a hard race ahead tomorrow. We know that we are going to suffer a bit, especially because we start from behind. We can only take what we can, score the maximum amount of points possible and make a clever race. It’s a shame because we improved our speed a lot from last weekend to this one.”

Aleix Espargaro – P16

“Today I gave everything I could, starting from FP3 this morning, but it wasn’t enough to get into the top 10. I am disappointed because the RS-GP is working well. I have an outstanding feeling and I’m having fun riding. The only thing lacking is acceleration. I was able to follow various bikes and I’m able to keep pace with them. The problem is coming out of corners where even the riders who are slower than me have an advantage. This factor limits us particularly on the flying lap, because we are unable to exploit the extra grip of the new tyre. In any case, I’ll start aggressively and focused tomorrow. The gaps are still narrow, especially in terms of pace.”

Aleix Espargaro
Alex Marquez – P17

“Again, our race pace is looking quite good and in both practice sessions we did a good job. Our rhythm is good but we can’t make a big step like the others with the soft tyre. Since Jerez we have improved this and even since last weekend we have found some time but everyone else has also made a step. I feel good on the bike but when we put new tyre in, the situation changes. It will be a hard fight tomorrow starting from where we are but if we can make some moves at the start we can make some progress.”

Alex Rins – P18

“It seems like a difficult weekend for us. I don’t know why but I can’t quite find the same feeling that I had during the test. I’ve been going faster this weekend compared to last weekend, but all the other riders have also taken a step forward. So let’s see how I can manage the race tomorrow, my aim will be to recover as many positions as possible and give my best. At the moment my shoulder is feeling OK, and I’m continuing with my physiotherapy.”

Bradley Smith – P19

“Undoubtedly a tricky day. I don’t know if it was because of the wind or our settings, but I struggled a lot in the third sector. That’s also where I crashed in the tests, so that obviously doesn’t help my confidence. The FP4 session started off in the worst possible way, with a crash, but I’m pleased to have done my best time of the weekend in qualifying, managing to get my focus back. At the moment, we’re struggling to find something that will let us make a decisive step forward, but we won’t stop looking and working.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“Overall, we had a positive day today. We have seen how high the level is in MotoGP and how much everyone has improved since last week, so we knew this Q2 was going to be a hard one. After a not-so-good Friday, Maverick found his way again. He is looking even stronger than he did last week, both in terms of one-lap and long-distance pace. He is comfortable with the bike again, also during the longer stints, so we are feeling positive about tomorrow. It’s a pity Valentino lost the second row by just 0.047s, especially because his ideal time, combining all his best sectors, was almost 0.2s quicker. But, anyway, his confidence on the bike is quite good, as shown in FP3, and we know that Valentino is always able to bring something extra to the table on a Sunday. For sure, it will be another tough race, especially at the end of two full-on weeks of riding, but we’ll go into battle with 100% determination to get top results.”

MotoGP Qualifying Results

Pos Rider Bike Q Time/Gap
1 Maverick VIÑALES YAMAHA Q2 1m31.077
2 Jack MILLER DUCATI Q2 +0.076
3 Fabio QUARTARARO YAMAHA Q2 +0.145
4 Pol ESPARGARO KTM Q2 +0.231
5 Francesco BAGNAIA DUCATI Q2 +0.236
6 Brad BINDER KTM Q2 +0.312
7 Valentino ROSSI YAMAHA Q2 +0.359
8 Franco MORBIDELLI YAMAHA Q2 +0.489
9 Danilo PETRUCCI DUCATI Q2 +0.497
10 Andrea DOVIZIOSO DUCATI Q2 +0.504
11 Joan MIR SUZUKI Q2 +0.540
12 Takaaki NAKAGAMI HONDA Q2 +1.207
13 Iker LECUONA KTM Q1 (*) 0.156
14 Johann ZARCO DUCATI Q1 (*) 0.205
15 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM Q1 (*) 0.282
16 Aleix ESPARGARO APRILIA Q1 (*) 0.353
17 Alex MARQUEZ HONDA Q1 (*) 0.639
18 Alex RINS SUZUKI Q1 (*) 0.716
19 Bradley SMITH APRILIA Q1 (*) 0.927
20 Tito RABAT DUCATI Q1 (*) 1.291
21 Stefan BRADL HONDA FP1 1.663

Moto2 Qualifying Report

A 1:35.271 for Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) – and a new lap record to boot – hands the Italian a second consecutive pole position of the season as he beat team-mate Marco Bezzecchi by just 0.036 in Moto2 Q2 at the Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini. Petronas Sprinta Racing’s Xavi Vierge completed the front row, 0.348 off pole position despite a late crash for the Spaniard.

2020 Misano II Moto2 front row
1 Luca Marini – Sky Racing Team VR46 – Kalex 1:35.271
2 Marco Bezzecchi – Sky Racing Team VR46 – Kalex +0.036
3 Jake Dixon – Petronas Sprinta Racing – Kalex +0.348

The first laps were slammed in and it was Bezzecchi who led the way from Vierge, but Marini’s second lap was absolutely incredible. Enea Bastianini’s (Italtrans Racing Team) FP3 lap record was a 1:35.649 in the morning, but that was obliterated by Marini. The Championship leader set a 1:35.271 to lay down the gauntlet, with Bezzecchi going P2, 0.195 seconds off. Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team Moto2) and Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing) got themselves into the top four in the early stages. too.

Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) then jumped onto the provisional front row, 0.4 off, and went quicker on his next lap to get the gap down to 0.3, but the Brit remained P3. Meanwhile, Bezzecchi was on a charge and was right on Marini’s pace halfway around the lap. The Moto2 sophomore was then under his teammate’s blistering time by 0.032, but he couldn’t hold it to the line, ultimately missing out by 0.036. Just ahead of Bezzecchi was Vierge, who shot onto the front row in P3. That secured the position for Sunday although immediately after, the Spaniard tucked the front at Turn 1 – rider ok.

Lowes was then going great guns again and was less than a tenth away at the third checkpoint, but something went wrong in the fourth split and the British rider lost four tenths. Bezzecchi and Marini were again both setting a very similar pace to pole, but neither could maintain it to the line. Not that it mattered, as the Sky VR46 duo remained a class above in qualifying, the two Italians getting the business done on home turf once again on Saturday.

Despite his crash, Vierge kept P3 to secure his first front row start since the 2019 Dutch GP. Lowes threatened to displace the number 97 in the latter stages but couldn’t string a lap together, but the Brit will be pleased with P4, with a podium seemingly in sight for the rider who claimed P8 from pitlane last weekend. Bastianini will be hoping to challenge the leading Italians in the opening stages too in a bid to minimise the potential damage that could be caused with Marini and Bezzecchi on song.

Canet completes Row 2, the rookie sensation 0.532 from pole and having a much improved weekend at Misano second time around, but it was close as the Spaniard beat Jake Dixon by just 0.011. P7 is nevertheless Dixon’s best Moto2 qualifying result, and his first top ten since the 2019 Czech GP.

Beta Tools Speed Up’s Fabio Di Giannantonio lines up just behind Dixon in P8, and just ahead of teammate Jorge Navarro. Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) completed the top 10, the Italian seven tenths shy of compatriot Marini.

Augusto Fernandez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) suffered a big crash at Turn 5 in Q2 – rider ok but to be reviewed on Sunday morning.

Moto2 Qualifying Results

Pos Rider Bike Q Time/Gap
1 Luca MARINI KALEX Q2 1m35.271
2 Marco BEZZECCHI KALEX Q2 +0.036
3 Xavi VIERGE KALEX Q2 +0.348
4 Sam LOWES KALEX Q2 +0.469
5 Enea BASTIANINI KALEX Q2 +0.518
6 Aron CANET SPEED UP Q2 +0.532
7 Jake DIXON KALEX Q2 +0.543
8 Fabio DI GIANNANTONI   ITA SPEED UP Q2 +0.657
9 Jorge NAVARRO SPEED UP Q2 +0.681
10 Nicolò BULEGA KALEX Q2 +0.708
11 Marcel SCHROTTER KALEX Q2 +0.762
12 Augusto FERNANDEZ KALEX Q2 +0.783
13 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA KALEX Q2 +0.816
14 Mattia PASINI KALEX Q2 +0.883
15 Hector GARZO KALEX Q2 +0.939
16 Thomas LUTHI KALEX Q2 +0.971
17 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA   ITA KALEX Q2 +0.974
18 Joe ROBERTS KALEX Q2 +1.125
19 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI   ITA KALEX Q1 (*) 0.175
20 Marcos RAMIREZ KALEX Q1 (*) 0.206
21 Stefano MANZI MV AGUSTA Q1 (*) 0.213
22 Edgar PONS KALEX Q1 (*) 0.422
23 Bo BENDSNEYDER NTS Q1 (*) 0.440
24 Simone CORSI MV AGUSTA Q1 (*) 0.631
25 Hafizh SYAHRIN SPEED UP Q1 (*) 0.740
26 Somkiat CHANTRA KALEX Q1 (*) 0.915
27 Kasma DANIEL KALEX Q1 (*) 1.280
28 Andi Farid IZDIHAR KALEX Q1 (*) 1.683
29 Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI NTS Q1 (*) 3.284

Moto3

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Raul Fernandez clinched his third Moto3 pole position of the season at the Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini, putting in a late dash to take to the top. With just 30 seconds remaining on the clock, the Spaniard snatched it away from home hero Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) by a tiny 0.088, with fellow Italian Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46) putting in a late charge to lock out the front row, still within a tenth.

Moto3 front row
1 Raul Fernandez – Red Bull KTM Ajo – KTM – 1:41.705
2 Tony Arbolino – Rivacold Snipers Team – Honda +0.088
3 Andrea Migno – Sky Racing Team VR46 – KTM – +0.092

There was some drama earlier in the afternoon before the final charge, with last weekend’s San Marino GP winner John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) failing to make it out of Q1 and, as a result, starting 20th on the grid. Instead, it was Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) the first through from Q1, joined by eventual front row man Arbolino, Kaito Toba (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Filip Salač (Rivacold Snipers Team).

Arbolino looked like he would be the star of the show too, with the Italian holding on to provisional pole heading into the final push of the session. A crash for Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) just ahead of him scuppered a chance to improve though, and Fernandez would go on to pounce. A late 1:41.705 from the Spaniard, despite being six tenths adrift of Celestino Vietti’s (Sky Racing Team VR46) new lap record set in FP3, was enough for Fernandez to take pole number three of the year.

The chequered flag came out not long after, with Vietti clinging on to the final front row place just behind Fernandez and Arbolino. His Sky Racing Team VR46 teammate Andrea Migno had other ideas, however, pushing him down to fourth before Albert Arenas (Gaviota Aspar Team Moto3) also pipped the number 13; the Championship leader making a valuable leap up from 16th to head the second row. Sterilgarda Max Racing Team’s Romano Fenati slots in just behind Vietti in sixth, meaning the number 55 has secured back-to-back slots on the front two rows of the grid for the first time since the Japanese and Australian Grands Prix back in 2017.

Fronting row three, meanwhile, is Q1 graduate Kaito Toba. He was set to be joined there by compatriot Suzuki, who was eighth quickest in the session, but the SIC58 rider was declared unfit for a broken wrist sustained in his crash, so Leopard Racing’s Jaume Masia moves up to start eighth. Reigning FIM Moto3 Junior World Champion Jeremy Alcoba (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) will therefore get a third row start as he gains a place too, tenth fastest in the session but starting ninth. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) will be the man completing the top ten on the grid.

As well as McPhee, who faces a fight back from 20th, there’s another name missing so far: Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia). The man second overall in the standings, and polesitter last week, was P12 in Q2 but will start 11th, leaving him a little more work to do to take the fight to Arenas and cut back his five-point deficit.

Moto3 Qualifying Results

Pos Rider Bike Q Time/Gap
1 Raul FERNANDEZ KTM Q2 1m41.705
2 Tony ARBOLINO HONDA Q2 +0.088
3 Andrea MIGNO KTM Q2 +0.092
4 Albert ARENAS KTM Q2 +0.146
5 Celestino VIETTI KTM Q2 +0.168
6 Romano FENATI HUSQVARNA Q2 +0.256
7 Kaito TOBA KTM Q2 +0.258
8 Tatsuki SUZUKI HONDA Q2 +0.266
9 Jaume MASIA HONDA Q2 +0.339
10 Jeremy ALCOBA HONDA Q2 +0.424
11 Dennis FOGGIA HONDA Q2 +0.591
12 Ai OGURA HONDA Q2 +0.609
13 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM Q2 +0.670
14 Filip SALAC HONDA Q2 +0.755
15 Stefano NEPA KTM Q2 +1.037
16 Ayumu SASAKI KTM Q2 +1.150
17 Barry BALTUS KTM Q2 +1.428
18 Sergio GARCIA HONDA Q2 +1.966
19 Gabriel RODRIGO HONDA Q1 (*) 0.341
20 John MCPHEE HONDA Q1 (*) 0.481
21 Darryn BINDER KTM Q1 (*) 0.494
22 Niccolò ANTONELLI HONDA Q1 (*) 0.528
23 Alonso LOPEZ HUSQVARNA Q1 (*) 0.645
24 Riccardo ROSSI KTM Q1 (*) 0.829
25 Ryusei YAMANAKA HONDA Q1 (*) 0.851
26 Khairul Idham PAWI HONDA Q1 (*) 0.987
27 Yuki KUNII HONDA Q1 (*) 0.994
28 Maximilian KOFLER KTM Q1 (*) 1.165
29 Carlos TATAY KTM Q1 (*) 1.195
30 Jason DUPASQUIER KTM Q1 (*) 1.571
31 Davide PIZZOLI KTM Q1 (*) 1.627

MotoE Qualifying

Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) took his first ever E-Pole – and first pole position in the Grand Prix paddock – on Saturday, coming out on top in another classic shootout to beat Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) by just 0.011. Points leader Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) completed the front row for Race 1 of the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup at the Emilia Romagna GP.

There were no track limit infractions and no crashes in the session, but there was a splash of drama for Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) as he suffered an issue with his transponder. Given another E-Pole slot later in the session, the Italian got a second chance at it but it led to some last minutes nerves for the men on for a provisional front row start. Casadei’s lap, right at the end, wouldn’t show on timing screens – it would just appear once he crossed the line…

Ultimately though, Torres, Ferrari and Aegerter held on to much relief and a slight drum roll, with Casadei taking P7 and a third row start. In between the top three and the Italian, Row 2 is Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), Xavier Simeon (LCR E-Team) and Lukas Tulovic (Tech 3 E-Racing), the latter off the front row for the first time in 2020. Granado’s lap also merits a postscript, as the Brazilian was visibly cautious after falling foul of track limits in E-Pole last weekend.

MotoE Qualifying Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Jordi TORRES Energica 1m43.154
2 Matteo FERRARI Energica +0.011
3 Dominique AEGERTER Energica +0.143
4 Eric GRANADO Energica +0.198
5 Xavier SIMEON Energica +0.263
6 Lukas TULOVIC Energica +0.278
7 Mattia CASADEI Energica +0.348
8 Mike DI MEGLIO Energica +0.691
9 Niki TUULI Energica +0.696
10 Alejandro MEDINA Energica +0.752
11 Alex DE ANGELIS Energica +0.836
12 Tommaso MARCON Energica +0.979
13 Niccolo CANEPA Energica +0.985
14 Xavi CARDELUS Energica +1.097
15 Josh HOOK Energica +1.348
16 Alessandro ZACCONE Energica +1.437
17 Maria HERRERA Energica +2.156
18 Jakub KORNFEIL Energica +2.811

MotoE Race One

Dominque Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) emerged victorious from a last lap FIM Enel MotoE World Cup battle in Race 1 at the Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini, the Swiss rider beating title rivals Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) and Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) to the line as all three were covered by a tenth at the flag. To add some extra late drama, Ferrari crossed the line second but was demoted one position to P3 for exceeding track limits on the final lap.

It was Ferrari who got the holeshot into Turn 1 from second on the grid, with polesitter Torres slotting into P2. There was drama from the off though as Lukas Tulovic (Tech3 E-Racing) suffered a huge highside at Turn 2 in the middle of the pack, thankfully the riders avoided contact with Tulovic and the German rider headed to the medical centre for a check-up. Tech3 later confirmed Tulovic had suffered a broken third metacarpal bone in his right hand and he has some pain in his right ankle, but the doctors will decide tomorrow morning whether he is fit to ride in Race 2, which he wants to do.

After the shuffle at the start then, Ferrari was out front as a lead group of six formed by the end of Lap 1, with Aegerter grabbing second off Torres on Lap 2. Lap 3 then witnessed more drama – and it was big for both the race and standings. Free Practice pacesetter Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), having made his way past Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) shortly before, went for an inside move on Xavier Simeon (LCR E-Team) at the tight Turn 4 right-hander. It looked like Granado had made the move stick but then the front of his Energica Ego Corsa suddenly washed away, with Simeon the unlucky party caught in the crossfire. Both riders were down and out of the race – thankfully ok – but that’s a disaster for their title hopes. It also means the duo will be starting from the back of the grid for Race 2 tomorrow…

That incident left a lead group of three riders up front, with Casadei 0.8 seconds adrift of Ferrari, Torres and Aegerter – the top quartet also the top four in the World Cup standings, making it a vital race. With three laps to go, Aegerter made his move on Torres at Turn 14 but the Spaniard was able to get the cutback – giving Ferrari a little bit of breathing space…

That was soon diminished though and at the start of the last lap, Aegerter again showed a wheel to Torres – and made a Turn 1 pass stick. Now, the top two in the standings were the top two in the race. Heading down the back straight into Turn 11, Ferrari remained ahead but you could tell what was coming: Aegerter was tucked into the slipstream of his rival and heading into Turn 14, the Swiss rider slammed up the inside of Ferrari and into the lead. Could the Italian hit back? Not quite, as Aegerter led through the final sector and held it into the final corner to claim a crucial Race 1 victory and his second win of the season.

In an attempt to beat Aegerter on the run to the line, Ferrari then exceeded track limits at Turn 16. Having crossed the line ahead of Torres, he was demoted one position and loses that chunk of points to boot, now back behind Torres overall. Nevertheless, the top three across the line were covered by just 0.103 seconds in whichever order!

Casadei took the chequered flag 2.5 seconds from victory to earn his fourth consecutive top five finish of 2020, with Tommaso Marcon (Tech3 E-Racing) completing the top five. Niccolo Canepa (LCR E-Team) finished P6, just over half a second ahead of a great gaggle of riders who battled it out for the remaining top 10 positions. Alejandro Medina (Openbank Aspar Team), Josh Hook (Octo Pramac MotoE), Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) and Alessandro Zaccone (Trentino Gresini MotoE) crossed the line covered by just half a second to round out the top 10.

Alex de Angelis (Octo Pramac MotoE) and Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) crashed unhurt in Race 1, and Niki Tuulu (Avan Ajo MotoE) jumped the start, given two Long Lap Penalties for the infraction.

Aegerter extended his lead in the standings to 19 points over Torres, with Ferrari two adrift of the Spaniard in P3. The podium finishers secure front row starts for Race 2 on Sunday as Race 1 results now set the second grid.

MotoE Race One Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Dominique AEGERTER ENERGICA 0.000
2 Jordi TORRES ENERGICA 0.103
3 Matteo FERRARI ENERGICA 0.075
4 Mattia CASADEI ENERGICA 2.531
5 Tommaso MARCON ENERGICA 6.578
6 Niccolo CANEPA ENERGICA 7.695
7 Alejandro MEDINA ENERGICA 8.277
8 Josh HOOK ENERGICA 8.336
9 Xavi CARDELUS ENERGICA 8.553
10 Alessandro ZACCONE ENERGICA 8.640
11 Maria HERRERA ENERGICA 11.566
12 Jakub KORNFEIL ENERGICA 16.973
13 Niki TUULI ENERGICA 17.538
Not Classified
DNF Alex DE ANGELIS ENERGICA 4 laps
DNF Xavier SIMEON ENERGICA 5 laps
DNF Eric GRANADO ENERGICA 5 laps
DNF Lukas TULOVIC ENERGICA /
DNF Mike DI MEGLIO ENERGICA /

MotoE Championship Standing

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Dominique AEGERTER Energica 82
2 Jordi TORRES Energica 63
3 Matteo FERRARI Energica 61
4 Mattia CASADEI Energica 51
5 Xavier SIMEON Energica 35
6 Eric GRANADO Energica 34
7 Niccolo CANEPA Energica 29
8 Lukas TULOVIC Energica 27
9 Mike DI MEGLIO Energica 25
10 Josh HOOK Energica 23
11 Tommaso MARCON Energica 22
12 Alex DE ANGELIS Energica 21
13 Alejandro MEDINA Energica 21
14 Xavi CARDELUS Energica 17
15 Alessandro ZACCONE Energica 15
16 Maria HERRERA Energica 12
17 Niki TUULI Energica 8
18 Jakub KORNFEIL Energica 8

2020 MotoGP Calendar

Rnd Date Circuit
1 08 March (Moto2/Moto3) Losail International Circuit
2 19 July Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto
3 26 July Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto
4 09 August Automotodrom Brno
5 16 August Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
6 23 August Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
7 13 September Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
8 20 September Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
9 27 September Barcelona – Catalunya
10 11 October Le Mans
11 18 October MotorLand Aragón
12 25 October MotorLand Aragón
13 08 November Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo
14 15 November Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo
15 22 November Autodromo Internacional do Algarve

Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini Schedule

Time Class Session
1620 Moto3 WUP
1650 Moto2 WUP
1720 MotoGP WUP
1805 MotoE Race 2
1900 Moto3 Race
2020 Moto2 Race
2200 MotoGP Race

Source: MCNews.com.au

MotoGP, News

Misano II Friday wrap | Quotes | Results | All classes

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Brad Binder tops tight Friday Practice at Misano II

Five riders in less than a tenth and the top ten within 0.444? Sounds about right for the incredibly competitive 2020 MotoGP season, and that was the case on Day 1 of the Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) is the man on top as action draws to a close on Friday, just 0.002 ahead of Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), with Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) slotting into third. Covering the three is a tiny 0.071…

Brad Binder

FP1

Quartararo began the day as the man to beat, but San Marino GP winner and teammate Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) made for close company as he ended the session within 0.090. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was third quickest as KTM’s promised step forward in Tuesday testing started to materialise early.

