MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

Fighter jets put on a show over Misano, perfectly previewing the 27-lap premier class race but more in noise from the crowds that the toughness of battle. Although it was more of a battle of the nerves than a paint-swapping bonanza, Ducati still besieged the podium with Jorge Martin doing the double and two gritty rides from Marco Bezzecchi and Pecco Bagnaia to join him in the celebrations. 

In a déjà vu from Saturday afternoon, Martin was perfect from start to finish, keeping the lead from pole position while Bagnaia immediately attacked Bezzecchi at turn three. The world champion looked keen to have a go at Martin as well, but the Spaniard held him back and the Sprint podium men were already starting to distance the rest of the challengers. Dani Pedrosa had made a quick start but a moment at turn two left him fourth, ahead of an even faster-starting Brad Binder. The South-African took over the pursuit from his temporary teammate on the second lap and pushed to close the eight-tenth gap to the leaders, while Pedrosa was managing a similar gap ahead of a sizeable group led by Maverick Viñales. A good opening lap for Miguel Oliveira promoted him to to seventh, with Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez and Luca Marini in the early top 10. A poor start for Aleix Espargaro saw him drop to 11th position, just ahead of Fabio Quartararo, who kept him company for the rest of the race. 

Martin continued to set the pace at the front over the next few laps, resisting Bagnaia and Bezzecchi, who briefly swapped places and the exchanges allowed Binder to get ever so slightly closer to the victory battle. However, before the KTM man could fully join the party, he became the first victim of turn 14 on lap eight, leaving Pedrosa as the main pursuant, 1.8 seconds behind the leading trio. Another two seconds back, Vinales was starting to ditch the rest of group, where Marc Marquez was taking advantage of the soft rear tyre and progressing up to sixth, getting ahead of Oliveira and brother Alex. 

If the leaders didn’t really keep us entertained, Pedrosa was making up for it by setting a rapid pace and getting within a second of them by lap 11. A couple more laps and the veteran was only half a second behind the Ducati trio, but a mistake allowed that gap to grow back to over a second by the halfway point of proceedings. Pedrosa kept up the pace but struggled to reel the leaders back in, with little threat from behind, where Viñales was fending off Marc Marquez four seconds behind the KTM wildcard. 
Martin pulled the pin with 10 laps remaining and almost instantly grew his advantage to two full seconds, Bagnaia and Bezzecchi unable to keep in touch with the Pramac man. With Bagnaia dropping the pace, Bezzecchi got past the world champion one lap later and Bagnaia found himself in a familiar position, with Pedrosa closing in on the final podium position once more. However, the Spaniard ran out of time and tyres and although he closed in to half a second in the final handful of laps, he never got close enough to make a confident move. 

Although Bezzecchi closed in a little in the last few laps, Martin was untouchable until the chequered flag and took victory by over a second ahead of Bezzecchi. Although Bagnaia started the final lap with only two tenths separating him from Pedrosa, the Italian gave it one last push to protect the final podium position, so Pedrosa settled for another fourth place. Viñales secured fifth place six seconds later, while some late pace from Oliveira demoted Marc Marquez to seventh position. The Honda man resisted late pressure from Raul Fernandez, who took his best finish in the premier class in eighth place. A mistake at turn four on the final lap lost Marini a couple of places down to ninth, while Johann Zarco completed the top 10, fending off Alex Marquez, Aleix Espargaro and Quartararo. Binder remounted to take a couple points in 14th place, the final point going to Franco Morbidelli. 

A sore and subdued Bagnaia settled for limiting the damage in the world championship, now holding an advantage of 36 points over victor Martin and 65 points over Bezzecchi. 

Results:

The second show of the day at a resplendent Misano had none of the chaos of the lightweight class but did have a true masterclass that only Pedro Acosta seems to serve on a regular basis, the championship leader taking his fifth victory of the season in dominant fashion. Poleman Celestino Vietti tried to stop the onslaught but had already lost that fight by the opening corner and eventually had to settle for second place. Alonso Lopez made some early progress and then had a pretty lonely ride to his tenth podium in the class. 

Acosta was quick to take the lead from Vietti at the start of the 22-lap race, while Aron Canet and Lopez immediately demoted front row starter Manuel Gonzalez. Acosta ran a hot pace at the front, only Vietti and Canet keeping within reach after the first handful of laps, while Lopez and Gonzalez dropped one second behind. Acosta continued to push and soon distanced Vietti and Canet by eight tenths of a second but the duo weren’t keen to allow him much more than that and the gap yoyo-ed around that mark for a few laps. However, Vietti was left to manage it all on his own on lap eight, when Canet abandoned the fight at turn 14. Lopez inherited a provisional third place but had dropped over three seconds behind the leading duo and had the slight threat of Gonzalez around six tenths behind him. Having started ninth on the grid, Tony Arbolino made some early progress to join the top five, not too far off the podium battle and distancing Filip Salac and Sam Lowes. Somkiat Chantra, Ai Ogura and Joe Roberts completed the top 10 on lap 10, while Jake Dixon was struggling to progress from the 14th position he set off from. 