It was a rapid start to proceedings on Friday morning for the premier class riders, with Quartararo’s quickest time just three tenths away from Maverick Viñales’ (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) lap record set in Q2 last weekend. A mini time-attack in the final few minutes is when the Frenchman unleashed his speed, although second place Morbidelli set his best time on the hard rear tyre, which could bode well for the Italian if he’s planning to race it.

Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), third at Misano last Sunday, was fourth fastest behind Pol Espargaro as the Suzuki rider continued to shine. Mir was 0.205 off Quartararo’s pace, with Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3) making it two RC16s inside the top five in FP1 with a best time of a 1:31.965 – 0.244 away from Quartararo, in fifth.

It was a tougher session for Mir’s teammate Alex Rins, who escaped a highside as he got spat out his seat a couple of times on the exit of Turn 5, lucky to stay on. The Spaniard did then crash later in the session – rider ok.

FP2

In the opening stages of FP2, Quartararo was the pacesetter on the hard front, medium rear tyre and was setting very impressive lap times – as he did this morning. The Frenchman’s fastest time was a 1:32.320 before he then improved to a 1:32.273 soon after in the opening 15 minutes, with Nakagami sitting second already – 0.099 off the pace.

The two Red Bull KTM Tech 3 riders of Miguel Oliveira and Iker Lecuona were going well as the duo sat P3 and P5, with Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller splitting them in P4. Having said that, Miller, Lecuona and Tito Rabat (Esponsorama Racing) were the only riders to have improved their combined times in the opening 20 minutes of FP2.

The first man to oust Quartararo from the top of the timesheets was San Marino GP podium finisher Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) as the Italian slammed in a 1:32.138, and then they were off and the times tumbling. Pol Espargaro – a crasher in the early stages of FP2 – recovered from that to really move the goalposts, the Spaniard heading to the top with a 1:31.699 – the first lap quicker than Quartararo’s 1:31.721 from the morning.

Nakagami hit next to go top, by 0.069, as the Japanese rider’s improvements in testing kept impressing. It still wasn’t quite all she wrote, however, as Binder made his move. Tucked in behind lap record holder Viñales, the Brno winner demoted Nakagami to P2 by 0.002 seconds – leaping up the timesheets after P14 in the morning. Viñales, just ahead of the South African on track, went to P4.

Brad Binder

Quartararo couldn’t quite retake the top and slotted into P3, with Viñales improving again abut staying fourth. Pol Espargaro’s 1:31.699 eventually saw him slip to fifth and at the end of the session, you could throw a blanket over the top five – it was that close. Just 0.071 between three manufacturers is a timely reminder of how close the premier class is in 2020!

The top five overall, then, are the top five from FP2: Binder, Nakagami, Quartararo, Viñales and Pol Espargaro. Morbidelli then slots into sixth courtesy of his FP1 time, not improving in the afternoon, with Joan Mir just behind him in seventh and likewise faster in FP1. The same is true of Oliveira, who ends Friday in P8.

Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) gained some time in the afternoon to take P9 overall and the honour of top Ducati, although not by much. Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) was tenth, Bagnaia 11th and Dovizioso 12th overall – leaving the latter duo especially with work to do on Saturday morning in FP3 if they want to guarantee themselves a place in Q2.

Joining them on the FP3 charge to take a place in Q2 are another two names outside the top ten: Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in P15 on Day 1, and Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) just behind him. Will they make it through?

Jack Miller has some work to do on Saturday in qualifying but is confident in his race pace

Rider Quotes

Takaaki Nakagami – P2

“It’s a pretty good start for us, I felt so good on the bike. Following the test on Tuesday we’ve definitely improved the bike and my feeling with the bike – we’re much more consistent. We’re also working hard on the qualifying lap, the one lap time, but the lap times overall are more consistent because the bike is more stable. So I’m feeling really good, there are still some sectors we can improve a little, like sector two, and we’ll just keep working hard for qualifying. For tomorrow our target will be to get on the front row, because here the starting grid is really important.”

Takaaki Nakagami
Fabio Quartararo – P3

“Honestly I felt great today. I was able to make a bit of a long-run, about 16 laps, all in the 1min 32 seconds and that was really positive. Our pace feels good. We have modified the settings a little bit since last week, and I feel a bit better on the bike. There are still some areas for improvement, but I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. We tried a time attack on the medium tyre and we were fast. I think the soft has a little bit more potential but we finished less than one tenth from the top on this tyre. I’m also really happy with our practice starts too. The pace is great, which is really important, and we will see what we find tomorrow and Sunday. I want to fight for the pole position again and I’m feeling stronger than last week so we will see.”

Fabio Quartararo
Maverick Vinales – P4

“The feeling for one lap is good, but the only problem is that everything that we tested on Tuesday doesn’t work during the race weekend, because the feeling and the grip level changed. We need to set-up for these conditions in preparation for the race, and we need to try to understand how we can be faster. So, we went back to our standard bike that we finished with last Sunday. We lost a bit of time because of all of this. We have to continue working to find out how to have more grip during the race.”

Maverick Vinales
Franco Morbidelli – P6

“Today was a good Friday. We’ve been reconfirming our speed this morning and checking what the track conditions were like – I felt quite good. This afternoon the conditions were a little bit different and we had to adapt to that. I think we made the right choices and we improved the settings of the bike throughout the day. We were able to have a good pace, so this is positive. I will rest a little bit now before tomorrow, to try to be in even better shape and see where we are. Tomorrow morning it will be important to be fast in our time attacks.”

Franco Morbidelli
Joan Mir – P7

“We tried each rear tyre option today, which gave us good information. The sessions were very competitive today with very close times, and even though everyone has improved since last weekend, we feel that we have taken a step forward too. We’re ready to fight again at the front, so tomorrow we’ll try to improve a few more things and we’ll aim to get a good qualifying position. Let’s see what’s possible!”

Joan Mir
Miguel Oliveira – P8

“It was a nice day of work here. We went faster than in the last Grand Prix, which was obviously the target. We still have some things to adjust for tomorrow morning. I feel good. We know in FP3 it’s going to be very tight to go to Q2, but I believe we can manage to do a decent session and a decent lap. Our pace this afternoon was quite good, which I’m happy about, but we know that this pace here is not enough to do a good result, so we need to be faster tomorrow morning to be with the front.”

Miguel Oliveira
Danilo Petrucci – P9

“After last Tuesday’s test, we were able to take some steps forward. Since this morning, I have been able to have positive sensations on my bike. This afternoon I did a good lap time and, although it will not be enough to get directly into Q2, I am confident because we still have some room for improvements. We hope to be able to do so tomorrow morning in FP3, where it will be crucial to stay in the top ten.”

Danilo Petrucci
Johann Zarco – P10

“I have had a good day, this morning, I went fast from the first moment, although everyone has gone very fast since FP1. We have worked with the medium rear tire, and we are being more competitive with tire than last week, this is good for the race. I had a small crash in the afternoon, when my first lap launched with the soft tire started, it closed from the front on turn 2. Despite not having a wings on the left, I felt I had to continue because there were only 5 minutes left and that was the good tire. I could improve my lap time and stay on the Top-10.”

Pecco Bagnaia – P11

“Today we worked with medium tire because last Sunday Mir and Morbidelli were very fast with this tire so it was very important to try it to understand what will be the best choice. Tomorrow I will be able to do the time attack. I feel good and today we finished the work started last week.”

Pecco Bagnaia
Andrea Dovizioso – P12

“Today, we preferred to focus on the preparations for the race, without worrying too much about the lap times. We have made some progress, but it is still not enough: our rivals have also improved a lot since last Tuesday’s test. In any case, I am confident: we know where we need to work on to be more competitive. Now we need to keep our concentration: tomorrow morning it will be important to close FP3 in the top ten”.

Andrea Dovizioso
Aleix Espargaro – P13

“I am satisfied with this first day. We were more competitive compared to last week. The gaps are obviously very narrow, but the improvement is clear. In the afternoon with the medium compound, which is not my favourite, I was able to lap in the low 32 range. The bike has improved, especially in terms of electronics. Tomorrow we’ll try to go through to Q2 using the soft tyre. I get the impression that there will be ten riders within a tenth of one another, so we’ll need to grit our teeth and maybe stretch out our arms like they do in cycling sprints!”

Aleix Espargaro and Bradley Smith
Iker Lecuona – P14

“In FP1 I was quite happy, because we were working on our pace and I was working on my riding style. We wanted to improve that a bit and I had a good feeling, riding smoother and more relaxed. This afternoon, I put in a good tyre and was a lot closer to the top. On my fastest lap, I did a small mistake, but I did two quick lap times. At the moment, it is difficult to improve further. Anyway, I’m quite satisfied about today, as we are close to the top 10 again. Tomorrow we need to continue to work hard in order to improve this fast lap time.”

Iker Lecuona
Valentino Rossi – P15

“It was a difficult first day. We tried something different on the bike. In the morning I didn’t do a lap on new tyres, I did it this afternoon. Unfortunately, I’m out of the top 10, though I improved on my Friday lap time from last week, because everybody is a lot stronger and faster, like we expected. So, we have to work to raise our level. We have to try something else to improve our pace. We will work on the bike. We haven’t found the right balance yet, but we will continue to work and try again tomorrow morning.”

Valentino Rossi
Jack Miller – P16

“Today the plan was to find the best solution for Sunday, We worked very well, I think we are in the right way. Tomorrow we will try to do the time for being in Q2, I’m feel very confident, we did a massive improvement.”

Jack Miller
Alex Marquez – P17

“Today was a good day. We were able to confirm the step that we made in the test which is really good for us. Today we ended just two tenths from the top ten, so this is also good and shows we are working in the right direction. The plan is to keep working and keep pushing, especially over one lap. We tried some different options for the race and our pace is again looking good. A positive Friday for us.”

Alex Rins – P18

“Today has been a bit difficult for me. During the test on Tuesday I was able to keep a good performance even on used tyres, but today I didn’t capture that same feeling. Finally towards the end of FP2 I started to feel good again and that gives me confidence for race day. This morning in FP1 I had a very big moment, and a big save, and after that I also had a little crash. This didn’t impact my work too much and I’m still focused on tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.”

Alex Rins
Tito Rabat – P19

“It’s been a pretty positive day, our fast lap is 1.32.7 a step forward given by having turned 32 today. Tomorrow we will try to take another step forward, today we have finished with positive feelings and continue working as before.”

Tito Rabat
Bradley Smith – P20

“We arrived at the level of the tests and that is a positive aspect. We also tested a few changes that we weren’t able to assess on Tuesday. Using a new engine, I found different sensations today with respect to my base, but I’m confident that we’ll be able check the data and set it up correctly for tomorrow. The situation got steadily better already in the afternoon, but everyone was extremely fast straight away, including Aleix. We’ll need to work hard tomorrow to recover a few tenths which we seem to be lacking at the moment.”

Bradley Smith
Stefan Bradl – Withdrawn

“Unfortunately, I am still having problems with my right arm and I am not able to ride in a safe and consistent way. I spoke with my doctor and we performed a small operation to clean the nerve before this weekend but when they opened my arm, they saw the situation was more complicated than they first thought. I came to Misano with the intention of racing because my doctor told me it would be okay to race. But in this situation, I do not feel I can ride safely over a whole race, together with HRC we have decided to take the rest of the week to recover before Barcelona.”

Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager

“We’ve been keeping working today. Joan had good pace from the start trying different tyres options, and we continued to work on settings with him. Alex also was trying different tyre options and at the end he could find a good combination with good pace. Friday is the day for working on all these things, so at the moment we’re happy with how the day has gone and we’re looking forward to qualifying tomorrow. As we suspected, it’s much more competitive between all the riders this weekend because everyone has one race in the bag already and also a test. But our level was high last weekend, and we’ll try to do well again.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“Today we revisited the items of last Tuesday’s testing programme. The weather conditions for this weekend are expected to be slightly cooler than what we‘ve had previously during the San Marino GP and the Misano Test. Also the track conditions are different from the test, with more rubber on track, so we wanted to use today‘s sessions to see how this affects matters, especially concerning the grip levels. Maverick continues to have a good feeling with the bike for one lap, but he is still working on improving his race pace. He tried using some things he found during the test, but because the track conditions are so different from Tuesday, he went back to the package he used last weekend. Still, he finished only 0.041s from the top of today‘s timesheets. Valentino isn‘t that far off the fastest time either, but the entire rider field is very close. He is now in 15th place in the combined rankings. We expect tomorrow to be intense. If today‘s times are anything to go by, the battle for the top 10 in FP3 will be hard-fought, and also the times in qualifying will be very fast. The team will work hard tonight to prepare another step for FP3 to let Maverick and Valentino face the competition in the best shape possible.”

Friday MotoGP Combined Practice Times

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 B.Binder KTM 1m31.628
2 T.Nakagami HONDA +0.002
3 F.Quartararo YAMAHA +0.016
4 M.Viñales YAMAHA +0.041
5 P.Espargaro KTM +0.071
6 F.Morbidelli YAMAHA +0.183
7 J.Mir SUZUKI +0.298
8 M.Oliveira KTM +0.337
9 D.Petrucci DUCATI +0.345
10 J.Zarco DUCATI +0.444
11 F.Bagnaia DUCATI +0.510
12 A.Dovizioso DUCATI +0.524
13 A.Espargaro APRILIA +0.557
14 I.Lecuona KTM +0.610
15 V.Rossi YAMAHA +0.635
16 J.Miller DUCATI +0.651
17 A.Marquez HONDA +0.741
18 A.Rins SUZUKI +0.779
19 T.Rabat DUCATI +1.160
20 B.Smith APRILIA +1.288
21 S.Bradl HONDA +1.756

Moto2

San Marino GP winner Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) was back on top on Day 1 of the Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini, the Italian’s 1:35.956 a new lap record at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. He only got the better of rookie Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team Moto2) by less than a tenth, however, with Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) completing the top three.

FP1

In FP1, Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) was top of the pile, 0.171 ahead of Tom Lüthi (Liqui Moly Intact GP) as the Swiss veteran put in an impressive session to get back nearer the front. Last week’s pole position setter, Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), completed the top three as his Misano pace remained very much intact.

Hector Garzo (Pons HP 40) was another who impressed as he ended FP1 in fourth, just ahead of Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2). Championship leader Marini began the day in sixth, 0.281 off the top.

Kasma Daniel (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) crashed at Turn 5 in FP1, before Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) went down at Turn 16. Andi Izdihar (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) also took a tumble, the Indonesian at Turn 14.

FP2

In the afternoon, Marini hit back and set his fastest lap on a well-used tyre – having spent most the session on it – which may prove ominous to many. Canet was second and Schrötter third, with both making a significant move up the top ten in FP2. Lowes was fourth, with American Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing) leaping up the timesheets to complete the top five.

Schrötter crashed in the afternoon although still took third, with the other faller proving San Marino GP podium finisher Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46). It seemed a tougher first day at the track this time around for the Italian, and he crashed at Turn 6 in a highside.

On Friday it’s an FP2 top five on the combined timesheets as Marini leads Canet leads Schrötter, with Lowes and Roberts in fourth and fifth respectively. Bastianini slots into sixth by virtue of his FP1 best, ahead of Bezzecchi and Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing).

Lüthi ends Friday in ninth from his FP1 fastest, with the top ten completed by Jorge Navarro and his FP2 best. Currently, the final riders provisionally moving through to Q2 are Garzo, Bulega, Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing). The first three by virtue of FP1, and Dixon after a huge step forward in the afternoon following some technical troubles in the morning.

Friday Moto2 Combined Practice Times

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 L.Marini KALEX 1m35.956
2 A.Canet SPEED UP +0.090
3 M.Schrotter  KALEX +0.201
4 S.Lowes KALEX +0.205
5 J.Roberts KALEX +0.295
6 E.Bastianini KALEX +0.306
7 M.Bezzecchi KALEX +0.328
8 X.Vierge KALEX +0.361
9 T.Luthi KALEX +0.477
10 J.Navarro SPEED UP +0.511
11 H.Garzo KALEX +0.553
12 N.Bulega KALEX +0.564
13 T.Nagashima KALEX +0.601
14 J.Dixon KALEX +0.625
15 L.Baldassarri KALEX +0.638
16 A.Fernandez KALEX +0.704
17 M.Ramirez KALEX +0.743
18 F.Di Giannanto SPEED UP +0.765
19 L.Dalla Porta KALEX +0.798
20 H.Syahrin SPEED UP +1.065
21 S.Manzi MV AGUSTA +1.153
22 B.Bendsneyde NTS +1.186
23 S.Corsi MV AGUSTA +1.222
24 E.Pons KALEX +1.335
25 M.Pasini KTM +1.396
26 A.Izdihar KALEX +1.423
27 S.Chantra KALEX +1.455
28 K.Daniel KALEX +1.616
29 P.Biesiekirski NTS +4.666

Moto3

Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) set a new all-time lap record on Friday at the Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini, a 1:41.663 putting him just under three tenths ahead of Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) by the end of play. Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) completed the top three by just 0.021 as action got back underway at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, with the top three in the Championship all outside the top ten on Day 1.

FP1

In FP1 it was Fernandez once again fastest out the blocks, the Spaniard’s last dash 1:41.962 making him half a second quicker than Ai Ogura’s (Honda Team Asia) pole position laptime last weekend. He was also just a fraction away from the 2019 outright lap record that Masia would go on to break in FP2. Reigning FIM Moto3™ Junior World Champion Jeremy Alcoba (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) was second quickest, 0.164 back, with Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) in third only another 0.026 in arrears.

Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) and Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46) were a quarter of a second back in fourth and fifth.

Masia had a scary moment early on but later found some rhythm to start the day in sixth, just ahead of Filip Salač (Rivacold Snipers Team) and World Championship leader Albert Arenas (Gaviota Aspar Team Moto3). They were the final two of the eight riders who managed to go under Ogura’s pole lap from the San Marino GP.

Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) crashed twice, first at Turn 9 and later at Turn 6, rider ok. San Marino GP podium finisher Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) also went down at Turn 4, and Foggia at Turn 6.

FP2

In the afternoon, Masia moved from sixth to top as he smashed the lap record, ending the afternoon fastest ahead of Vietti as the Italian looks to bounce back from a tougher first weekend on home soil. Suzuki and Migno were next up, with Fernandez down in fifth and suffering a highside in the session – rider ok and even able to get it back to the pits.

Rodrigo, Migno and Fenati also all suffered crashes, riders ok.

Masia is the man leading the way to FP3 on the combined timesheets after that new lap record, and he’ll likely feel confident of moving through to Q2 despite a penalty he has to serve in the FP3 session. The Spaniard is one of a number of riders suspended from the last 15 minutes due to slow riding in practice last weekend.

Will the grid be able to get the jump on him? Next overall on Friday is Fernandez with his best laptime from FP1, ahead of Vietti, Suzuki and Migno with their fastest efforts from FP2. Alcoba slots into sixth overall courtesy of his FP1 lap, with Salač’s FP2 lap putting him just 0.007 behind the Spaniard.

Foggia’s FP1 quickest puts him in P8 and he’ll be another sitting out the final 15 minutes of FP3, so he’ll be looking for more early on Saturday to ensure he keeps that provisional place in Q2. Rodrigo was ninth overall, with Stefano Nepa (Gaviota Aspar Team Moto3) completing the top ten.

Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) bounced back from a DNF through no fault of his own last time out to take P11 overall, ahead of Championship leader Arenas by just 0.033. The last two currently set to move through to Q2 are Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) – who’ll be missing the last 15 minutes of FP3 as well – and Kaito Toba (Red Bull KTM Ajo).

That leaves a couple of familiar names outside that all-important top 14 and looking to move forward in FP3: San Marino GP winner and third in the Championship, John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing), who is P15 overall, as well as the man second in the title fight, Ai Ogura. Last week’s polesitter was down in P19.