Back at the front, Acosta still kept Vietti at arm’s length at the halfway point of proceedings, although the Italian was steadily closing in. Not even a big scare at the first corner could halt Vietti’s progress, the gap down to three tenths with eight laps remaining but subsequent warnings at turn 14 and turn 4 persuaded the Italian to settle for second. There was no threat from behind, with a gap of six seconds keeping him ahead of Lopez. Meanwhile, Arbolino demoted Gonzalez and had seven laps left to recover one and a half seconds to the final podium position. That gap dropped to under a second with four laps remaining, as some mistakes were starting to creep in for the Spaniard. Teammate Lowes wasn’t as lucky, crashing out of sixth position at the first corner. 

Acosta’s unforgiving pace continued until the very end, the championship leader starting the final lap over four seconds ahead of Vietti, whose struggles continued but the Italian managed to hold onto second place at the chequered flag. Arbolino ran out of time to challenge Lopez and the Spaniard kept the final podium position. Ogura and teammate Chantra both got past a fading Gonzalez in the final few laps, the VR46 Master Camp rider setting for seventh place, with Joe Roberts, Salac and wildcard Mattia Pasini completing the top 10 places. Dixon finished in an underwhelming 12th place, behind Sergio Garcia. 

Acosta’s perfect Sunday helps him extend his advantage in the world championship standings to 34 points over Arbolino, with Dixon now a sizeable 65 points behind. 

Results: 

The lightweight class delivered a fantastic appetiser for the enthusiastic crowd in Misano, who got to witness one of the rising stars of Moto3 winning a last lap showdown. David Alonso started the final lap in third and finished it on the top step of the podium, taking his third victory of the season and gaining title aspirations. Jaume Masia converted pole into second place, after leading for much of the proceedings, while Deniz Öncü shared the load at the front, only to get demoted to third in the final showdown. 

Ayumu Sasaki stole the show at the start, taking the lead from Masia into turn one, but the poleman immediately responded at turn four. Diogo Moreira and Alonso were in the mix straight away on the opening lap, picking up front row starter Kaito Toba, who dropped to 5th. Öncü, David Muñoz, Dani Holgado, Joel Kelso and Stefano Nepa were in the early top 10, while Ivan Ortolá dropped to 20th in the first lap shenanigans. 

While Sasaki came under threat from the feisty group behind him, Masia was allowed a one second gap by the end of lap two. It wasn’t until Öncü picked up the chase one lap later that the gap started to every so slightly reduce, only Moreira seemingly able to keep up with the Turk’s pace initially, although Sasaki fronted a big group only half a second behind. With Öncü posting red hot sector times, Masia’s advantage shrunk to a mere tenth of a second by lap seven and the leaders became a trio, with Moreira tagging along. Sasaki was still trying to join back in, bringing Muñoz, Toba, and Alonso with him and the chasers caught up by lap nine, turning it into a seven-man victory battle. Six tenths behind, a quick Collin Veijer led the next group featuring Jose Antonio Rueda, Holgado, and the recovering Ortolá who was up to 13th. 

Although he had close company whose pace he wasn’t really matching, Masia went unchallenged until the halfway point of the race, when Öncü finally found an opportunity at turn 11 and a mistake from Masia also allowed Muñoz and Alonso to get ahead. The poleman quickly fought back and it looked like the quartet would be the main contenders going into the second half of proceedings, distancing Moreira, Toba and Sasaki by half a second. That gap quadrupled over the next few laps and the trio were soon joined by rookies Rueda and Veijer. Meanwhile, Ortolá had joined the top 10 just ahead of Holgado in 11th, the championship leader three seconds off top spot at that stage.

Öncü led the way for a good few laps with Masia breathing down his neck, while Alonso and Muñoz were swapping places regularly. Muñoz had a brief go at Masia at the final corner with six laps remaining but the poleman retaliated the very next lap and bided his time for a decisive move for the lead. Öncü started the final lap still in control of the leading group and the first attack came from Alonso, overtaking Masia for second at turn 10. The Spaniard immediately retaliated and attacked Öncü at turn 14, but Alonso saw a great 2-for-1 deal on offer and snuck past both rivals to claim victory by three hundredths of a second. Masia settled for second and Öncü got stuck in third, while Muñoz couldn’t keep up and let the trio ahead fight it off over the final lap, making do with fourth. The rookies really picked up the pace in second half of the race, Veijer leading the pursuit in the final handful of laps in fifth place, ahead of Toba and Sasaki. Ortolá’s recovery took him all the way into eighth place, while Rueda lost a bit of ground in the last few laps to drop down to ninth. Fenati completed the top ten, ahead of Taiyo Furusato and a fading Moreira, while Holgado slipped out of point scoring positions in the final couple of laps.