Can they bounce back on Saturday? FP3 begins at 9:00 (GMT +3), with an interesting final slice of the session to come as Arbolino, Foggia and Masia join Ryusei Yamanaka (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Davide Pizzoli (BOE Skull Rider Facile Energy) on the sidelines after having been penalised for riding slowly in FP3 last weekend. Qualifying then begins from 12:35 (GMT +2)!

Friday Moto3 Combined Practice Times

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 J.Masia HONDA 1m41.663
2 R.Fernandez KTM +0.299
3 C.Vietti KTM +0.320
4 T.Suzuki HONDA +0.412
5 A.Migno KTM +0.426
6 J.Alcoba HONDA +0.463
7 F.Salac HONDA +0.470
8 D.Foggia HONDA +0.489
9 G.Rodrigo HONDA +0.549
10 S.Nepa KTM +0.564
11 A.Sasaki KTM +0.614
12 A.Arenas KTM +0.647
13 T.Arbolino HONDA +0.650
14 K.Toba KTM +0.697
15 J.Mcphee HONDA +0.782
16 D.Binder KTM +0.799
17 R.Fenati HUSQVARNA +0.824
18 R.Rossi KTM +0.830
19 A.Ogura HONDA +0.885
20 A.Lopez HUSQVARNA +0.909
21 S.Garcia HONDA +0.930
22 J.Dupasquier KTM +0.954
23 D.Pizzoli KTM +0.993
24 C.Tatay KTM +1.016
25 N.Antonelli HONDA +1.110
26 D.Öncü KTM +1.182
27 R.Yamanaka HONDA +1.249
28 M.Kofler KTM +1.249
29 B.Baltus KTM +1.392
30 K.Pawi HONDA +1.396
31 Y.Kunii HONDA +1.900

MotoE

Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) was the man to beat on Day 1 of FIM Enel MotoE World Cup action at the Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini, this time setting a new lap record – 1:42.910 – to gain some breathing space at the top. His closest challenger was Sammarinese home hero Alex de Angelis (Octo Pramac MotoE), two tenths in arrears, with three-time Misano winner Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) third overall.

The sun was shining at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli but the day wasn’t without some dramas, including a crash for the fastest man on Friday, Granado. He went down right at the end of the day, but no harm done and rider ok. On the other end of the scale, closest rival De Angelis crashed near the start of the day in FP1, tumbling at Turn 14. Rider also ok, but losing much of the session before he could get back out – making his P2 overall even more impressive.

Behind Granado, de Angelis and P3 man Ferrari, Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) was the fastest rookie on Friday as he took fourth, completing a top four on the combined timesheets who all set their fastest laps in the morning. Xavier Simeon (LCR E-Team) in fifth was the first to break that trend, the Belgian quicker in the morning by a few tenths and that keeping him in the top five. The number 10 did crash in the afternoon, however – rider ok.

Tommaso Marcon (Tech 3 E-Racing) was next up and sixth quickest on one of his best days in MotoE yet, just 0.018 off Simeon and improving by nearly eight tenths from FP1 to FP2. Points leader Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP), meanwhile, was seventh overall and 0.662 off Granado by the end of the day, the Swiss rider one of those who didn’t go quicker in FP2.

Veteran Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) was next up in P8, shuffled down by just 0.015, with Lukas Tulovic (Tech 3 E-Racing) less than a tenth behind him. The gap to complete the top ten was even smaller, with Alessandro Zaccone (Trentino Gresini MotoE) 0.004 behind the German, forced to settle for tenth.

One surprise on Day 1 was Mattia Casadei (SIC58 Squadra Corse), with the Italian down in 11th overall. He’ll be one of those looking for more in E-Pole and Race 1 as Saturday promises a packed program for the electric runners!

Josh Hook – P15

“This morning was quite good, we made a good improvement compared to last week. The feeling was much better, a very good impression. During the FP2 I struggle a lit bit, but we understand a lot. We still have work to do, but we are in the right way”

Josh Hook

MotoE fastest on Friday

Friday MotoE Combined Practice Times

Pos Bike Bike Time/Gap
1 E.Granado ENERGICA 1m42.910
2 A.De Angelis ENERGICA +0.207
3 M.Ferrari ENERGICA +0.252
4 J.Torres ENERGICA +0.409
5 X.Simeon ENERGICA +0.517
6 T.Marcon ENERGICA +0.535
7 D.Aegerter ENERGICA +0.662
8 M.Di Meglio ENERGICA +0.677
9 L.Tulovic ENERGICA +0.775
10 A.Zaccone ENERGICA +0.779
11 M.Casadei ENERGICA +0.873
12 N.Canepa ENERGICA +1.015
13 N.Tuuli ENERGICA +1.066
14 A.Medina ENERGICA +1.097
15 J.Hook ENERGICA +1.291
16 M.Herrera ENERGICA +1.566
17 X.Cardelus ENERGICA +1.597
18 J.Kornfeil ENERGICA +1.760

2020 MotoGP Calendar

Rnd Date Circuit
1 08 March (Moto2/Moto3) Losail International Circuit
2 19 July Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto
3 26 July Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto
4 09 August Automotodrom Brno
5 16 August Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
6 23 August Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
7 13 September Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
8 20 September Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
9 27 September Barcelona – Catalunya
10 11 October Le Mans
11 18 October MotorLand Aragón
12 25 October MotorLand Aragón
13 08 November Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo
14 15 November Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo
15 22 November Autodromo Internacional do Algarve

MotoGP World Championship Points

Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini Schedule

Source: MCNews.com.au

MotoGP, News

MotoGP Misano II stats update | Preview | Schedule

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MotoGP gears up to take on Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in the Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini, returning to the track after not only the San Marino GP, but also after a day of testing that could well increase the intrigue even more. But before we get stuck into previewing the weekend ahead let’s take a look at the latest stats and facts updates after the opening round of the Misano double-header last weekend.

MotoGP Stats Update

Last weekend at Misano Franco Morbidelli became the 113th premier class race winner and the 28th since MotoGP was introduced in 2002.

2020 #SanMarinoGP MotoGP podium
1 Franco Morbidelli – Petronas Yamaha SRT – Yamaha – 42:02.272
2 Francesco Bagnaia – Pramac Racing – Ducati – +2.217
3 Joan Mir – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki – +2.290

With Fabio Quartararo (Spain, Andalucia), Brad Binder (Brno), Miguel Oliveira (Styria), and Franco Morbidelli, this is the second time 1949 that there are four first time winners in the opening six races of a premier class season, along with the opening season in 1949 with Harold Daniell, Les Graham, Nello Pagani and William Doran).

This is the first time there are four first-time winners in a premier class season since 2016, equalling the record of different first-time winners in the premier class in a single season set in 1949, 1974, 1976, 1982 and 2016.

Franco Morbidelli is the fifth different winner of the season which is already as much as the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons. The last time there were more than five was in 2016 with nine different winners (the record in the class).

With Fabio Quartararo (Spain, Andalucia) and Franco Morbidelli, this is the first time that two riders from the same Independent Team won a MotoGP race in the same season since Marco Melandri and Toni Elias back in 2006.

On his return from injury, Francesco Bagnaia finished second for his first MotoGP podium, in his 21st race.

On his return from injury, Francesco Bagnaia finished second for his first MotoGP podium

With Morbidelli and Bagnaia, this is the first Italian 1-2 in MotoGP since Assen in 2017 with Valentino Rossi and Danilo Petrucci, and the first Italian 1-2 in the premier class at Misano.

With Morbidelli and Bagnaia in MotoGP and Marini and Bezzecchi in Moto2, this is the first Italian 1-2 in both premier and intermediate classes at the same GP since the 2002 German GP at the Sachsenring.

12 different riders have stood on the podium so far, equalling the number of podium finishers in the opening six premier class races from 1951, 1956, 1973 and 1976. The record is 13, set in 1952. In addition, 2007 was the last time there were 12 different podium finishers in a single MotoGP season. The record in a single MotoGP season since the class was introduced in 2002 is 13, set in 2004.

Joan Mir was third for his second MotoGP podium, along with Austria when he finished second. This is the first Suzuki podium in Misano since Chris Vermeulen and John Hopkins finished second and third in 2007.

At the Emilia Romagna GP, Valentino Rossi will start his 250th premier class race with Yamaha, becoming the first rider to reach that milestone in the class. Next closest is Dani Pedrosa, with 217 premier class races with Honda.

Valentino Rossi will start his 250th premier class race with Yamaha this weekend

The san Marino GP was the sixth MotoGP race without a Spanish winner, the longest sequence since Donington 2008 to Losail 2009, 12 races in a row.

With Fabio Quartararo crashing out and failing to score any points for the first time since Australia last year, only two riders have scored points in every MotoGP race in 2020: Andrea Dovizioso and Takaaki Nakagami. Of them, only Nakagami has always finished in the top ten.

There has been no Honda rider on the podium so far. This is the first time there has been no Honda rider on the podium in five or more successive premier class races since Honda returned to the premier class in 1982.

Johann Zarco finished the San Marino GP in 15th place, crossing the line just 20.152 seconds behind race winner Franco Morbidelli, which is the third closest top 15 of all-time in a full length premier class Grand Prix.

Andrea Dovizioso is leading the MotoGP Championship with 76 points, the lowest score for a Championship leader after the opening six races of a premier class season since the current scoring system was introduced in 1993.

Dovizioso is now 51 points ahead of his teammate Danilo Petrucci in 15th place; this is the closest top 15 after the opening six races of the season in the premier class since the current scoring system was introduced in 1993.

With 18 points between Dovizioso and Maverick Viñales, this is also the closest top five after the first six races.

Only one of the rookies in MotoGP this year has previously won a GP race at Misano: Brad Binder (Moto3, 2016).

Alex Marquez has three podiums at the track: Moto3 in 2013, 2014 and Moto2 in 2019.

Stefan Bradl, replacing Marc Marquez, is scheduled to make his 100th MotoGP start at the Emilia Romagna GP.

Misano II Preview

The man now in the hot seat, despite all the twists, turns and surprises of the season, is veteran Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team). The Italian had a more muted race weekend last time out, but his trademark consistency brought him home with some solid points – and more than enough to overhaul former points leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) after the Frenchman crashed out.

Dovizioso is six-points ahead and that may not seem much, but he was brimming with positivity after the test and we can likely expect him to be a little further up the board this weekend.

Andrea Dovizioso

“The Championship is crazy. A lot of up and down for everybody, which is why we are very close. I’m happy to be in this position at this moment of the Championship, but for sure we have to make a step to be able to fight. I’m really happy about Tuesday’s test, we had two targets and we achieved those two targets. I’m really happy about that, my speed was really good. A lot of riders did a really good pace. In the way I rode it was much better, we understood which corners I wasn’t good enough and I was able to be better, more relaxed. We changed the set-up to allow me to help me in a better way and we tried something on the bike, a new piece, and it was a bit better. Overall the feeling is better than Sunday for sure, but there are a lot of really fast riders, especially after Misano 1 – we will see. For me it’s always difficult to make a really good lap in qualifying and in MotoGP, it’s very important. But that’s not the biggest issue at the moment. Most of the race I wasn’t fast enough, it’s very important to be stronger now than what I did was. For example at the start of the race I was with Pecco, so I still had a chance to get a podium but I didn’t have the speed. I’m really happy with the way the test ended, so let’s see if everything we tried is true.”

Andrea Dovizioso

The fastest Ducati last Sunday, however, was Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing). Coming back from a broken leg, no one expected him to pick up exactly where he left off, but that he did. The impressive Italian blasted through to take his first podium, and made it look easy – so can he do it again? And could he even take to the top step? He’s a candidate to make it five first timers in seven races.

His team-mate Jack Miller was in the mix early on in the San Marino GP too, and then faded due to a wrong tyre choice, so he’ll be looking for more after examining that data. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) will want a step forward as well, and Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) could be one to watch. Still struggling to get back to full fitness, he nevertheless put in quite a shift at the test and ended the day third fastest.

Johann Zarco

“It is good to repeat this weekend on the same circuit. We had a test on Tuesday that was very important, because we had more time to try some different set-ups, also, try even more things, I improve my best lap time, and this is positive to start the weekend. Last race I had some problems at the end of the race, and for this weekend, the target is to feel more comfortable to finish the next race better, instead of lose positions, gain positions, and I hope to finish in a Top-10.”

Johann Zarco

San Marino GP victor Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT), did not test, however. The first time winner was sidelined through illness but will be back for the weekend – so it will be interesting who’s managed to cut the gap to the runaway man at the front.

His team-mate Fabio Quartararo hasn’t even shown his full hand at Misano either as he crashed out too early to unleash his pace – so can he bounce back and take back to the top step? Ominously for the man who made everyone else fade into the distance in Jerez, he said he was working on race pace at the Misano test… when he already had a fair bit of before the extra track time. Can he regain that top spot?

At Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, meanwhile, there’s even more to talk about. Maverick Viñales was on pole and then faded back in the early stages on the harder tyre… before finding some serious speed later in the race. Can he iron that out? At the test the Spaniard was fastest and focused on working with the medium tyre for much of the day, which he says is work he’ll continue during the race weekend. If he can solve that and get in the mix earlier on… Jaws music may be heard by those around him.

Maverick Viñales

“The feeling I had during the test was really positive. I was fast on both the medium and the soft rear tyre, so for sure we will try these tyre options again over the upcoming weekend. We tried some new items for the bike yesterday, and I felt really comfortable. I was setting good lap times without having to push all the way to the limit, so this is positive. However, we haven’t been able to test these new features under the exact same circumstances we have in the race, when we ride with a lot of Moto2 rubber on the track, so we’ll have to wait and see. In any case, I will be pushing 100% again, so I can start from the front to make sure we are in with the best chance possible to ride a good race.”

Maverick Vinales

Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was tantalisingly close to that 200th podium in the San Marino GP too. Over more than 400 corners of the race, ‘The Doctor’ was there – and then with a handful to go, got mugged by Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar). His pace was good and his defence of position exemplary as ever, however, so don’t count Rossi out… especially on home turf.

Valentino Rossi

“For us last Sunday it was an unforgettable day, especially for all the people who work for the academy project. We are very proud of our riders and very happy for my brother, Bez and especially for Pecco and Franco. Yes like you said if I could have arrived on the podium it would have been a historic moment, but unfortunately Mir overtook me on the last lap. For me anyway it was a good race. I was able to keep a good pace from the beginning but at the end I was a bit in trouble. I tried everything to remain on the podium, and I was able to stay in front of Rins but when Joan arrived he was too fast for me. It was a great shame because the podium is always special, Misano more, to share with Franco and Pecco could also be more special but it’s like this. It was a good day and good race, we have another chance this weekend, I think it will be difficult for everybody because I expect the other riders and bikes to be more competitive, and closer to us. So if we want to try and fight for the podium we have to try and improve Sunday and be stronger on Sunday. It was a good test on Tuesday, we worked very hard, I did a lot of laps and we had some stuff to try. Some things were better, some were worse. For tomorrow I don’t think we will change a lot the race bike to start with. After we’ll see during the weekend. Also, the forecast and track conditions will be very important.”

Valentino Rossi tested a new exhaust system this week

Joan Mir has scored more points than anyone else in the last few races, despite the Red Flag in Styria interrupting what looked like a charge for the win, and the San Marino GP saw the Suzuki man put in a stunner and take his second podium. His ruthlessly brilliant charge through whole postcodes of distance on Sunday to catch and dispatch those fighting for third was something to behold – and then he says he found some more race pace at the test. His gap to the top of the Championship is just 16 points… and he’s the one man in the seven close at the top who hasn’t won yet. Mir is, surely, one of, if not THE candidate to continue the history-making run of first time winners.

His Team Suzuki Ecstar team-mate Alex Rins was no slouch in San Marino either. Still recovering from his shoulder injury sustained earlier in the season, the number 42 was right in the podium fight until the last couple of laps. He also explained that compensating for the weaker shoulder ended up giving him arm pump in the latter stages, but another new week is a little more time to recover – and some more time in testing to work towards a solution. The last time a Suzuki was on the podium at Misano before Mir’s second place last time out was in 2007, but that day… there were two. Could we see that again in the Emilia Romagna GP? And which way round? It’s a stunning battle at the Hamamatsu factory between two seriously fast riders.

At KTM, meanwhile, the euphoria of the last few races faded into a tougher first weekend at Misano, but the Austrian factory seemed to have a positive day testing, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) happy with an improvement in race pace and ending the day in fourth. Can he move forward? His rookie team-mate and Brno winner Brad Binder is always an interesting prospect too, and Misano was the first time the South African hadn’t teased a serious threat on race day. Styria GP Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) was also testing and said the focus was on those details they’d be lacking… so if they’ve solved those, what can we expect from KTM in Emilia Romagna?

Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) continues to lead the Honda charge, and despite a tougher race in the San Marino GP there are positives to be expected next time out. Testing saw the Japanese rider end the day happy, and he’ll want to get back to the top five fight he’s frequented so far in 2020. Alex Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) will also want a step forward after a tougher time since some solid opening races.

Takaaki Nakagami

“So this is the second of two races in a row in Misano and I have a really positive feeling for this weekend. Normally with back-to-back races we are able to make a big improvement from the first race to the second race. Also here on Tuesday we had a one-day test between the races here. So I’m really looking forward to this weekend because we struggled last weekend, but during the race on Sunday we found quite a positive feeling on the bike so that was an important step for this weekend. We need to keep working hard to develop the bike, but Friday is key because if we can get off to a good start we can fight for the podium on Sunday. So we’ll try to concentrate and stay positive.”

Takaaki Nakagami

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Aleix Espargaro and Bradley Smith, after a solid day of testing and a mountain of laps, will also be looking for a step forward at one of Aprilia’s home races. The Noale factory are continuing work on their new bike and both have scored some solid points finishes, but will definitely want more as the season goes on…

Seven riders are within less than 20 points at the top of the Championship. Every single one of them has now won a premier class race bar one… and that’s the man in form, Joan Mir. Four maiden winners in the first six races hasn’t happened since the first season of the MotoGP World Championship. Can Mir – or maybe Bagnaia – make it five in seven? We’re about to find out!

2020 MotoGP Calendar

Rnd Date Circuit
1 08 March (Moto2/Moto3) Losail International Circuit
2 19 July Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto
3 26 July Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto
4 09 August Automotodrom Brno
5 16 August Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
6 23 August Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
7 13 September Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
8 20 September Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
9 27 September Barcelona – Catalunya
10 11 October Le Mans
11 18 October MotorLand Aragón
12 25 October MotorLand Aragón
13 08 November Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo
14 15 November Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo
15 22 November Autodromo Internacional do Algarve

MotoGP World Championship Points

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 76
2 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 70
3 Jack MILLER Ducati 64
4 Joan MIR Suzuki 60
5 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 58
6 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 58
7 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 57
8 Brad BINDER KTM 53
9 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 53
10 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 48
11 Pol ESPARGARO KTM 41
12 Alex RINS Suzuki 40
13 Johann ZARCO Ducati 31
14 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 29
15 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 25
16 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 18
17 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 15
18 Iker LECUONA KTM 15
19 Bradley SMITH Aprilia 8
20 Tito RABAT Ducati 7
21 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 7
22 Michele PIRRO Ducati 4
23 Stefan BRADL Honda 0

Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini Schedule

Time Class Session
1700 Moto3 FP1
1755 MotoGP FP1
1855 Moto2 FP1
1950 MotoE FP1
2115 Moto3 FP2
2210 MotoGP FP2
2310 Moto2 FP2
0010(Sat) MotoE FP2

Time Class Session
1700 Moto3 FP3
1755 MotoGP FP3
1855 Moto2 FP3
1945 MotoE EPole
2035 Moto3 Q1
2100 Moto3 Q2
2130 MotoGP FP4
2210 MotoGP Q1
2235 MotoGP Q2
2310 Moto2 Q1
2335 Moto2 Q2
0015 (Sunday) MotoE Race

Time Class Session
1620 Moto3 WUP
1650 Moto2 WUP
1720 MotoGP WUP
1805 MotoE Race 2
1900 Moto3 Race
2020 Moto2 Race
2200 MotoGP Race

Source: MCNews.com.au

MotoGP, News

MotoGP riders reflect on #SanMarinoGP

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2020 MotoGP Round Seven – Misano

Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini

Franco Morbidelli secured his maiden MotoGP victory in a dramatic Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. Morbidelli took the chequered flag 2.217-seconds ahead of compatriot Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing), who celebrated his first premier class podium. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) got the better of home hero Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) on the last lap to claim his second podium finish. Meanwhile, now former Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) crashed out – twice – at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

Franco Morbidelli

Andrea Dovizioso now leads the MotoGP World Championship on 76-points ahead of Misano non-scorer Fabio Quartararo on 70-points. Jack Miller retained third place on the points table after his P8 and is on 64-points, four-points ahead of Joan Mir.

Yamaha is the leading constructor on 113-points to Ducati’s 107-points. KTM is in third on 88-points to Suzuki’s 73-points while Honda is on 53-points and Aprilia 23-points.

MotoGP Rider Quotes

Franco Morbidelli – P1

“I feel like this has been a magical week for me. Everything had been going well, so going into today I was thinking that maybe something good would be possible. Turns out, it was something great! I have never won a World Championship race at home before, so to do it in MotoGP is the greatest achievement in my life. I’m really proud to be able to say that. I want to say thanks to all the people that work with me, it isn’t just me. This win is a result of teamwork. Right now I’m just so proud of what we have achieved, not just today but in general. Seven years ago I was racing here with a stock 600, now I’m winning a MotoGP race. It’s just amazing, especially as it’s the first race with a crowd this year. It felt great to be able to salute the crowd after the race. We do this for them, so to celebrate with them was such a great feeling.”

Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT)

Pecco Bagnaia – P2

“When I arrived to Misano my goal was only to finish the race. On Saturday during FP3 when I just thought about riding I understood that I could push and my feeling when I rode was the same that I had in Jerez. The start of the race wasn’t very good, I lost some positions so I had to recover the gap with Mir. When I passed him I saw that I could reach the head group. I hadn’t thought about my leg and I thought only about my first podium in MotoGP during my home race with the fans. During the last 4 laps I felt pain but today we deserved this podium. I want to thank my team, Ducati and VR46RidersAcademy for their big support. Today this podium is for them. I’m looking forward to be back on this track.”

Pecco Bagnaia

Joan Mir – P3

“I’m really happy. I wasn’t as strong here as I was in Austria, but I’m on the podium anyway so that’s good news. I really enjoyed the end of the race, and it was exciting to make that final overtake! I knew I could do it at that corner so I was confident. I was aware that I would struggle a little bit on the first laps with the fresh tyre but my pace with the used tyre was a lot faster, and I felt great with the bike, so I managed to take advantage of that. We’re going to work in the test on Tuesday and be ready for next weekend.”

Joan Mir

Valentino Rossi – P4

“It’s a great shame because the podium is always special, here in Misano even more so. Also, to share the podium with Franco and Pecco would have been like a race at the ranch. I made a small mistake and Mir was very strong in that moment, he did very good lap times in the last part of the race. At the end he was able to beat me, which is a shame with just 2km to go. On the other hand, it was still a good race, a good weekend, because I rode well. We had a very good pace and I feel good with the bike. So, even without a podium, I enjoyed it. It was a good weekend for our team and for me, because we were always competitive. This is so important. I think that we can improve three or four things for next week, when we‘ll have another chance. This makes me even more happy, because we can try again.”

Valentino Rossi

Alex Rins – P5

“Today’s race was hard for me. In the first and middle parts of the race I was feeling confident and I had good pace and a good feeling with the bike. When I could see the podium getting closer I really pushed myself a lot and I began to have some problems with strength in my right arm due to my shoulder injury, so it was very tough to continue fighting. In the end, with a couple of laps to go, I was just trying to get through it and get a good position. I’m happy with fifth because the points are good, but for sure I’ll hope for more next time out.”

Alex Rins

Maverick Vinales – P6

“I don’t know what happened today. I’m really disappointed. I don’t know why I lost grip in the race. I tried everything I could, but I wasn’t getting enough feedback from the tyre. At the end of the race I did three or four really good laps, but that was too late. We will work on it. We have a test here on Tuesday. We will try to stay relaxed. We need to reset our minds for next weekend. We know we are fast here, so we can start in front again.”

Maverick Vinales

Andrea Dovizioso – P7

“It was a tough race. Since I was starting from the back, I struggled a lot to find the rhythm at the beginning. I still can’t be as competitive as I would like with these tyres and the riding style I’ve always adopted in the past years is not working right now. Fortunately, this Tuesday, we will have a day of testing here in Misano, which will be very important to try to solve this aspect. The championship this year is weird, and now we are leading the standings. We have to see the positive side of the current situation and continue to work, putting all our effort to come back stronger in the next races. I congratulate Pecco on his great performance today.”

Andrea Dovizioso

Jack Miller – P8

“That was one of those races where you have to look for the silver linings. Got a great start, got up to third, got to halfway … and then it all gradually went a bit downhill. Crossed the line ninth, got a place back after (Takaaki) Nakagami got demoted a spot for track limits, finished eighth. But there were positives. I’m still third in the championship, and actually narrowed to gap by a couple of points to 12. So not a great race for me, but we had a fairly crazy top three that nobody would have predicted again, and we live to fight another day.

“(Alex) Rins passed me for third on lap 14 to boot me off the podium after I’d managed to get the start I wanted from fifth, but I knew much earlier than then that I was probably going to be in some strife the longer the race went. I understood from probably lap five that I was going to struggle later on with the tyres, and on lap seven I switched the mapping to try to conserve to have something left at the end to fight with. Didn’t work, though. I suffered a lot with the rear tyre and then the front tyre on the left-hand side … maybe in hindsight I was using too much angle. I tried to manage as best I could, but by the end I was really having to control the speed in the changes of direction. I used the medium front and the soft rear (tyres), and maybe I need to trust my instincts with what tyres are working for me in the future and listen to myself more when we choose what I race with. So, we live and learn.

“I qualified fifth, and I had to pull a lap out of the bag even to get there and just beat my teammate Pecco (Bagnaia) by two-thousandths of a second … so that made for a good Saturday, but not a great one. Really, we were all fighting to be best of the rest behind the Yamahas because they’re pretty good around Misano, so it probably wasn’t a surprise that they qualified 1-2-3-4. I gave it my best to be as close to them as I could but I was still a couple of tenths off. I knew what my strategy needed to be – get to the front and try to play around with them a bit. On outright pace, they had our measure so I had to come up with another plan. I managed to jump Maverick (Vinales) and Fabio (Quartararo) off the start, but that was probably the highlight. I usually get a pretty good start, like Fabio said the Ducati is like a rocket launcher off the grid, so I was hoping to get out front and dictate what they could do, not the other way around.

“It was another weird race – Franky’s (Franco Morbidelli’s) first win, Pecco on his first podium and (Joan) Mir on his second … I think it will start to become more consistent this season with who is up front, but then I’ve thought that before too. It’s been pretty hard to read, hasn’t it? Six races, 12 different guys on the podium, five different winners, four guys winning races for the first time now Franky won here … there’s never a dull moment this year, that’s for sure. I think it’s 30-odd points covering 12 of us. It feels like a championship anyone can win at the moment because of the inconsistency.

“It was a day of survival, really, and I was missing 11 seconds to Franky at the front, so we need to fix that for next week here. But because we’re back here again next Sunday, at least there is a next week, which is a silver lining. Kinda where I started this … We’ll try to be better next Sunday at a circuit that doesn’t really suit our bike, and we have a week to figure out how we’ll do that.

Jack Miller

Takaaki Nakagami – P9

“Today was definitely quite a positive race for us because yesterday and Friday we were losing time and we did not put in a good enough performance in qualifying – 14th on the grid is not good for the race. But with the new holeshot device we are definitely improving at the start, and during the race the lap times were quite consistent around 33.1 or two. But this morning we got the top time which was really, really good for the team and were able to do a 32, but in the race we were not able to do that so we need to understand what the difference was between the warm-up and the race. It’s another top-10 and we need to see how we can improve for the next race, but definitely in the next race we can fight for the podium again. We are really looking forward to another Misano race weekend, we’ll stay positive and keep working hard to get that first podium.”

Takaaki Nakagami

Pol Espargaro – P10

“Not so much to say today. I had trouble to stop the rear of the bike from the first lap and I was stuck behind Johann for quite a long time. It wasn’t really safe to make it happen cleanly and I could only manage when the pace dropped and then the others caught me. We paid a bit for the mistakes on Saturday and we need to solve our problems before next weekend. I’m confident we can do it and we can have a better race.”

Pol Espargaro

Miguel Oliveira – P11

“It was a tough race. To be honest, it was quite hard to make up positions, especially in the beginning of the race. We had many riders with different tyre choices, so it made our life very difficult, but we had a good pace, where just too far away. Now we are focusing on Tuesday, trying a couple of things during the test in order to have a better weekend and especially a better Qualifying the upcoming weekend.”

Miguel Oliveira

Brad Binder – P12

“I didn’t start well and from then I tried my best to recover positions. The first 10-12 laps I didn’t have a good feeling but then it got better and better. I don’t feel I can complain too much. We have to take advantage of this test on Tuesday to make a few improvements. It was cool to be part of that KTM battle and I could see we were all having the same issues. It’s very tight in MotoGP right now but my attitude stays the same: I’m trying to enjoy and take the best of each race.”

KTM riders

Aleix Espargaro – P13

“The final position does not reflect reality. We are doing very well and my feeling is still very good with the new RS-GP. Today I had fun and the numbers confirm our improvements. The only difficulty is in overtaking. We are lacking the acceleration to get past our rivals and that forces us to hang back even when our pace could be better. Our growth is undeniable. We’ll get there, we just need to be patient and keep working.”

Aleix Espargaro

Iker Lecuona – P14

“In the Warm Up this morning, I felt really good with the bike. Like in FP3, I felt very fast and constant and my pace for the race was strong. I knew that my grid position was not ideal to fight for the top 10. Finally, in the race, I did that mistake in the Warm Up lap. I stopped the engine and eventually, I needed to do the long lap. I was very nervous, because I knew my potential. In the end, I could manage the situation with the penalty and lap by lap I improved. For many laps, I was the fastest KTM rider on the track, overtook many riders and finished in the points, so finally, I’m really happy. Sorry to my team for that mistake, but at the same time thanks to them for their great work.”

Iker Lecuona

Johann Zarco – P15

“I think the positive part of this race, seeing the result (P15) and 20 seconds away from the winner, far from the top of the race, is that I got a lot of positive things from the start. The step we took this morning in the warm up has helped me a lot in this start of the race to follow Dovizioso and Bagnaia. The start was good for me, but as the laps went by I suffered a lot with the rear tire, especially the last seven laps, I couldn’t keep the pace and I lost a lot”.

Johann Zarco

Danilo Petrucci – P16

“Today, I struggled a lot in the race. I had several contacts with a few riders at the beginning, and I couldn’t stay hooked to the leading group. As the bike got lighter with the fuel consumption, I was able to find a better pace, but by then, I was too far away to recover on the riders in front. Today’s race has allowed us to understand some aspects, and this is an indication that we will serve us for the future. Hopefully, Tuesday’s test will help us to get the situation clearer. I’m disappointed that today I couldn’t score points: I put it all into it, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”

Danilo Petrucci

Alex Marquez – P17

“Our pace today was good, especially towards the end of the race where I was able to lap at a similar speed to the leaders. My fastest lap of the race was my last one. We have made a big step from yesterday with the bike and it felt good today. It was a good race; I had a hard battle with Petrucci and we touched a couple of times. But it was really the grid position that hurt us today, otherwise I think we could have been up with Binder and Oliveira. Compared to where we started this weekend it’s not so bad, but we still need to be more consistent.”

Alex Marquez

Stefan Bradl – P18

“It was a frustrating race, I had a problem with the nerve in my right elbow that started yesterday but in the race it became worse. It’s not arm pump, but my two small fingers were going numb. Because of this I was about one second off my normal pace. Already it was not in the plan for me to test here Tuesday, so I will use the time to rest the arm. Hopefully we can come back next week stronger.”

Bradley Smith – P19

“Unfortunately, the crash in FP3 compromised our weekend. The sensations were good on Friday, but when I had to switch to the second bike, it wasn’t the same feeling in qualifying or in the race. Today I crashed on a bump and then, despite the bike being damaged, I was able to re-join and finish the race. We’ll use the tests on Tuesday to take a closer look at what is causing our difficulties so we can be better prepared for the next race.”

Fabio Quartararo – DNF

“First of all I want to congratulate Franco, because he really deserved the win today. It was a really tough race for me but it is what it is, I will learn from it. I made a mistake: I was trying too hard to overtake Maverick and it overheated the tyre. I made the move, and was the correct move to make, but Jack was in front and I wanted to catch him as well but too quickly. I braked too late and lost the front end. We are struggling to overtake with our bike, which is something we need to work on. Of course I am disappointed, as we had the speed to fight at the front, but we learn from the experience and I won’t make the same mistake next weekend. We have seen five different winners in six races and it is one of the closest championships we’ve had, so I’m going to continue to give my best and try to make it ours.”

Tito Rabat – DNF

“I think that this weekend I have taken steps forward, in terms of the fastest lap, the race pace and the first laps of this. My fastest lap in the race was similar to that of my teammate, as well as the pace, which was very even for both. Now we have to stay focused, arrive rested for the test on Tuesday and the following weekend and give 100% of myself”.

Razlan Razali – Petronas SRT Yamaha Team Principal

“This weekend was the best so far for Petronas Sepang Racing Team, as a collective. It was a fantastic win for Franco: very well deserved, especially considering his crash in the first Austrian race. Doing it at his home Grand Prix as well is amazing. It was unfortunate for Fabio; he crashed while trying to catch the front-runners. He is still second in the championship, so it’s not too bad and I’m sure he’ll come back stronger next week. In Moto2 we saw another big improvement from Xavi, finishing fourth. He was very close to the podium and we know that he can do well next weekend, when we are here again. It’s been a learning curve for Jake today; it’s only his second time at Misano. I’m sure next weekend will be better for him. In Moto3 John had his first win of 2020 today and after the ups and downs of the last few races this was really nice to see. To get his championship back on track again is great. For KIP, to be coming back from major surgery like he has is incredible. We do expect him to improve further in the second GP at Misano too.”

Franco Morbidelli

Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“A bit like with Red Bull Ring, I didn’t necessarily expect a good race here but we did a very good job. Both riders were in the Top 5 which was a great result, and Joan made an incredible last lap to get the podium. Alex was fifth which is also a good finish. Both riders will work hard to continue this form next weekend.”

Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager

“We’re very happy to get another podium. It was great to see both our GSX-RRs at the top and keeping really competitive pace, and I think with stronger grid positions we could’ve had even better results. Joan recovered really well and he had a great last lap to earn a deserved podium, and also Alex did a really good race with unbelievable pace until the problem with his arm, so he was also impressive. We’ll try to bring this competitiveness into next weekend. Thanks to all the team for their hard work.”

Team Suzuki

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“We knew this race was going to be tough and that the tyres would play a decisive role. We had hoped to fight for the victory today, but unfortunately that wasn‘t possible. Valentino had a good start and his pace was really good throughout the whole race. It‘s a shame he wasn‘t able to get a podium result, because that would have been a real treat for the team and also the fans. But the way he performed is encouraging, so for sure he will try to be fighting at the front again next time. Maverick‘s pre-race experience was a bit unsettling, because we saw smoke coming from his bike when he arrived on the starting grid. We had a thorough check, and it turned out it was fine. However, the race was tough for him, because he didn‘t feel as good with the hard tyre today as he had done earlier this weekend. It‘s really disappointing, because we know how fast he is. But we get another chance next week. We will take today‘s experience on board, and we have the opportunity to test some new parts here on Tuesday, so we will push to come back stronger.”

Mike Leitner – Red Bull KTM Race Manager

“It was not the best results for us and the fact that the boys could not get a fast lap in qualifying made it difficult today to get near the front of the group because the rhythm of the riders is very similar. After the last few races we are not so happy with the results but the race pace today was positive. All four riders did well in their respective battles and brought the bikes home for points, especially Iker who came back from a long-lap penalty. We’ll try everything we can to be better for next weekend.”

Hervé Poncharal – Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Manager

“Overall this was a quite strong team result for Red Bull KTM Tech3 here in Misano. For sure, we didn’t expect to duplicate the incredible and unforgettable victory from Spielberg here, but it was an interesting circuit for us. We end up 12 seconds to the winner, but we lost six seconds in the first two laps, so it means out of the 25 laps left we lost six seconds, which is showing how close the grid is. We could see that KTM has got a really strong line-up, because the four riders were doing the same lap times and Miguel was in a sandwich between Pol (Espargaro) and Brad (Binder) on the finish line. We got some good points. We need to understand what we can improve on that circuit, but I want to see the glass half full and I think we are not too far and we can improve next weekend. The championship is wide open, which is also very interesting, we are 28 points to the leading guy at the moment, so we need to keep our heads down and keep on believing and pushing. This is for Miguel. It was a bit more eventful race for Iker. He stalled the bike on the grid, which is not happening very often and he didn’t know exactly what to do. He went back to the starting grid, although he should have been starting from the pitlane. Then he was given a long lap penalty, that he did really well. He didn’t waste any time, put his head down and managed to finish 14th, which is really impressive. Most of the race he was the fastest KTM guy, doing the fastest laps. I think we can be proud of our four riders as KTM, we as Tech3 can be proud of Miguel and Iker and we need to keep on working hard and follow the same method, plus always improve and get closer to the leaders. I believe we can do it and this is a story I can tell you in a few days, because we’re staying here.”

KTM men racing each other

Piero Taramasso – Michelin

“We have had a very successful weekend here at Misano in both MotoGP and MotoE. The tyres performed very well and adapted to the new surface, despite us having little information on the asphalt when we had to choose the tyres before the start of the season. This the first time this season that the condition of the track and the weather has afforded the possibility of all MotoGP specifications being a genuine raceable option, as it was five options were used and we saw three different configurations on the podium. Breaking records is not the whole reason we are here, but it is great to do that and to set all-time lap-records in both classes and break the race durations in both is an especially pleasing aspect and demonstrates the performance of the tyres and one that can eventually be translated from the track to the street. It was a very exciting race for all concerned and especially good to see people in the grandstands again, this is a small step in the battle against the pandemic, but from the point of MotoGP an important one. We hope that Michelin contributed in some way to rewarding them with good racing. I want to send congratulations to Franco Morbidelli on his first victory, a feat that gives us four new winners this season and with the way some of the other guys are riding I can see that growing. MotoE produced another good race and the tyres again lived up to their potential following the new materials, compounds and rear construction we introduced for this season. Racing is fast and close and we broke every single record on show, so we have to be happy with that. We will now stay here at Misano for a test on Tuesday, where I am sure different tyre configurations will be tested by the riders to see if that can improve further and get an optimum set-up for their respective machines ahead of next week’s race at the same track.”

Michelin

MotoGP Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 42m02.272
2 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati +2.217
3 Joan MIR Suzuki +2.290
4 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +2.643
5 Alex RINS Suzuki +4.044
6 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha +5.383
7 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati +10.358
8 Jack MILLER Ducati +11.155
9 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +10.839
10 Pol ESPARGARO KTM +12.030
11 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM +12.376
12 Brad BINDER KTM +12.405
13 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia +15.142
14 Iker LECUONA KTM +19.914
15 Johann ZARCO Ducati +20.152
16 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati +22.094
17 Alex MARQUEZ Honda +22.473
18 Stefan BRADL Honda +37.856
19 Bradley SMITH Aprilia +1m18.831
Not Classified
DNF Tito RABAT Ducati 5 Laps
DNF Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 9 Laps

MotoGP World Championship Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 76
2 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 70
3 Jack MILLER Ducati 64
4 Joan MIR Suzuki 60
5 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 58
6 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 58
7 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 57
8 Brad BINDER KTM 53
9 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 53
10 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 48
11 Pol ESPARGARO KTM 41
12 Alex RINS Suzuki 40
13 Johann ZARCO Ducati 31
14 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 29
15 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 25
16 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 18
17 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 15
18 Iker LECUONA KTM 15
19 Bradley SMITH Aprilia 8
20 Tito RABAT Ducati 7
21 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 7
22 Michele PIRRO Ducati 4
23 Stefan BRADL Honda 0

Source: MCNews.com.au

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#SanMarinoGP Race Reports | Results | Points | All classes

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2020 MotoGP Round Seven – Misano

Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT), take a bow! On home soil, the Italian produced 27 inch-perfect laps to secure his maiden MotoGP victory in a dramatic Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. Morbidelli took the chequered flag 2.217 ahead of compatriot Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing), who celebrates his first premier class podium, with Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) getting the better of home hero Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) on the last lap to claim his second podium finish. Meanwhile, now former Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) crashed out – twice – at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT)

MotoGP Race Report

From the middle of the front row, Morbidelli out-dragged both Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Quartararo off the line and headed into Turn 1 leading, with fourth place Rossi getting a superb start to slot into second ahead of the equally fast starting Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) from the second row. Viñales slipped to P4, with Quartararo slotting into P5 as Morbidelli and Rossi sent the Italian fans into raptures on the opening lap.

#SanMarinoGP

Rossi got a good run down into Turn 8 on Lap 1 and showed a wheel to Morbidelli, but the latter was late on the brakes and closed the door. The numbers 21 and 46 then started to create a bit of a gap to third place Miller, with Viñales holding off both Quartararo and the two Team Suzuki Ecstar machines of Alex Rins and Joan Mir. Viñales was the only rider on the grid to select the hard Michelin rear tyre, and the lap record holder seemed to be taking his time to get it up to speed – with Quartararo looking impatient behind.

The riders then settled into their rhythm, with Miller hauling in the leading duo to sit a couple of tenths behind them and Viñales and co just over half a second back from the Australian. Meanwhile, Miller’s teammate Bagnaia was setting fastest lap after fastest lap, and the injured Italian had soon latched himself onto the back of the Viñales-Quartararo-Rins-Mir train. On Lap 7, Quartararo then made his move past Viñales at Turn 14 – and his eyes were firmly set on the podium trio just a stone’s throw up the road.

Vinales, Quartararo, Rins

However, the Frenchman’s progress took a swift dive only moments later as he went in a little hot at Turn 4, and it would prove costly as the Championship leader tucked the front and crashed out of fourth place in another 2020 MotoGP title twist. Quartararo remounted but was down in P20, over 15 seconds down on Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda Team). The number 20 would later enter pitlane, suffer a tip off and then retire from the race.

Back up front meanwhile, Morbidelli was still easing round in the lead, although Rossi was able to keep his protégé close – for the time being. Miller was also holding firm in P3 but Pecco was on the move and the Italian was through on Viñales down the back straight into Turn 11, that Ducati grunt being put to good use.

Vinales, Rins, Mir

Bit-by-bit, Morbidelli was starting to pull away from ‘The Doctor’. By Lap 12 the gap was creeping up towards a second as Bagnaia and Rins continued to make formidable progress further back, and Miller was clearly starting to struggle. Rins produced the classic Turn 2 Misano move to grab 4th from the number 43 and then, heading down into Turn 8, Pecco was through on the Aussie too. Now, Rins and Pecco had Rossi 1.8 seconds up the road, with ‘The Doctor’, in turn, losing touch with Morbidelli. The gap between the Italians was 1.1 seconds – and rising – but it was Mir who was now the fastest man on track…

With 11 laps to go, the gap was down to below a second as the podium scrap started to bubble up in the San Marino sun, and a lap later Rins and Pecco were just half a second down on the nine-time World Champion. The podium battle was well and truly game on.

Into the last 10 laps the riders went, and Mir had got the better of Miller. The sophomore was 1.9 seconds back from the podium scrap, with Rins and Pecco now right on the back of Rossi. The first move was Pecco slicing underneath Rins into the scintillatingly quick Turn 11 and on the next lap, Bagnaia was at it again. This time his good friend Rossi felt the wrath of the Ducati power and Pecco – who fractured his leg just over a month ago – was up into second and on the way to a maiden podium.

Joan Mir

By this point, Mir had closed the gap to the trio ahead of him and was doing so at a significant rate of knots. The gap was 1.4 to his teammate, and it seemed the fight for the podium was going to heat up even more. The fight for victory, however, was between Morbidelli and only Morbidelli. A dream debut premier class win was in sight as the number 21 was 2.8 seconds up the road, and Bagnaia was creeping clear of Rossi. With six to go at Turn 8, things got even closer between Rins and he number 46 too, as the Suzuki rider got the run down the straight and showed a wheel up the inside. Rossi closed the door – no way through for Rins, but Mir was then just one second back.

With five to go, Rossi was still holding strong in third place as he continued to ride an impressive defensive display – especially at Turn 2, where Rins looked superb but couldn’t make it happen. With three to go, Rossi was then suddenly 0.4 faster than Bagnaia too – and what looked like a guaranteed second for the former Moto2 World Champion now became a proper dog fight for second and third.

Coming around the final sector on the penultimate lap, Rins was out the saddle on the exit of Turn 15 and then ran slightly wide at Turn 16, allowing Mir to get the run on him down into Turn 1. Mir was then on a mission as a second podium of the season stood right in front of him… on the last lap, against Rossi, at Misano. Rossi himself was aiming to grab P2 back from Pecco though and it was as you were heading out of Turn 8…

Suddenly, Mir then mugged Rossi. The Spaniard produced an absolutely sublime move up the inside at Turn 10 to climb into third, with the Italian trying to set up a move coming into the Turn 14 hairpin but heading slightly wide at Turn 13… ending his hopes of a dream 200th podium in his backyard.

At the front though, it was pure magic for Morbidelli. The Italian simply didn’t put a foot wrong at Misano and led from start to finish to propel himself right into the 2020 title fight after two disastrous couple of weekends at the Red Bull Ring. In addition, the Italian becomes the fourth rider in six races to win their first MotoGP race this year – how’s that for excitement and unpredictability?

Morbidelli takes the chequered flag

Bagnaia’s return from injury couldn’t have gone much better, the sophomore by far and away the fastest Ducati rider at Misano to claim his first MotoGP podium, going some way to making up for a lost rostrum after a mechanical at Jerez. Mir, meanwhile, produced an astonishing second half of the race to outfox Rossi on the last lap at Misano – and not many riders can say that. With Bagnaia on the rostrum, that’s 12 different podium finishers in the six 2020 races!

For Rossi, there is bound to be some disappointment for missing out on a home Grand Prix podium by just three tenths. Nevertheless, it was a magnificent performance from the 41-year-old, who will now be as determined as ever to pick up his 200th GP podium in seven days’ time. On a positive not though, Rossi is just 18 points from new Championship leader Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team)…

Rins looked to have the measure of Rossi before making a mistake

Rins’ error on the penultimate lap cost him a chance of a podium that looked nailed on for much of the second half of the race, but P5 is a solid job to put him just 36 points from top spot. After looking so strong throughout Free Practice and qualifying, Viñales’ race just didn’t materialise. The Spaniard eventually found his rhythm at the end of the race on the hard rear tyre and was searing around, but it was far too late and he had to settle for a disappointing P6.

Dovizioso worked his way forward after early tussles with Pol Espargaro

Seventh went the way of Dovizioso who, despite having more muted weekend, now leads the Championship after Quartararo’s misfortunes. The Italian got the better of Miller in the closing stages to take some crucial points from the first or two Misano races, but there’s work to do.

Miller’s early pace didn’t last and the Aussie slipped down the order to cross the line in ninth, but Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) was handed a one-place penalty for exceeding track limits on the final lap so it’s P8 for Miller, P9 and the leading Honda accolade for Nakagami, and Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) winning the KTM battle for P10.

Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Iker Lecuona (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) rounded out the points.

Aleix Espargaro ahead of Iker Lecuona and Brad Binder

Another little chunk of history made at Misano underlines the stunning unpredictable 2020 season so far, and the Championship has taken another almighty twist. Quartararo’s DNF is his first since the 2019 Australian GP and he loses the title lead for the first time in 2020 after crashing twice on Sunday in a a day to forget for the Frenchman. Dovizioso now takes charge, but it’s so close: 28 points separate the top 10 riders, with Bagnaia’s second place seeing him 47 points off in P14.

Now much of the MotoGP field will be out for a test on Tuesday, and then we go again at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli next weekend.

Franco Morbidelli

“It feels… it don’t know how it feels, I’m still trying to process everything. Definitely it’s good and a good feeling! I’m very happy, I’m enjoying the moment. The only thing I can say is thanks to my team, thanks to my people and all the people who’ve been working with and helping me. On the last laps I was thinking a lot and about how seven years ago I was here racing in the Italian Championship, Superstock, winning that race… this felt just the same but MUCH MORE! So I’m just overwhelmed at the moment, the only thing I can say is thank you to everyone!”

2020 #SanMarinoGP MotoGP podium
1 Franco Morbidelli – Petronas Yamaha SRT – Yamaha – 42:02.272
2 Francesco Bagnaia – Pramac Racing – Ducati – +2.217
3 Joan Mir – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki – +2.290

MotoGP Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 42m02.272
2 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati +2.217
3 Joan MIR Suzuki +2.290
4 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +2.643
5 Alex RINS Suzuki +4.044
6 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha +5.383
7 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati +10.358
8 Jack MILLER Ducati +11.155
9 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +10.839
10 Pol ESPARGARO KTM +12.030
11 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM +12.376
12 Brad BINDER KTM +12.405
13 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia +15.142
14 Iker LECUONA KTM +19.914
15 Johann ZARCO Ducati +20.152
16 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati +22.094
17 Alex MARQUEZ Honda +22.473
18 Stefan BRADL Honda +37.856
19 Bradley SMITH Aprilia +1m18.831
Not Classified
DNF Tito RABAT Ducati 5 Laps
DNF Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 9 Laps

MotoGP World Championship Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 76
2 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 70
3 Jack MILLER Ducati 64
4 Joan MIR Suzuki 60
5 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 58
6 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 58
7 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 57
8 Brad BINDER KTM 53
9 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 53
10 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 48
11 Pol ESPARGARO KTM 41
12 Alex RINS Suzuki 40
13 Johann ZARCO Ducati 31
14 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 29
15 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 25
16 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 18
17 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 15
18 Iker LECUONA KTM 15
19 Bradley SMITH Aprilia 8
20 Tito RABAT Ducati 7
21 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 7
22 Michele PIRRO Ducati 4
23 Stefan BRADL Honda 0

Moto2

Sky Racing Team VR46 put on one hell of a show at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, with teammates Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi duelling it out to give the home fans a rollercoaster of a Moto2 race. In the end though, it was Marini who came out on top as he managed to edge clear in the last few laps, taking his second victory of 2020 and extending his Championship lead. Bezzecchi was forced to settle for – and defend – second place, with second in the standings Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) less than a tenth behind him over the line.

Marini started the race from pole position after Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) was forced out of the race after fracturing both his left hand and foot in a monster Warm Up highside (Link), and when the lights went out Marini took full profit with the holeshot. Team-mate Bezzecchi calmly settled in behind him but behind them, Bastianini wasn’t having the same privilege as a determined Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) edging through to third in the early stages.

There was already a gap starting to form from the rear wheel of Bezzecchi to the front wheel of Schrötter, and Bastianini’s chances at a third win of the year were slipping away before a handful of laps had even been completed. The title challenger obviously knew that too though, diving under Schrötter to reclaim third and setting his sights on the Italian duo ahead.

At the front, Marini was starting to flex his muscles as he slowly but surely moved half a second clear of his teammate. A fastest lap of the race, with five then completed, allowed the Championship leader to move over six tenths clear at the front with Bezzecchi unable to conjure up any type of response at that stage.

Meanwhile, an almighty scrap for the top five was starting to take shape. Schrötter, who had by this time dropped off the back of Bastianini and had Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) burst past him, had teammate Tom Lüthi, Fabio Di Giannantonio (+EGO Speed Up) and Augusto Fernandez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) for close company, with nobody wanting to let up.

Marini’s push towards home glory took another firm step forwards soon after when he was able to open out the gap to over a second on Lap 9, and a small Bezzecchi error in sector one allowed the number 10 to extend his comfort buffer even further…

In the fight for fifth, Schrötter was able to eek out an advantage over Di Giannantonio, who had momentarily got the better of Swiss veteran Lüthi. Jorge Navarro’s (+EGO Speed Up) miserable 2020 run then continued as the Spaniard crashed out, his fifth crash in six races, and in a lap to forget for the factory Speed Up squad, Di Giannantonio then took the car park route through Turn 14 and through went both Lüthi and Fernandez.

Bezzecchi, however, wasn’t throwing the towel in and just as we saw in Styria three weeks ago, the Italian was starting to chip away at Marini’s lead. Further back, Bastianini’s title chances flashed before his eyes as he pulled of a quite remarkable save at Turn 8. The front end folded and in true Marc Marquez style, the 22-year-old picked it up on his knee and held on to the podium place.

Suddenly drama struck and the fight was on with seven laps to go. Marini hit a false neutral into Turn 14, forcing him wide, and his eight-tenth advantage was gone. Bezzecchi swooped through, took the lead and it was role reversal at the front of his intermediate class scrap. A couple of laps later Marini hit back as he smoothly went past under the brakes into Turn 8., but Bezzecchi was having none of it, diving straight back past…

Four to go and Marini tried again through the opening corners but Bezzecchi hit straight back as the pair’s fight really started to heat up, Marini next getting the job done through the ultra-fast Turn 11. All of their squabbling was allowing Bastianini to suddenly creep into contention though, something team boss Pablo Nieto knew too well as he clambered over pit wall to point out the looming 33 to his riders.

Just two laps were remaining with a top three covered by 1.1 seconds, and it really was anyone’s game. Were we going to be treated to an incredible sprint finish? Marini had other ideas and he put together a perfect penultimate lap, before his cause was aided by Bezzecchi incredibly hitting a false neutral of his own at Turn 14. That saw Bastianini move to within four tenths of his compatriot, and it seemed Marini’s to lose.

The number 10 stood firm on the final lap and the victory was his, with teammate Bezzecchi just doing enough to fight off the charging Bastianini by less than a single tenth. That puts Marini19 points clear of Bastianini, with Bezzecchi a further ten back in third.

Vierge came across the line in fourth after having the best seat in Misano throughout the final laps, and Fernandez held off both Lüthi and Di Giannantonio to take the final top five place. They were ahead of arguably one of the rides of the day courtesy of Sam Lowes. The EG 0,0 Marc VDS rider will walk away from Misano with eight points despite starting from pitlane and will no doubt be delighted that the intermediate class is back in just seven days’ time. Completing the top ten were Aron Canet (Oceanica Aspar Team) and Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing).

Luca Marini

“This is a big one. I think my best race, because I wasn’t as fact as I expected, every time on track in the race it’s different and the track is slower, I couldn’t do it like in practice. But I tried to manage the gap with Bez until I hit a neutral, lost a second, Bez ovetook me, we started to fight… but I was a bit faster so I could overtake him again. When I was at the front I pushed for the last three laps, I had something more for the end. This is great team work, and with my crew, the bike was perfect from the beginning. Now we enjoy this win, a party tonight but not with a lot of people – my house with my girlfriend and maybe some close friends! And then focus on the next one, because this year the first race I’m fast every time and can achieve a good result, but then in the second race at the track track I struggle a bit. The other guys make a big step and me, I stay the same on race pace. So we need to work a bit on this, but let’s enjoy this win and great job to Marco and to Bestia. It’s a great Championship this year with a lot of battles.”

2020 #SanMarinoGP Moto2 podium
1 Luca Marini – Sky Racing Team VR46 – Kalex 40:41.774
2 Marco Bezzecchi – Sky Racing Team VR46 – Kalex +0.799
3 Enea Bastianini – Italtrans Racing Team – Kalex +0.897

Moto2 Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Luca MARINI Kalex 40m41.774
2 Marco BEZZECCHI Kalex +0.799
3 Enea BASTIANINI Kalex +0.897
4 Xavi VIERGE Kalex +2.177
5 Augusto FERNANDEZ Kalex +8.307
6 Thomas LUTHI Kalex +9.046
7 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Speed Up +9.971
8 Sam LOWES Kalex +16.485
9 Aron CANET Speed Up +17.036
10 Joe ROBERTS Kalex +17.209
11 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI Kalex +17.741
12 Marcos RAMIREZ Kalex +19.152
13 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA Kalex +21.946
14 Simone CORSI MV Agusta +22.005
15 Nicolò BULEGA Kalex +24.404
16 Jake DIXON Kalex +24.663
17 Stefano MANZI MV Agusta +27.442
18 Somkiat CHANTRA Kalex +32.671
19 Bo BENDSNEYDER NTS +35.844
20 Kasma DANIEL Kalex +46.463
Not Classified
DNF Tetsuta NAGASHIMA Kalex 1 Lap
DNF Hafizh SYAHRIN Speed Up 4 Laps
DNF Marcel SCHROTTER Kalex 7 Laps
DNF Andi Farid IZDIHAR Kalex 9 Laps
DNF Jesko RAFFIN NTS 10 Laps
DNF Edgar PONS Kalex 13 Laps
DNF Jorge NAVARRO Speed Up 15 Laps
DNF Hector GARZO Kalex 19 Laps

Moto2 World Championship Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Luca MARINI Kalex 112
2 Enea BASTIANINI Kalex 95
3 Marco BEZZECCHI Kalex 85
4 Jorge MARTIN Kalex 79
5 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA Kalex 68
6 Sam LOWES Kalex 67
7 Xavi VIERGE Kalex 59
8 Aron CANET Speed Up 50
9 Joe ROBERTS Kalex 45
10 Thomas LUTHI Kalex 45
11 Remy GARDNER Kalex 41
12 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI Kalex 39
13 Marcel SCHROTTER Kalex 37
14 Augusto FERNANDEZ Kalex 36
15 Jorge NAVARRO Speed Up 19
16 Hafizh SYAHRIN Speed Up 17
17 Stefano MANZI MV Agusta 15
18 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Speed Up 12
19 Jake DIXON Kalex 12
20 Hector GARZO Kalex 12
21 Nicolò BULEGA Kalex 12
22 Bo BENDSNEYDER NTS 5
23 Marcos RAMIREZ Kalex 5
24 Dominique AEGERTER NTS 4
25 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA Kalex 3
26 Somkiat CHANTRA Kalex 3
27 Simone CORSI MV Agusta 3

Moto3

John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) crafted a masterpiece on Sunday at the Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, slicing through from P17 on the grid to take back to the top step and beat fellow Championship contender Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) to the line in the 150th Moto3 race. The 1-2 for the men second and third overall in the standings is even bigger news at Misano too, as Championship leader Albert Arenas (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) crashed out. There was no such drama for 2019 winner Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse), however, as he completed the podium to give Paolo Simoncelli’s Moto3 outfit some more hometown glory.

John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing)

Ogura got the launch he would have been looking for from pole position but Suzuki was clean and aggressive from the start, taking the lead at Turn 2 after starting third. There was big drama from the off in the Moto3 race moments later though as three riders hit the deck at Turn 4: Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) tucked the front and took out Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo), with Styrian GP winner Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) unable to avoid crashing either as three contenders were out on Lap 1.

Back at the front, Suzuki was holding firm but Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) was making moves in the early stages, the Argentinian taking the lead into Turn 13 and Ogura following him through. Suzuki bit straight back on the polesitter and we had a freight train as ever, with squabbles up and down the field.

Meanwhile, CIP Green Power’s Darryn Binder, having started P19, was producing the goods on race day again. The South African was up the inside of Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46) at Turn 4 on Lap 5, and Binder was soon fourth later round the lap. But this was a proper group fight, with three seconds covering the leading 21 riders and the positions changing constantly at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

Binder was again getting busy and there was slight contact at Turn 2 with Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) as the Italian tried a move,; just enough to see Arbolino lose a couple of places. Binder then led but Rodrigo, looking mighty in Misano, didn’t let the South African have the baton for long, with the two Leopard Racing machines on Dennis Foggia and Jaume Masia getting the better of Suzuki who felt the wrath of Binder at Turn 5.

After starting from a season’s worst qualifying in P13, Arenas was now rising to the fore. The Championship leader was up to third with nine laps to go…

There was a shot of drama soon after as Binder went down at the exit of Turn 6, but some of the key Championship frontrunners were starting to strut their stuff after quieter races. Arenas, Ogura and McPhee – who started P17 – were into the top six with seven laps to go, although the gaggle of riders that were line astern was still 19, down to Barry Baltus (CarXpert PrüstelGP). Suzuki vs Rodrigo continued at the front.

With five to go though, McPhee was making his move. Squabbling his way to near the front McPhee, made a great move at the final corner to lead – just three laps left on the clock.

Thought you’d seen enough drama in one race? Well, more was about to unfold – and it was the biggest of them all. After being run wide by Arbolino at Turn 2, Arenas crashed at Turn 3… unhurt, but scoring another 0 as second and third in the standings – McPhee and Ogura – marched on at the front.

It was Masia who led onto the last lap, closely followed by McPhee, but Rodrigo was up to second at Turn 2. Suzuki then tried his luck around the outside of McPhee at Turn 4 and 5 – and it worked. Heading down the back straight though, it was elbows out – it couldn’t get much closer. There was contact between Masia and Rodrigo, with McPhee getting a clean run and taking the lead into Turn 8 and Ogura profitting up the inside. The Japanese rider, on the wide line, was then passed by Suzuki heading onto the back straight, with McPhee led the way.

The number 17 held his advantage down the back straight and coming around the last sector, and McPhee made no mistake and despite the best efforts of Ogura, crossing the line in P1 for the first time since Le Mans 2019. Ogura was just 0.037 off as the two title contenders took full advantage of Arenas’ misfortunes, however, as Suzuki takes a SIC58 podium on the track named after the late, great SIC58 – Marco Simoncelli. Ogura and Suzuki also make it two Japanese riders on the lightweight podium together for the first time since Welkom 2001!

Rookie Jeremy Alcoba (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) earned his best result of the season with a fantastic P4 result at Misano, getting the better of teammate Rodrigo on the last lap as the Argentinian got shuffled back. Arbolino took a valuable top six on home soil, with Masia having to settle for P7 after getting a little bit beaten up on the last lap. Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) picks up his best result of the season in P8, just ahead of Foggia and Migno, who complete the top 10.

Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Alonso Lopez (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) crashed out together at Turn 8 in the lead group – riders ok.

John McPhee

“It was a crazy race, I’m a bit lost for words I’m so so happy! To come from 17th! I knew I had the pace all weekend and I’ve been trying to do as much as a I can on my own so I knew where I was at on the bike, massive thanks to the team because it worked so well today and I was able to have a proper fight! I got shuffled back to 11th or 12th with about eight laps to go and I thought ok, I’m not settling for 12th, I have to just put the hammer down here and charge forward, and it paid off.”

2020 #SanMarinoGP Moto3 podium
1 John McPhee – Petronas Sprinta Racing – Honda 39:48.952
2 Ai Ogura – Honda Team Asia – Honda +0.037
3 Tatsuki Suzuki – SIC58 Squadra Corse – Honda +0.232

Moto3 Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 John MCPHEE Honda 39m48.952
2 Ai OGURA Honda +0.037
3 Tatsuki SUZUKI Honda +0.232
4 Jeremy ALCOBA Honda +0.393
5 Gabriel RODRIGO Honda +0.490
6 Tony ARBOLINO Honda +0.543
7 Jaume MASIA Honda +0.833
8 Romano FENATI Husqvarna +0.928
9 Dennis FOGGIA Honda +0.976
10 Andrea MIGNO KTM +1.121
11 Niccolò ANTONELLI Honda +1.554
12 Ryusei YAMANAKA Honda +1.691
13 Riccardo ROSSI KTM +1.921
14 Stefano NEPA KTM +1.961
15 Carlos TATAY KTM +2.239
16 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM +3.927
17 Kaito TOBA KTM +8.517
18 Davide PIZZOLI KTM +11.399
19 Jason DUPASQUIER KTM +11.679
20 Filip SALAC Honda +11.835
21 Khairul Idham PAWI Honda +18.331
22 Maximilian KOFLER KTM +18.598
23 Yuki KUNII Honda +18.891
24 Barry BALTUS KTM +41.938
25 Sergio GARCIA Honda +1m01.077
Not Classified
DNF Albert ARENAS KTM 2 Laps
DNF Darryn BINDER KTM 9 Laps
DNF Ayumu SASAKI KTM 17 Laps
DNF Alonso LOPEZ Husqvarna 17 Laps
DNF Raul FERNANDEZ KTM 0 Lap
Not Finished 1st Lap
DNF Celestino VIETTI KTM 0 Lap

Moto3 World Championship Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Albert ARENAS KTM 106
2 Ai OGURA Honda 101
3 John MCPHEE Honda 92
4 Tatsuki SUZUKI Honda 75
5 Tony ARBOLINO Honda 70
6 Celestino VIETTI KTM 66
7 Gabriel RODRIGO Honda 59
8 Raul FERNANDEZ KTM 51
9 Jaume MASIA Honda 50
10 Dennis FOGGIA Honda 44
11 Jeremy ALCOBA Honda 43
12 Darryn BINDER KTM 37
13 Andrea MIGNO KTM 28
14 Niccolò ANTONELLI Honda 26
15 Romano FENATI Husqvarna 22
16 Stefano NEPA KTM 22
17 Sergio GARCIA Honda 19
18 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM 13
19 Filip SALAC Honda 12
20 Ryusei YAMANAKA Honda 12
21 Kaito TOBA KTM 12
22 Ayumu SASAKI KTM 8
23 Alonso LOPEZ Husqvarna 5
24 Carlos TATAY KTM 4
25 Riccardo ROSSI KTM 3

MotoE

Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) kept his perfect FIM Enel MotoE World Cup record at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli intact on Sunday, taking a flawless victory at the Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. That’s three wins in two years on home soil for the reigning World Cup winner, and it’s also his first win of 2020 to put him right back in the fight for the Cup. Xavier Simeon (LCR E-Team) and Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) completed the podium in another close fought MotoE encounter.

Polesitter Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) grabbed the holeshot after a great start on home soil and soon got into a good rhythm, with Simeon going around the outside of Lukas Tulovic (Tech3 E-Racing) at Turn 1 and into Turn 2 to grab P2. It was a clean opening sector for everyone, but then Turn 8 saw Josh Hook (Octo Pramac MotoE) run off track, before numerous riders – including Tulovic – got Turn 13 all sorts of wrong. Tulovic dropped to outside the top 10, with leader Casadei left enjoying a half-second advantage on the opening lap.

However, the Italian was soon reeled in by Simeon and the chasing pack. On Lap 2, we had a five-rider battle for the lead. Casadei, Simeon, Ferrari, Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) and standings leader Aegerter were about to get into a phenomenal ding-dong MotoE™ battle. Ferrari was past Simeon into Turn 8 after Aegerter had set the fastest lap on Lap 3, with the swapping and changing then allowing Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) to catch the group to make it a 12-wheel fight for victory.

Di Meglio soon made his move on Aegerter to shove the Swiss rider down to P6 with three laps to go, as Ferrari then started closing in on leader Casadei. Lap 5 saw the number 11 get a great run out of Turn 10 and the Italian dived up the inside of his compatriot into the rapid right-hander of Turn 11, with Simeon then pouncing on Casadei at Turn 2 with two laps to go to boot. At that point, Ferrari had a half-second lead over the chasing five riders…

Heading onto the last lap, Simeon had closed Ferrari down slightly, the gap at three tenths, and Aegerter had got back past Di Meglio. The Andalucia GP winner was also up the inside of Torres for P4 at Turn 10, but Ferrari was holding firm at the front and looked set to gain a chunk of points. Heading into the tight and technical Turn 14 – an overtaking hotspot – Simeon wasn’t close enough to make a clean lunge on the race leader and that seemed that, but Aegerter was at least able to pounce for the podium. The number 77 sliced up the inside of Casadei at Turn 14, with Torres following him through as well…

No one could stop Ferrari from taking the 25-point haul, however, a first win of the campaign coming in style – although Simeon crossed the line just 0.213 behind for his first MotoE™ podium since Austria 2019. Aegerter’s stunning final lap sees him keep a healthy lead in the standings, with Ferrari moving to within 12 of the Swiss rider. Torres’ P4 was another great result for the rookie who is now 14 adrift of Aegerter in the standings, with Casadei dropping to P5 from pole and the early race lead.

Di Meglio crossed the line in P6 to see the top six finish just 0.7 seconds apart in a truly epic MotoE encounter. 3.6 seconds behind the lead battle was another cracking fight, with Alessandro Zaccone (Trentino Gresini MotoE) leading those riders over the line for his first points of the season. Alex de Angelis (Octo Pramac MotoE) recovered well to eighth after starting P16, the Sammarinese star less than a tenth shy of Zaccone. Tommaso Marcon (Tech3 E-Racing) beat Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) to ninth as the duo rounded out the top 10, the latter doing well to climb into that top 10 after starting from the back of the grid. A title favourite, he will be hoping to bounce back and be in the fight for victory at the double-header at Misano next weekend.

Matteo Ferrari

“The feeling of winning here again is incredible. After Jerez it as difficult to try and keep focused on the Championship, on the bike, we worked a lot at home and we arrived here with a lot of pressure because last year we won twice. But we did a great job. On the first lap it was difficult, Mattia went very fast in the first three laps, and after that the tyres went down a bit and I had to manage it… but you know MotoE races are very short; you have to stay focused and not make mistakes. I did that and won, and I’m really happy!”

Josh Hook – P18

“A difficult race, I was off to a good start, I had managed to make some good overtaking, Unfortunately I made a mistake that took me off track, but I managed to complete the race anyway. We have some work to do but we will be ready for next week.”

MotoE Race Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Matteo FERRARI Energica 12m14.331
2 Xavier SIMEON Energica +0.213
3 Dominique AEGERTER Energica +0.372
4 Jordi TORRES Energica +0.474
5 Mattia CASADEI Energica +0.606
6 Mike DI MEGLIO Energica +0.780
7 Alessandro ZACCONE Energica +4.393
8 Alex DE ANGELIS Energica +4.476
9 Tommaso MARCON Energica +4.915
10 Eric GRANADO Energica +5.056
11 Niccolo CANEPA Energica +5.439
12 Lukas TULOVIC Energica +5.705
13 Alejandro MEDINA Energica +8.448
14 Xavi CARDELUS Energica +8.582
15 Maria HERRERA Energica +8.813
16 Jakub KORNFEIL Energica +11.795
17 Niki TUULI Energica +12.892
18 Josh HOOK Energica +36.401

MotoE World Championship Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Dominique AEGERTER Energica 57
2 Matteo FERRARI Energica 45
3 Jordi TORRES Energica 43
4 Mattia CASADEI Energica 38
5 Xavier SIMEON Energica 35
6 Eric GRANADO Energica 34
7 Lukas TULOVIC Energica 27
8 Mike DI MEGLIO Energica 25
9 Alex DE ANGELIS Energica 21
10 Niccolo CANEPA Energica 19
11 Josh HOOK Energica 15
12 Alejandro MEDINA Energica 12
13 Tommaso MARCON Energica 11
14 Xavi CARDELUS Energica 10
15 Alessandro ZACCONE Energica 9
16 Maria HERRERA Energica 7
17 Niki TUULI Energica 5
18 Jakub KORNFEIL  Energica 4

Source: MCNews.com.au

MotoGP, News

Misano MotoGP Sunday Guide | Quotes from all riders after QP

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2020 MotoGP Round Seven – Misano

Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini

Misano MotoGP Sunday Stats Guide

Maverick Viñales has qualified on pole position for the second time this season along with Austria. This is Viñales’ 11th pole in the premier class (his third in Misano), one less than Johnny Cecotto.

Maverick Viñales

This is the second successive Yamaha pole position at Misano (also with Viñales last year) and their seventh pole position since the track returned to the Grand Prix calendar in 2007.

Since 2007, only three riders have won the MotoGP race after qualifying on pole position in Misano: Casey Stoner (2007), Valentino Rossi (2009) and Dani Pedrosa (2010), with only Rossi riding a Yamaha.

Franco Morbidelli has qualified in second, equalling his best qualifying result since he stepped to MotoGP in 2018, along with Spain and Japan in 2019.

Fabio Quartararo has qualified third for his 18th front row start in MotoGP. On his 17 previous front rows, he went on to finish on the podium nine times, including two wins.

Valentino Rossi, who is the most successful rider on the current MotoGP grid at Misano with three wins, heads Row 2. This is his best qualifying here since he was second in 2016, when he also finished second for his most recent podium in Misano. He equals his best qualifying of the season so far from Andalucia.

Valentino Rossi

With Maverick Viñales, Franco Morbidelli, Fabio Quartararo and Valentino Rossi, this is the first time there are four Yamaha riders within the top four on the grid in the premier class since the 1988 Portuguese GP held in Jerez with Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Kevin Magee and Christian Sarron.

Jack Miller, who is the only rider who finished on the podium in the last two races, has qualified in fifth place for the second successive time (although he started from fourth in Styria), as the top Ducati rider. He will be aiming to take three successive podiums for the first time since 2014 in Moto3.

Francesco Bagnaia, who missed the last three races due to injury, has qualified sixth for the third time this year, along with Spain and Andalucia. He crashed out last year at Misano.

Alex Rins has qualified seventh for the second successive time (although he started from sixth in Styria) which are his best qualifying results since he was also seventh in Malaysia last year.

He and team-mate Joan Mir in eighth will be aiming to become the first Suzuki riders to stand on the podium at Misano since Chris Vermeulen and John Hopkins in 2007, which is also the only time so far that two Suzuki riders were on the podium in the MotoGP era.

Misano MotoGP Podium Stoner Vermeulen Hopkins
2007 Misano MotoGP Podium – Casey Stoner P1, Chris Vermeulen P2, John Hopkins P3

Andrea Dovizioso, who has been on the podium at Misano twice in MotoGP including a win in 2018 (the last win for Ducati at the track to date), has qualified ninth. It’s the fifth time this year he has failed to qualify on the front two rows of the grid.

Takaaki Nakagami has qualified in 14th as the highest-placed Honda rider. This is the first time there is no Honda rider within the top 12 on the grid since Honda came back to the premier class of GP racing in 1982 (excluding the 1982 French GP, which was boycotted due to safety concerns).

2020 MotoGP Misano Qualifying Quotes

Maverick Vinales – P1

“I‘m really happy because that lap was amazing! Not just because it gave me pole position, but more so because of the time itself. When I saw 1‘31.4s I thought “This is a good lap time!”. We knew our potential and took everything we had, and we made a really good lap. Honestly, I‘m quite happy and impressed that at the end of the day we were so fast. Breaking the lap record was really hard for me. This morning we were still riding 1‘31.9s. We weren‘t completely sure what we would be able to do in the afternoon, but I felt so good, especially in FP4 on the hard tyre. For tomorrow, we don‘t know what will happen, but today and also on Friday we were strong, so tomorrow we are going to try to be strong again. I will push from the beginning. For sure, the race will be very long and tough, so we‘re going to try to be smart, and then we‘ll see what we can do.”

Maverick Viñales
Franco Morbidelli – P2

“I am very happy: I was trying to make a good qualifying lap and I achieved it! At the finish line I was looking at the big screen, saw myself in first and I was hoping it would be my first pole position, and at my home GP. But unfortunately Maverick was faster. Second position is still an important spot to start tomorrow’s race from in order to have a good race. I have the chance tomorrow of taking my first MotoGP win and I will be trying to stay in the mix and see what happens. I’m feeling strong, but all the Yamahas are strong here, so I think there is still a little bit I need to improve. I’m ready to fight though.”

Franco Morbidelli chasing Jack Miller
Fabio Quartararo – P3

“It is good to be back on the front row, but today has been a bit strange. It’s like last year: we were super fast in FP3 but struggled with the front end in qualifying. I am pushing a lot and am on the limit but it wasn’t enough. The most important thing, of course, is the 27-lap race. I’m feeling positive because we have the pace for victory, so let’s see what happens. I’m really looking forward to it though, really confident, because we have the pace again. I think it could be a good fight tomorrow as all of us at the front have the same bike; it could make it very interesting. I’m hoping for a great battle.”

Fabio Quartararo
Valentino Rossi – P4

“My day was good. This morning was fantastic for me, because to finish FP3 in P1 is always a great feeling in Misano. Also, I had a good pace, and I felt good with the bike. Here at this track the Yamaha is very competitive, very strong. We need to come back at the top, to fight for top positions, because the two weekends in Austria were very difficult to manage. This afternoon we tried some different things. I was not fantastic, and everybody has big doubts about the tyres, both front and rear, because the choice is very open. So, we have to see, we have to fix some things. It‘s a shame about the front row, but starting from the fourth position is still good, and our pace is not so bad. It looks like the Yamahas have a very good pace. The battle will be hard as always, because especially Maverick, but also Quartararo and Franco, have been riding very well since Friday morning, so I think that we will have to start well, have to improve for tomorrow and try to fight for the podium.”

Valentino Rossi
Jack Miller – P5

“Not a bad day, I was fast since this morning, during the FP3 I had a small crashed but I’m ok. I did a decent lap on the qualifying and tomorrow I will start from the second row, so I’m happy, I did my best and tried to be fast as possible. I’m confident for tomorrow and we will do our best like always.”

Jack Miller
Pecco Bagnaia – P6

“I’m happy for today. My goal was the top 10 and tomorrow I will start from the second row and this is an important step for us. Yesterday I didn’t push at my maximum to understand my feeling, instead today I just thought about riding and I focused on it, carefree about my leg I’m confident for tomorrow, the only question will be the 26 laps of the race, because these days I never did a long run, but I’m feel ready.”

Alex Rins – P7

“I had good feelings today, better than yesterday, and I’m happy to start on the third row. I did my best lap during qualifying and I improved quite a lot during today, also my race pace is pretty strong. I think the race will be quite complex and it will be important to gain a good position in the early laps in order to fight later in the race.”

Joan Mir – P8

“We already knew that our fast lap wasn’t quite as good as the other guys, but we worked really hard and made some improvements which have helped, and in the end the grid position is OK. Another positive thing is that my race pace in FP4 was good with used tyres, so that gives me confidence. Tomorrow morning I will work a little bit more on getting the bike stopped, and let’s see what I can do in the race, the Yamaha riders will be hard to beat but I feel I can be competitive.”

Andrea Dovizioso – P9

“I’m happy because we were finally able to improve my feeling with the bike and today we got closer to the front riders. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do better than the ninth place in qualifying; our goal today was to finish at least in the second row because here in Misano the start is short and quite narrow. Now we will try to take another step forward in tomorrow morning’s warm-up. The goal for the race tomorrow will be fighting in the top five positions.”

Andrea Dovizioso
Johann Zarco – P10

“I want to be on the top 6, because be on the two first rows are very important for the race, but I had a freaky afternoon. During the FP4, first I had a technic problem, and then I had a crash ant it was a problem because this was the bike with I had to do the qualifying. The team did an amazing job because they change a lot of things in a short time and the bike was ready to the qualifying. It was very import because a top10 is better than a last position. I think I could be fighting for the top8 with the group in tomorrow’s race.”

Pol Espargaro – P11

“The same thing: when you know you have to go to Q1 then you don’t have any tyres for Q2. I was in Q2 with a used Front, with nine laps on it already, and a new rear. I was coming around for a similar fast lap-time for the second row but I lost the front. Our problem started in FP3 where I made a mistake. It’s been a little tougher than usual to focus this weekend so far and it cost me to go to the Q2. We would have been on the second row with our Q1 lap-time but it didn’t happen again. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

Pol Espargaro
Miguel Oliveira – P12

“It was a good day of work today. We didn’t manage to do a decent time attack in FP3, so we had to go through Q1. We got through, which was nice. Then in Qualifying 2, I had only one soft tire, so I waited until the end to go out. I pushed, did my two good laps, which were close to my personal best, but not enough to be closer to the front, at least in the second or third row. The race is tomorrow, anyway, so hopefully we can have a good start to fight for the top positions.”

Aleix Espargaro – P13

“I am pleased, although the final position leaves somewhat of a bitter taste in my mouth. We improved a lot, but I missed the top 10 in FP3 by a hair and, despite a great time, I didn’t go through in Q1. I’m comforted by the fact that the truly important positions are only a couple of tenths away and that tells me that the RS-GP is a top-level project. Tomorrow will be a strange race. We’ll see all the different tyre options on the track, I think for the first time. I am happy with my pace. It seems like it is good for something more than the top 10, but we also need to consider the difficulty overtaking.”

Aleix Espargaro
Takaaki Nakagami – P14

“We’re still not really competitive and the weekend has been a bit of a struggle so far. The lap times are so tight, I just missed the top 10 in FP3 this morning and we lost a lot of time yesterday on the set-up of the bike. But in FP3 today we definitely improved the bike, it was much more consistent. In Q1 I missed out by two tenths, but we did our best, of course. The lap times are so tight, so we’ll just forget today and will try to take another step tomorrow. It will be difficult in the race because we’re not in a good position on the starting grid, but 27 laps will be a long race and you never know about tyre life, so we have a chance. We’ll do our best and something around the top eight will be good.”

Danilo Petrucci – P15

“Definitely this was not the position I expected to get today in qualifying. The gaps are always very narrow, but unfortunately, I failed to set a good lap time. In the second lap available with the new tyre, I made several mistakes that didn’t allow me to improve. My pace for the race is more consistent, but it will be crucial to be able to start well to be able to stay hooked immediately to the front and have the chance to get a good result.”

Danilo Petrucci
Brad Binder – P16

“Difficult day today. We tried a lot with the set-up and found some things that improved the feeling but in some areas we did not quite get everything together as I would have like for qualifying. The good thing is that I have a very clear idea of what I want tomorrow. I think we can try it in Warm-up. It wasn’t a great qualifying but I know we can be better in the race for sure.”

Brad Binder
Tito Rabat – P17

“It was a good day, in FP4 I really enjoyed myself, I understood things about the bike. In qualifying, in the second start, I was overconfident with the rear wheel. I think it’s not a problem with the tire, but if we find the solution it will help me to have feeling in the first laps of the race and to have a good race”.

Tito Rabat
Iker Lecuona – P18

“Today has been a really difficult day for me. In FP3 I started with used tires and did a long run to check the pace for the race. This pleased me a lot because I managed to go fast with used tires. Later when I wanted to push for a lap time in order to go direct to a Q2 spot, I crashed and then I went out with the second bike but I couldn’t do anything to improve. In Qualifying, I felt good with the bike. I pushed a lot, therefore I don’t understand, why the lap time was just not coming. I need to check the data to understand this. The important day is tomorrow. I have a good pace for the race, so I stay optimistic.”

Iker Lecuona
Stefan Bradl – P19

“We tried a lot of different things today in order to improve our feeling and speed. There’s still something to find for the race and the bike is very physical here, especially with the bumps. Hopefully we can get some early overtakes in and then ride with the others to see where they are stronger and what advantage we can take.”

Stefan Bradl
Bradley Smith – P20

“If we look at yesterday’s performance, the situation is obviously frustrating. As is often the case, the reality is a compromise. We worked well on race pace and I’m rather pleased with that in terms of our expectations. I was lacking a few tenths on the flying lap to do better in qualifying. Thanks in part to the data we’ve collected, we have reached a good base, but then sorting the final details gets more complicated. We’ll try a couple of ideas tomorrow in warmup.”

Alex Marquez – P21

“It was not an easy qualifying for us, we knew coming into this weekend that it would be tough. We got some good information in FP4 and our overall pace is better than the position on the time sheet shows. In qualifying I wasn’t able to put together a good lap, my fastest lap did not have any of my best sector times. It’s quite difficult with the bumps. The good point is that tomorrow can only improve.”

Alex Marquez
Cal Crutchlow – Declared unfit

“After yesterday I actually felt quite good riding the bike, I had no particular pain in my arm. But unfortunately the arm was swollen after riding and the fluid build-up was a lot after the session so the doctors reviewed it this morning and declared me unfit to ride, with the reason being the risk of infection with the hole being open in my arm. You can see the muscle and touch the muscle through it and the fluid build-up is not coming out, we don’t want to start draining the arm all the time because I’ll be draining it all day. So along with Alberto (Puig) and Lucio (Cecchinello) the decision was made and I think the correct decision to rest and try to see whether we can come back in Barcelona in two weeks’ time.”

MotoGP Qualifying Results

Pos Rider Bike Q Time/Gap
1 Maverick VIÑALES YAMAHA Q2 1m31.411
2 Franco MORBIDELLI YAMAHA Q2 +0.312
3 Fabio QUARTARARO YAMAHA Q2 +0.380
4 Valentino ROSSI YAMAHA Q2 +0.466
5 Jack MILLER DUCATI Q2 +0.641
6 Francesco BAGNAIA DUCATI Q2 +0.643
7 Alex RINS SUZUKI Q2 +0.679
8 Joan MIR SUZUKI Q2 +0.691
9 Andrea DOVIZIOSO DUCATI Q2 +0.773
10 Johann ZARCO DUCATI Q2 +0.807
11 Pol ESPARGARO KTM Q2 +0.855
12 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM Q2 +0.912
13 Aleix ESPARGARO APRILIA Q1 (*) 0.231
14 Takaaki NAKAGAMI HONDA Q1 (*) 0.318
15 Danilo PETRUCCI DUCATI Q1 (*) 0.354
16 Brad BINDER KTM Q1 (*) 0.470
17 Tito RABAT DUCATI Q1 (*) 0.727
18 Iker LECUONA KTM Q1 (*) 0.774
19 Stefan BRADL HONDA Q1 (*) 0.851
20 Bradley SMITH APRILIA Q1 (*) 1.102
21 Alex MARQUEZ HONDA Q1 (*) 1.269
22 Cal CRUTCHLOW HONDA FP1 1.340

MotoGP Qualifying Report

It was a truly spectacular second pole position of the season for Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) thanks to a new Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli lap record on Saturday, with the Spaniard’s 1:31.411 putting him ahead of second-placed Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) by 0.312. Third place went to World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT)… and fourth place went the way of home hero Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) – making i the first time they’ve finished 1-2-3-4 in qualifying in the MotoGP era!

Viñales was the first rider to set a flying lap time in the second qualifying session, and a 1:32.130 was a solid opening time… but it was going to be beaten. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was sat behind Viñales on the first lap but the Spaniard ran on at the end of the back straight, before Q1’s fastest rider Pol Espagraro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) crashed at Turn 15. That brought out the yellow flags which saw Quartararo have to sit up and scrap the lap, but the Frenchman was getting the hammer down on his second time around…

Maverick Viñales

Another rider to be getting the hammer down was Free Practice pacesetter Rossi. The Doctor was further down the road from Quartararo and sure enough, the nine-time World Champion went provisional P1 to send the 10,000 Misano fans wild. However, Quartararo would soon demote Rossi to second with a 1:31.791, with the riders then pitting to push some fresh tyres in.

By this time, Viñales had slipped to P5 and was out on his lonesome on his second run. A personal best saw him stay fifth, before a faster lap then came in for the number 12. It was provisional pole, but only just – with the gap a tiny 0.004 as he then pitted again in a two-stop strategy. With the other riders back out for their second runs, Quartararo couldn’t improve his lap time on his first attempt, 0.038 the Frenchman’s deficit, as second fastest in Q1 Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) quickly exchanging P6.

Rossi was then bang on the money but after losing two tenths in Sector 2, the Italian backed out of his lap. Compatriot Morbidelli and his team-mate Quartararo were then lighting the timesheets up in the first and second sectors, as Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) slotted himself into P6. Coming round the final sector, Morbidelli placed himself onto a dream provisional home Grand Prix pole position, and Quartararo unable to improve on his last flying lap. Was that it? Not quite…

Viñales was two-tenths under Morbidelli’s time as an absolute stunner started coming in from Top Gun. Nailing the final half of the lap to take the chequered flag with a new Misano lap record, and taking that accolade away from Yamaha test rider Jorge Lorenzo, Viñales’ time gave him plenty of clear air ahead of Morbidelli. The Italian is therefore forced to settle for a sterling second on home soil, but it’s his best qualifying result of the season.

Quartararo completes the front row, 0.380 adrift from Viñales. The 21-year-old didn’t sound too disheartened with P3 though, he’s looking strong to challenge for his third win of the season from the outside of the front row. Rossi spearheads Row 2 in P4, and that’s the number 46’s equal best Saturday afternoon result of 2020. Joining Rossi on the second row is Miller who improved on his last lap to get the better of injured teammate Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing), but both Pramac riders had an upbeat qualifying in San Marino.

Rins is the leading Suzuki in P7, the Spaniard beating teammate Joan Mir by 0.012 in Q2 and the latter – like Miller – leaping up the leaderboard on his last lap. Dovizioso, the man second in the Championship, will have to start from P9 but race day is another day – as we’ve seen a good few times from the number 04. Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) completed the top 10, while Pol Espargaro managed to get out on his second bike after his crash and finish less than a tenth ahead of Oliveira – the Q1 graduates ending Q2 in P11 and P12.

Yamaha are back! After two tougher rounds, no one could get within a tenth and a half of the YZR-M1s in qualifying, with polesitter Viñales really laying down the gauntlet ahead of Sunday’s crucial battle. Can anyone stop the Iwata onslaught in San Marino, and if not, who comes out on top in the Yamaha dogfight?!

Moto2 Qualifying Report

Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) was the class of the field in Q2 at the Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, taking pole position by over two and a half tenths and smashing the lap record in the process. However, the Brit will start from pitlane on Sunday due to a penalty, promoting second-placed Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) to first on the grid. The third quickest man in Q2 was Championship leader Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46), so he’ll start second.

Q1 at Misano saw one surprise as impressive 2020 rookie Aron Canet (Oceanica Aspar Team Moto2) struggled to move through, and he’ll be on the fight back on Sunday. Heading the session though was a turnaround of fortunes for last year’s near-winner Fabio Di Giannantonio (+Ego Speed Up), the Italian moving through to the fight for pole alongside Hector Garzo (Flexbox HP 40), Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing Team) and teammate Marcos Ramirez.

The opening flying laps in Q2 saw former lap record holder Bezzecchi sit top of the pile, before Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) took provisional pole. However, Lowes was flying and the British rider set a devilishly quick 1:36.666 to take charge, with Bezzecchi improving his time but slotting into second. Then, Lowes was going even faster – a lot faster at that. The number 22 came across the line to break the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli lap record, and no one would threaten it.

Gardner was the man closest as he shot up from nowhere into second, set to start first, with Marini slotting into third on the timesheets and therefore the first of the top Championship challengers on the grid. Fourth in the session but joining the two on the front row will be Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46), who went down at the final corner – thankfully unhurt – but lost his chance to improve…

Second in the Championship, Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) will spearhead the second row, fresh from a Ducati MotoGP signature, and the Italian is set to take the battle to Marini and Bezzecchi as the Moto2 title fight looks set to heat up in Misano. Xavi Vierge’s (Petronas Sprinta Racing) sixth place in qualifying will see him start from fifth, his best qualifying result of the season and his best since the 2019 Malaysian GP., with Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) just over half a second away from Lowes in P7. The German will join Bastianini and Vierge on the second row.

2019 winner Augusto Fernandez was forced to settle for eighth in Q2, six tenths shy of his teammate’s time, the Spaniard heading Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Q1 graduate Fabio Di Giannantonio, who took P9 and P10 respectively. They will therefore complete the third row.

A first pole in four years for Lowes unfortunately won’t see the number 22 line-up at the front of the grid, but the stage is set for a classic.

Sam Lowes – P1

“For me this year since, well after Qatar, I’ve been strong and felt quite good, even in Austria at a difficult track for me, I was still quick. But we have to start from pitlane tomorrow. This is racing, sometimes you have things like this but I’m happy to come here this weekend, get pole and have good pace. Hopefully we can still score some points in the race.”

Misano 2020 Moto2 front row
1 Sam Lowes – EG0,0 Marc VDS – Kalex – 1:36.170
2 Remy Gardner – ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team – Kalex +0.254
3 Luca Marini – Sky Racing Team VR46 – Kalex +0.332

Moto2 Qualifying Results

Pos Rider Bike Q Time/Gap
1 Sam LOWES KALEX Q2 1m36.170
2 Remy GARDNER KALEX Q2 +0.254
3 Luca MARINI KALEX Q2 +0.326
4 Marco BEZZECCHI KALEX Q2 +0.371
5 Enea BASTIANINI KALEX Q2 +0.444
6 Xavi VIERGE KALEX Q2 +0.493
7 Marcel SCHROTTER KALEX Q2 +0.525
8 Augusto FERNANDEZ KALEX Q2 +0.658
9 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA KALEX Q2 +0.848
10 Fabio DI GIANNANTONI   ITA SPEED UP Q2 +0.849
11 Marcos RAMIREZ KALEX Q2 +0.913
12 Thomas LUTHI KALEX Q2 +0.915
13 Jorge NAVARRO SPEED UP Q2 +0.919
14 Hafizh SYAHRIN SPEED UP Q2 +0.936
15 Hector GARZO KALEX Q2 +1.158
16 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA   ITA KALEX Q2 +1.255
17 Jake DIXON KALEX Q2 +1.265
18 Joe ROBERTS KALEX Q2 +1.496
19 Nicolò BULEGA KALEX Q1 (*) 0.129
20 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI KALEX Q1 (*) 0.130
21 Stefano MANZI MV AGUSTA Q1 (*) 0.311
22 Aron CANET SPEED UP Q1 (*) 0.383
23 Simone CORSI MV AGUSTA Q1 (*) 0.492
24 Somkiat CHANTRA KALEX Q1 (*) 0.509
25 Kasma DANIEL KALEX Q1 (*) 0.762
26 Bo BENDSNEYDER NTS Q1 (*) 0.862
27 Andi Farid IZDIHAR KALEX Q1 (*) 1.409
28 Edgar PONS KALEX Q1 (*) 2.434
29 Jesko RAFFIN NTS Q1 (*) 3.304

Moto3

Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) took his maiden pole position on Saturday at the Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, snatching the honour from Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) by just 0.016 in another tight qualifying session for Moto3. 2019 winner Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) completes the front row by an even smaller margin – with the top three covered by just 0.031 at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia)

The fight to move through and take part in the fight for pole set the tone, with Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) coming out on top by less than a tenth to move through alongside Sterilgarda Max Racing Team’s Romano Fenati and Alonso Lopez, with BOE Skull Rider Facile Energy’s Ricardo Rossi the last graduate in a last minute shuffle.

In Q2 itself, the last minute dash was again the name of the game. It looked set to be another pole for Rodrigo as the flag flew, and Ogura’s laptime hadn’t initially looked like it would put him in the mix to challenge… but then came the final sector. Putting it together perfectly, the Japanese rider shot over the line and just snatched his maiden pole position.

Rodrigo was then forced to settle for second but has a nice clear view to Turn 1 on Sunday, with last year’s winner Suzuki setting himself up well for race day too in third. Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46) heads up Row 2 just behind them in a solid qualifying session, but the Italian will rue the tiny margin that kept him off the front row: 0.011.

Fenati put in Husqvarna’s best qualifying result since their return to the class this season as he lines up fifth, with Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completing the third row. Row 3 is headed by Styria winner Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46), with the Italian joined by Jeremy Alcoba (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) and Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team). Filip Salač (Rivacold Snipers Team) completes the top ten.

That leaves a couple of high profile names missing… Championship leader Albert Arenas (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) will start 13th as he attempts to stop Ogura gaining on him, and third overall John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) suffered a crash early in Q2 and then ended up P17. Can they move back through to take the fight to Ogura?

2020 Misano Moto3 front row
1 Ai Ogura – Honda Team Asia – Honda – 1:42.403
2 Gabriel Rodrigo – Kömmerling Gresini Moto3 – Honda +0.016
3 Tatsuki Suzuki – SIC58 Squadra Corse – Honda – +0.031

Moto3 Qualifying Results

Pos Rider Bike Q Time/Gap
1 Ai OGURA HONDA Q2 1m42.403
2 Gabriel RODRIGO HONDA Q2 +0.016
3 Tatsuki SUZUKI HONDA Q2 +0.031
4 Andrea MIGNO KTM Q2 +0.042
5 Romano FENATI HUSQVARNA Q2 +0.201
6 Raul FERNANDEZ KTM Q2 +0.253
7 Celestino VIETTI KTM Q2 +0.378
8 Jeremy ALCOBA HONDA Q2 +0.405
9 Tony ARBOLINO HONDA Q2 +0.462
10 Filip SALAC HONDA Q2 +0.505
11 Sergio GARCIA HONDA Q2 +0.591
12 Riccardo ROSSI KTM Q2 +0.604
13 Albert ARENAS KTM Q2 +0.651
14 Jaume MASIA HONDA Q2 +0.688
15 Dennis FOGGIA HONDA Q2 +0.712
16 Stefano NEPA KTM Q2 +0.795
17 John MCPHEE HONDA Q2 +0.924
18 Alonso LOPEZ HUSQVARNA Q2 +1.315
19 Darryn BINDER KTM Q1 (*) 0.776
20 Niccolò ANTONELLI HONDA Q1 (*) 0.871
21 Ayumu SASAKI KTM Q1 (*) 1.040
22 Carlos TATAY KTM Q1 (*) 1.064
23 Davide PIZZOLI KTM Q1 (*) 1.112
24 Khairul Idham PAWI HONDA Q1 (*) 1.358
25 Kaito TOBA KTM Q1 (*) 1.374
26 Jason DUPASQUIER KTM Q1 (*) 1.473
27 Ryusei YAMANAKA HONDA Q1 (*) 1.539
28 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM Q1 (*) 1.542
29 Barry BALTUS KTM Q1 (*) 1.578
30 Yuki KUNII HONDA Q1 (*) 1.914
31 Maximilian KOFLER KTM Q1 (*) 2.081

MotoE

There was a lot to smile about for some of the home heroes after FIM Enel MotoE World Cup E-Pole at the Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, with Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) taking his very first E-Pole after snatching the honour from compatriot Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse). The 2019 Cup winner and Misano victor won’t start from the front, however, with Casadei promoted to P1 as Ferrari serves a three-place grid penalty for his crash with Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) in Jerez. Third fastest in E-Pole was Xavier Simeon (LCR E-Team) as he pipped rookie Lukas Tulovic (Tech 3 E-Racing), but the German will move up to start alongside the Belgian on the front row.

The story of the day – as well as the polesetter, front row and penalty on the way – was a difficult E-Pole for Eric Granado as the Brazilian ran afoul of track limits and had his lap cancelled. He’ll therefore start from the back, and will be one to watch as he tries to move forward in the short dash of a MotoE race that awaits.

That drama came late as the runners headed out in the order set by their Free Practice times – with the fastest going last – creating plenty of stories throughout the field. Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) wasn’t quite able to replicate his Jerez form, last year’s E-Pole winner Alex de Angelis (Octo Pramac MotoE) had a few big moments on his lap, and injury comeback kid Niki Tuuli (Avant Ajo MotoE) showed some solid signs before losing his advantage in the final sector . On Sunday, then, we can expect another incredible spectacle…

Behind the Casadei, Simeon, Tulovic front row, Ferrari will start fourth with Aegerter alongside him. Niccolo Canepa (LCR E-Team) completes that second row after a solid performance from the Italian on Saturday; the number 7 just hundredths off the Swiss rider ahead of him on the timesheets. Rookie and second in the Cup standings Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) heads the third row, ahead of a big leap forward for Tommaso Marcon (Tech 3 E-Racing) at Misano as he regains full fitness. The gap between the two was only 0.007!

Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) took P9 as he looks for more in 2020, ahead of home hero Alessando Zaccone (Trentino Gresini MotoE), who completes the top ten. The Italian denied Tuuli the honour by just 0.010.

Keep an eye on those a little further back, too. After a dramatic start to his lap losing him time, Sammarinese rider de Angelis finds himself languishing in 16th and looking to move forward, and that couldn’t be more true for Granado either.  Australian Josh Hook will start from 15th place on the grid.

MotoE Qualifying Results

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 Matteo FERRARI Energica 1m43.580
2 Mattia CASADEI Energica +0.272
3 Xavier SIMEON Energica +0.372
4 Lukas TULOVIC Energica +0.447
5 Dominique AEGERTER Energica +0.626
6 Niccolo CANEPA Energica +0.641
7 Jordi TORRES Energica +0.682
8 Tommaso MARCON Energica +0.689 
9 Mike DI MEGLIO Energica +0.772
10 Alessandro ZACCONE Energica +1.107
11 Niki TUULI Energica +1.117
12 Alejandro MEDINA Energica +1.174
13 Xavi CARDELUS Energica +1.267
14 Maria HERRERA Energica +1.428
15 Josh HOOK Energica +1.582
16 Alex DE ANGELIS Energica +1.681
17 Jakub KORNFEIL Energica +2.173

MotoGP World Championship Points

Pos

 Rider Bike Points
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 70
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 67
3 Jack MILLER Ducati 56
4 Brad BINDER KTM 49
5 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 48
6 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 46
7 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 45
8 Joan MIR Suzuki 44
9 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 43
10 Pol ESPARGARO KTM 35
11 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 32
12 Johann ZARCO Ducati 30
13 Alex RINS Suzuki 29
14 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 25
15 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 15
16 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 15
17 Iker LECUONA KTM 13
18 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 9
19 Bradley SMITH Aprilia 8
20 Tito RABAT Ducati 7
21 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 7
22 Michele PIRRO Ducati 4
23 Stefan BRADL Honda 0

2020 MotoGP Calendar

Rnd Date Circuit
1 08 March (Moto2/Moto3) Losail International Circuit
2 19 July Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto
3 26 July Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto
4 09 August Automotodrom Brno
5 16 August Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
6 23 August Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
7 13 September Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
8 20 September Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
9 27 September Barcelona – Catalunya
10 11 October Le Mans
11 18 October MotorLand Aragón
12 25 October MotorLand Aragón
13 08 November Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo
14 15 November Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo
15 22 November Autodromo Internacional do Algarve

Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini Schedule

Time Class Session
1620 Moto3 WUP
1650 Moto2 WUP
1720 MotoGP WUP
1805 MotoE WUP
1900 Moto3 RACE
2020 Moto2 RACE
2200 MotoGP RACE

Source: MCNews.com.au

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Misano MotoGP Preview | Tyres | The Track | And this time spectators!

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2020 MotoGP Round Seven – Misano

The MotoGP travelling caravan is currently en route to the newly resurfaced Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli which will stage a busy schedule with two MotoGP and three MotoE races spread over two consecutive weekends firstly in the Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, try saying that three times quickly, and then the debut running of the Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini the following weekend, got it?  Right…

The 4,226m circuit is situated close to the coastline of the Adriatic Riviera and its technical layout is one of the most intricate of the season. High-speed curves and corners, slow turns and a short straight put specific demands on the front tyres and the Michelin rubber chosen for the two events have been matched to the new asphalt – which was tested earlier this year by the French tyre manufacturer. The six left- and ten right-hand turns of the circuit will be tackled by a range of soft, medium and hard compound front slick tyres, all with a symmetric finish, plus the addition of a fourth specification – as the rules allow for a newly resurfaced track – of a hard asymmetric front slick – with a harder right-hand side – to give the riders a greater scope of available tyres. The soft, medium and hard rears will be asymmetric with a harder right shoulder due to the greater number of turns in that direction and the increased stress on that side of the tyre throughout the 27-laps of the two MotoGP races.

Commonly known as the ‘San Marino Grand Prix’, the event’s location and time of the year has led to many wet days being encountered in recent years and thus wets in both soft and medium symmetric fronts, and asymmetric soft and medium rears.

Situated close to the city of Rimini, the circuit has been a permanent fixture on the MotoGP calendar since its return in 2007. It is always a colourful affair with the 60,000 capacity being filled to the full. This season due to the COVID-19 restrictions MotoGP has taken place behind closed doors, but the two races at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli will be the first to admit fans inside the arena. At the behest of local authorities, 10,000 spectators will be welcomed every day and have to meet various rules and regulations regarding social distancing to give them the opportunity to be trackside.

MotoGP Rnd Misano Podium Marquez Quartararo Vinales
2019 Misano MotoGP Podium L-R: Quartararo, Marquez and Viñales

And if the previous rounds of 2020 are to serve as a form guide as for what to expect, then perhaps they should be prepared for the unexpected!  Four different winners from three factories, battles to the line; history has been made across the board for man, machine, team and nation…

Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) started the year with double wins but we have then watched that record-breaking pace fade over the tougher rounds of Brno and Austria. But cast your thoughts back 12 months to a rookie taking the reigning Champion to the wire and remember where ‘El Diablo’ belongs… the question is though, can he get back there? For Yamaha it should be a track more suited to their strengths, and no one should count out the only man to have so far won twice this season.

Fabio Quartararo

“Misano is one of my favourite circuits because it has a little bit of everything: slow corners, fast corners and switching from left to right. I’m curious to see how it works with the new asphalt and if the conditions will have changed a lot since last year. It is a very beautiful circuit. It also has my favourite corner from the whole calendar, Curvone. On the back straight you arrive in sixth gear, just roll off, use the brakes a little bit and then full gas as soon as possible. It’s a great corner and I can’t wait to be riding there this weekend. We fought for the win until the last lap for the first time last year, so we will try to repeat this over the next two Sundays. We need to return to the podium in these next races and achieve a big number of points at a circuit that suits our bike better. The target is to get back the feeling on the bike we had in the first two races in Jerez.”

MotoGP Rnd Misano Quartararo Marquez
Quartararo and Marquez pushed each other to the limits and beyond at Misano last year. Marquez came out on top by less than a second, Maverick Vinales rounded out the podium

Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) will also be eyeing Misano with optimism and a chance for him to put to bed some truly awful luck at the Red Bull Ring. Narrowly avoiding one huge crash only to get hit by technical trouble, and then playing protagonist in another huge incident a week later due to… technical trouble, it hasn’t been an easy ride for ‘Top Gun’ lately. But he’s been quick, taken podiums and been on pole, and he knows – as we all do – that the unpredictability and ever-shuffling pack this season means one thing: no one is out of it yet.

That goes for his team-mate, too. The “Most Wins” stat at Misano is shared three ways, but only one of the riders on the list will be lining up in 2020: Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). The ‘Doctor’ has three wins at the venue to equal Jorge Lorenzo and reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), who remains sidelined, but it’s the number 46’s backyard. He also arrives with some deceptively solid consistency in 2020. The rumours have also started about Rossi considering retirement at the end of this season and not heading to Petronas SRT in 2021 after all.

His protegee of sorts, Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT), will also be optimistic on the way in. Robbed of what looked like a first podium earlier in the year, the number 21 has taken a key step forward this season. The satellite Petronas SRT squad is out-pefrorming the factory Monster Energy Yamaha team so far this season and lead the Teams World Championship.

Franco Morbidelli

“Misano is my home track and so, of course, I like it a lot because of this! The layout is quite tricky because originally you used to ride it in the opposite direction. This has created some unique characteristics and because of this it is very tricky. It’s also quite twisty and narrow. These things also make it a great circuit to ride: I love it! It’s a great feeling to have two races coming up at my home circuit and I’m really looking forward to them. In addition, we will have for the first time this season, some fans in the grandstands! That’s great news, because it means that is a first small step to normality. It will be great – especially for the Italian riders – to have the public cheering again for us. I hope we can give a good show and a good result!”

Alex Rins with Petronas SRT riders Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo battling in Austria

Veteran Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) hasn’t had a perfect run of form in 2020, but he’s wrung the most out of it on the day including that searing ride to victory in the Austrian GP. After the up and down form of so many and the drama we’ve seen in 2020, the wily Italian is now the man doing the daunting as he homes in on Quartararo’s lead. It’s just three-points now, and Dovizioso has won at the venue before. He and Rossi will also have some fans cheering them on, giving that little extra twist of hometown glory to the mix. Like Rossi, there are also significant rumours gathering around the future of Dovizioso and that he may also retire. There is also talk that if Rossi does choose to step down, that perhaps Dovizioso could end up on a Yamaha in 2021…

Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) is certainly one to watch. 11-points off Dovizioso and therefore just 14 off Quartararo’s lead, he’s very much in the game for the Title after some impressive rides to the podium at the Red Bull Ring. Riding Ducati machinery on their home soil, there’s plenty at stake for Miller and the Australian is seriously on song. He would dearly love to repay Ducati’s faith in him with a win in Italy.

Jack Miller looked to have Pol Espargaro well covered and was set for the win at Red Bull Ring but then Miguel Oliveira gazumped them both on the run to the line!

Miller’s team-mate Francesco Bagnaia will be back from injury and Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) will be striving hard for a return to form in front of his countrymen after a tough 2020 so far.

A run through of the likely Borgo Panigale factory frontrunners would no longer be complete without a shoutout to Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing), however. Since that searing Long Lap Penalty – yes, we’re going to keep bringing it up – the Frenchman has been on quite the rollercoaster, but he managed to take two points last time out despite a broken scaphoid and a pitlane start. More time to heal and no penalties on the horizon at Misano make Zarco an interesting prospect, as ever.

Johann Zarco

And then, of course, there’s KTM. Brno was a milestone and Styria another, as Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) added to Brad Binder’s (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) glory, as well as making some history for Tech 3 with their first premier class win.

The Austrian factory are the steamrolling success story of 2020 so far, and are now third in the constructors’ standings, only six-points from top spot, and with almost twice the points scored by Honda…

Brno MotoGP podium
1 Brad Binder – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM – 41:38.764
2 Franco Morbidelli – Petronas Yamaha SRT – Yamaha – +5.266
3 Johann Zarco – Esponsorama Racing – Ducati – +6.470

MotoGP Constructors Championship

Pos Manufacturer Points
1 Yamaha 88
2 Ducati 87
3 KTM 82
4 Suzuki 57
5 Honda 46
6 Aprilia 20

Is this new found KTM form a flash in the pan, or the new normal…?  Tech3 boss Hervé Poncharal is always good for an insightful quote.

Hervé Poncharal – Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Manager

“The Red Bull KTM Tech3 team will arrive at the Misano circuit with for sure a still very positive and light feeling after the incredible achievement in Spielberg. Clearly, Misano will be another story, a particular scenario. The circuit is very different to the ones we’ve been riding during the summer and it will be very interesting to monitor the performance of the KTM RC16 with our four riders on that twisty circuit. We’ve been doing some testing prior to the restart of the 2020 season here and the feeling for both, Miguel and Iker was quite good, but of course not the whole grid has been there. It’s going to be another back to back rounds on the same venue and I have to say, I like it quite a lot, the team likes it a lot and the paddock is pretty happy with that organisation. It’s interesting to have two GPs at the same track, you can experience and test things, which you couldn’t with only one round. We are looking forward to continue the strong performance we were showing since the beginning of the 2020 season. Both, Miguel and Iker are fully fit, fully ready, fully recharged and as usual it will be a pleasure to be on the Adriatic coast. Two races at that time of the year in such a great place are amazing and it will be very interesting to see how the organisers handle the spectators, as it will be the very first time this season. This is very good news. Congrats to them and Dorna to make that happen. We will also have some more journalists there and it’s a good feeling to see, that we are slightly trying to move back to our normal organisation. To summarise; everybody is eager to be in Misano soon, ready to start FP1 on Friday morning!”

Miguel Oliveira with Tech3 boss Herve Poncharal

For Team Suzuki Ecstar, meanwhile, the points don’t really tell the story. The Hamamatsu factory are very fast, and Alex Rins and Joan Mir have now both run at the front despite injury struggles for the former and still ever-growing experience for the latter. But some bad luck and crashes – and the Red Flag in Styria seemingly snatching victory from the hands of Mir – mean they’re not quite where they should be in terms of results on paper. Nevertheless, they remain two extremely fast riders on one extremely quality motorcycle, and the reset of Misano will see them aiming for the top again.

The Red Flag that seemed to dent Mir’s hopes of a perfect Sunday last time out was a similar story for Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu). A fourth in Jerez is his best so far, but the Japanese rider was on the front row in Styria for the first time and stayed as calm and collected as if he’d been there every week. He’s not been out the top ten so far this season, and he’s fought far up within it. Will Misano see that form rollover to the next events?

Cal Crutchlow has been off for some surgery to help relieve arm-pump issues and showed off some of the gory detail earlier this week on Instagram. You will have to do some extra clicks to uncover the hidden content, don’t check it out over lunch if you are squeamish.

Two restarted races in Austria helped Rookie Alex Marquez to deepen his understanding of the MotoGP class and focus on his speed in the opening laps. This is not Alex’s first time riding an RC213V in Misano, having done a shakedown back in 2016. In 2019, Alex achieved one of his three career podiums in San Marino on route to the Moto2 World Championship title.

Alex Marquez

“It has been nice to return home, relax a little, see the family and keep training. Austria did not go exactly as I wanted it to, but I am determined to comeback stronger this weekend. We had a good battle and result in Misano in the esport race earlier this year, hopefully we can have a good race again! Misano is a circuit with a lot of variety, the tight opening section and the faster back section.”

Alex Marquez

As Marc Marquez continues to recover from injury, Stefan Bradl will again deputise the eight-time World Champion for the upcoming San Marino GP. The German returns to the Italian circuit having tested there just after the two races in Austria. It will be his first race outing at the circuit since 2018 when Stefan was a wildcard aboard the Honda RC213V. Bradl is again looking to close in on the points while working with HRC to continue the development of the Honda.

For Aprilia, as well as Ducati and the Italian riders, Misano is also the first home race of the year. What can Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) do? He’s scored a good chunk of points in the last three races, and he’ll want more – as will team-mate Bradley Smith, a few places behind in the standings.

Misano. It’s a modern classic that’s staged some serious memorable showdowns, and now we’re on the verge of enjoying two races at the track. First it’s the Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini as we return after a short break. Strap yourself in for another awesome weekend of MotoGP action.

MotoGP World Championship Points

Pos

 Rider Bike Points
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 70
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 67
3 Jack MILLER Ducati 56
4 Brad BINDER KTM 49
5 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 48
6 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 46
7 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 45
8 Joan MIR Suzuki 44
9 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 43
10 Pol ESPARGARO KTM 35
11 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 32
12 Johann ZARCO Ducati 30
13 Alex RINS Suzuki 29
14 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 25
15 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 15
16 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 15
17 Iker LECUONA KTM 13
18 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 9
19 Bradley SMITH Aprilia 8
20 Tito RABAT Ducati 7
21 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 7
22 Michele PIRRO Ducati 4
23 Stefan BRADL Honda 0

Moto2

It seems the blink of an eye since the flag flew to mark the finish line of the Styrian GP, but the Moto2 grid will soon be back in the saddle again fighting it out for another 25 precious points. This time it’s the stunning Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli as the classic track hosts the Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, and a good few riders at the top are racing on home turf.

Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) is the man in charge of the standings heading in, and the Italian has been consistent ever since an issue near the end of the Qatar GP dampened his hopes in the season opener. A winner, a podium finisher or a solid points scorer so far in 2020, he’ll be aiming high at home… but so will the man he took over from in P1, who is only eight points behind.

That’s Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team), although it’s been a rougher two rounds for the Italian since he won two in a row at Jerez – his first intermediate class wins. A crash – an a memorable one at that – in the first race in Spielberg was followed by a more muted outing in the second to dent his momentum somewhat, but he, like Marini and many of the home heroes on the grid, will be expecting to make the most of Misano. And it’s where he took his first ever Grand Prix win back in Moto3 in 2015.

The man in third, meanwhile, will feel he has a score to settle. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) may not be Italian, but he’s on his own mission after crossing the line first in the Styrian GP and then getting demoted to second by a penalty. They were solid points to cement him third overall, but he feels denied a second Moto2 win in a row after his first intermediate class victory a week before… and to make it even worse, the man he lost out to was fellow sophomore and old Moto3 rival Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46). Martin will be on a mission, but then so will that same Bezzecchi…

It was a rough rookie Moto2 season for the number 12, but he’s had an emotional comeback to the front of late and was the only man able to live with Martin’s pace last time out. Add that to another podium earlier in the year and it’s far from a flash in the pan. He’ll be on home turf too and joins Martin and Bastianini as a first time winner in the class this season – so he’ll be flush with confidence to add to that proven speed.

It’s unlikely, on such well known ground, that we’ll see a four horse race, however. Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) is seemingly ironing out some inconsistency since his win in Qatar and could be a force to be reckoned with, Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) was on pole and the podium in the last two races, impressive rookie Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team) has been on a roll until a blip in Styria… and Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing Team) can’t be counted out. Tom Lüthi (Liqui Moly Intact GP) and teammate Marcel Schrötter are turning it around from a rougher few races earlier in the year too… there are plenty of names in the fight for the podium, top five or top ten.

Remy Gardner also claimed P3 at Red Bull Ring in the Moto2 class
Red Bulll Ring Styria 2020 Moto2 podium
1 Marco Bezzecchi – Sky Racing Team VR46 – Kalex 37:12.461
2 Jorge Martin – Red Bull KTM Ajo – Kalex – demoted one position
3 Remy Gardner – ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team – Kalex +1.027

One man who would expect to be in that battle but likely won’t be, however, is Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS). The Brit was given a pit-lane start for his next Moto2 race for causing a crash during the Styrian GP – so he’ll be pushing to try and move as far forward as possible, but sidelined from the fight he’d rather be in.

Moto2 World Championship Points

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Luca MARINI Kalex 87
2 Enea BASTIANINI Kalex 79
3 Jorge MARTIN Kalex 79
4 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA Kalex 68
5 Marco BEZZECCHI Kalex 65
6 Sam LOWES Kalex 59
7 Xavi VIERGE Kalex 46
8 Aron CANET Speed Up 43
9 Remy GARDNER Kalex 41
10 Joe ROBERTS Kalex 39
11 Marcel SCHROTTER Kalex 37
12 Thomas LUTHI Kalex 35
13 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI Kalex 34
14 Augusto FERNANDEZ Kalex 25
15 Jorge NAVARRO Speed Up 19
16 Hafizh SYAHRIN Speed Up 17
17 Stefano MANZI MV Agusta 15
18 Jake DIXON Kalex 12
19 Hector GARZO Kalex 12
20 Nicolò BULEGA Kalex 11
21 Bo BENDSNEYDER NTS 5
22 Dominique AEGERTER NTS 4
23 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Speed Up 3
24 Somkiat CHANTRA Kalex 3
25 Marcos RAMIREZ Kalex 1
26 Simone CORSI MV Agusta 1
27 Edgar PONS Kalex 0
28 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA Kalex 0
29 Andi Farid IZDIHAR Kalex 0
30 Kasma DANIEL Kalex 0
31 Jesko RAFFIN NTS 0
32 Alejandro MEDINA Speed Up 0

Moto3

Austria gave us two more barnstormers in the lightweight class, and we wouldn’t expect anything less. Now the Moto3 grid are ready to get back in action for the Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, and we can be sure it’ll be another incredible show as the grid attempt to gang up on Albert Arenas (Gaviota Aspar Team) once again. The Spaniard remains firmly in charge of the standings on the way in though, and probably still the pre-race favourite courtesy of his stunning 2020 form so far.

Last time out however, Arenas didn’t get it all his own way and couldn’t quite get on the podium. The man closest behind him in the points did though, and Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) will be aiming for a rinse and repeat on the Riviera di Rimini as he attempt to claw back that gap. Consistent in the truest meaning of the word, the Japanese rider hasn’t put a foot – or wheel – wrong for a long, long time, and keeps racking up those podiums. A first win has evaded him as yet, but it can surely only be a matter of time – but he’ll have to balance scoring and beating Arenas with that last-lap instinct to win at any cost…

John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing), in third overall, has a balancing act of his own too. There are plenty points left in play in 2020 despite the condensed season, but the Brit will be aiming for a return to the top and to iron out the kind of error that saw him hit the deck in the Styrian GP. He’s done in before though, and is both a proven veteran and winner, so he can’t be counted out.

The Italian contingent will be eager for some home glory in Misano though, and their ranks are led by the top two in the Styrian GP: first time Moto3 winner Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) and runner up Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team). Vietti has been a podium contender since his debut – quite literally – and a win felt like a matter of time, but it will be a solid shot of confidence for the impressive Italian. And so will the podium for Arbolino as he gains some traction in 2020…

Last year’s winner can probably be expected as a frontrunner too: Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse). It was an emotional first win for rider and team at the aptly-named track last year, and that will boost his confidence after a couple of tougher races following his Andalucian GP win. But Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3), Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) and his teammate Dennis Foggia, another first time winner in 2020, will be aiming to fight it out with them in the upper echelons – along with the now-consistent frontrunner and race day threat Darryn Binder (CIP – Green Power). And what about the likes of Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team), veterans both and the latter a winner at the track? Can they pull out all the stops on home turf?

Red Bull KTM Tech 3’s pace could be one to watch too, as both Ayumu Sasaki and Deniz Öncü played big roles in the Moto3 freight trains in Austria and Styria… before some awful luck in the latter saw Öncü collect his team-mate and both crash out. Misano is two more chances to get up there in the battle.

Moto3 World Championship Points

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Albert ARENAS KTM 106
2 Ai OGURA Honda 81
3 John MCPHEE Honda 67
4 Celestino VIETTI KTM 66
5 Tony ARBOLINO Honda 60
6 Tatsuki SUZUKI Honda 59
7 Raul FERNANDEZ KTM 51
8 Gabriel RODRIGO Honda 48
9 Jaume MASIA Honda 41
10 Dennis FOGGIA Honda 37
11 Darryn BINDER KTM 37
12 Jeremy ALCOBA Honda 30
13 Andrea MIGNO KTM 22
14 Niccolò ANTONELLI Honda 21
15 Stefano NEPA KTM 20
16 Sergio GARCIA Honda 19
17 Romano FENATI Husqvarna 14
18 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM 13
19 Filip SALAC Honda 12
20 Kaito TOBA KTM 12
21 Ryusei YAMANAKA Honda 8
22 Ayumu SASAKI KTM 8
23 Alonso LOPEZ Husqvarna 5
24 Carlos TATAY KTM 3
25 Yuki KUNII Honda 0
26 Barry BALTUS KTM 0
27 Maximilian KOFLER KTM 0
28 Riccardo ROSSI KTM 0
29 Jason DUPASQUIER KTM 0
30 Khairul Idham PAWI Honda 0
31 Davide PIZZOLI KTM 0
32 Dirk GEIGER KTM 0

MotoE

The FIM Enel MotoE World Cup is ready to get back down to electrifying business. After two rounds in Jerez saw the first fifty points doled out, there are 75 more on the table in the next two weekends – the first third of which are up for grabs at the Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini.

It’s rookie – although veteran of many a different machine – Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP) who leads the way as it stands, with the Swiss rider having seriously hit the ground running in the electric class. A podium first time out was an impressive debut, but that was swiftly followed up by a maiden win in Andalucia – giving Aegerter 41 points and an 11-point lead over Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40).

Torres is another rookie and has impressed so far, taking a podium in the second round of the season as he avoided the drama that befell a few of the more established names around him. That “drama” was a crash that saw reigning Cup winner Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) tangle with and take down first round winner Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), with the Italian out of the race and the Brazilian re-joining but only able to manage two points.

Ferrari was the double winner at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli last year, and he’ll be hoping to repeat the feat and claw back some of his already sizeable 21-point deficit. Having started the year on the podium, he knows at least that his pace has gone nowhere in 2020. Granado, meanwhile, smoked the field in the first round of the year, and was very much in the fight in round two before losing the chance to battle it out to the end. He’s only two points off Torres though, and there’s time yet to reel in Aegerter – but he’ll want to kick that off with another win.

Mattia Casadei (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) is another name who’ll be looking to fight for the podium after he got back on the box in the Andalucia GP. He was also on the podium last season at Misano, so it’s a good omen for a home hero – and riding for what is most definitely the home team. Rookie Lukas Tulovic (Tech 3 E-Racing) is just behind Casadei in the standings though and will be looking to build on some awesome E-Pole sessions on race day, with the German having got very close to a top three finish but not quite sealed the deal yet.

Those who’ve been fighting for the top five or a little further back will want the same. Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) is having a tougher season so far after proving a winner last year, and Xavier Simeon (LCR E-Team), a couple of places back on the Frenchman, is another who will feel a little out of position so far. Simeon was also on the podium at Misano last year. Meanwhile Josh Hook (Octo Pramac MotoE) splits the two, and he’s one who’s taken a definite step forward in 2020 – so what can he achieve? And what about Niki Tuuli (Avant Ajo MotoE), who will be coming back from injury and was the first ever race winner in the Cup?

Josh Hook is equal seventh in the series on 15-points and will be on a high after his recent victory at the Le Mans 24 Hour with F.C.C. TSR Honda

Finally, home hero Alex De Angelis (Octo Pramac MotoE) finds himself down the order in the title fight after a 0 first time out, but was only just off the podium in Andalucia as he bounced back. The Sammarinese rider is on home turf and was on pole last year at the track, so he has some serious speed. And a wealth of experience, in MotoE and everywhere!

FIM Enel MotoE World Cup Standings

Pos Rider Points
1 Dominique AEGERTER 41
2 Jordi TORRES 30
3 Eric GRANADO 28
4 Mattia CASADEI 27
5 Lukas TULOVIC 23
6 Matteo FERRARI 20
7 Mike DI MEGLIO 15
8 Josh HOOK 15
9 Xavier SIMEON 15
10 Niccolo CANEPA 14
11 Alex DE ANGELIS 13
12 Alejandro MEDINA 9
13 Xavi CARDELUS 8
14 Maria HERRERA 6
15 Niki TUULI 5
16 Jakub KORNFEIL 4
17 Tommaso MARCON 4

Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini Schedule

Source: MCNews.com.au