Holgado’s disastrous 16th place brings some more spice to the world championship standings, the Spaniard’s lead cut down to only four points over Sasaki, with Masia 12 points behind and Öncü 17 points. Victor Alonso climbs into fifth, 21 points away from Holgado, demoting Ortolá to sixth, with a 29-point deficit. 

Results:

Results:

The premier class put on a sprint masterclass in the colourful backdrop of the Misano circuit and if it wasn’t one of the home favourites delivering it, Jorge Martin’s Ducati was the next best choice, the poleman untouchable from start to finish to take his third sprint win of the season. Marco Bezzecchi tried his best to prevent that but eventually surrendered by over a second at the chequered flag, while Pecco Bagnaia didn’t have a stress-free ride to third but did an excellent job to defend the podium position. 
Martin had made a perfect start off the line, while Bagnaia attacked Bezzecchi at the opening corner and Dani Pedrosa got ahead of Maverick Viñales to claim fourth. Aleix Espargaro was close behind his teammate, with Luca Marini, Marc Marquez, Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder in the early top 10 - the KTM man struggling off the line. 

Speedy Martin stretched over half a second’s advantage over the opening lap and the gap to Bagnaia continued to grow, so Bezzecchi was quite keen to attack his compatriot. However, by the time the Mooney VR46 rider got past Bagnaia on the second lap, Martin was almost a second ahead. Rather than retaliating, Bagnaia seemed to lose ground dropping one second behind his colleague over the next lap, having Pedrosa half a second behind him. Another second and a half behind the A-list wildcard, the Aprilias had to contend with the rapidly recovering Binder, with Marini and the Marquez brothers also getting in the mix. That group segmented somewhat on lap five, with Viñales fending off Binder and Marini, while teammate Espargaro dropped one second back, ahead of the Marquezes, Miguel Oliveira, Johann Zarco and with Fabio Quartararo not too far back but struggling to approach the top 10. 

Back at the front, Martin had close company from Bezzecchi by lap four, the leading duo dropping Bagnaia two seconds back, the bruised world champion not yet under real threat from Pedrosa, keeping the Spaniard eight tenths behind. By the time Binder got in control of the pursuit on lap six, the South African had 1.5 seconds to recover on his occasional teammate. While that gap was slower to close, Pedrosa was catching up with the fading world champion. 

With Martin growing his gap once more to one second with four laps remaining, helped by a mistake at Rio for Bezzecchi, all eyes were on the impending battle for third, where Pedrosa was cautiously approaching Bagnaia, the delay allowing Binder to join the podium party as well. However, the Italian did a beautiful defence job, not allowing the KTMs any gaps although he trio was inseparable on the final lap. Four seconds after Martin claimed a spectacular victory and three after Bezzecchi settled for second, Bagnaia took the chequered flag in the final podium position. Pedrosa held off Binder on the last lap to keep fourth and top KTM, while Viñales took seventh place ahead of Marini.

Espargaro had regrouped in the second half of the race and pushed to rejoin the group ahead but eventually ended in a lonely eighth place. The Marquez brothers swapped some paint for the final point on offer, which went the way of Alex while Marc had to make do with completing the top 10. Quartararo finished 13th, ahead of Zarco and Miller, who benefitted somewhat from post-race penalties for naughty rivals exceeding track limits and failing to comply with long lap penalties.  

Bagnaia’s late defence saved him too much damage in the world championship standings, the Italian still leading the way by a healthy 45 points from Martin, with Bezzecchi also gaining some minor ground to reach a 69-point deficit. 

Results:

There were a couple of clear favourites going into qualifying for the intermediate class, but riders went a bit off script throughout. After leading the final practice session, Celestino Vietti took control early in Q2, while Pedro Acosta was not making waves initially, spending much of the session outside the top 10. However, the championship leader eventually went from 16th to 1st in the blink of an eye with three minutes remaining and Vietti answered with a pole-worthy lap that got cancelled due to yellow flags. The Italian didn’t give up and his final lap allowed him to snatch pole position on home soil by eight hundredths of a second. Acosta’s reply was hindered by some traffic and the Spaniard settled for second, while Manuel Gonzalez impressed with his first front row in the class after having to escape Q1. 

Aron Canet made a late jump into fourth position, two tenths off pole and joined by familiar wildcard Mattia Pasini and Alonso Lopez. The SpeedUp rider was on course to threaten for pole but a mistake and a late crash at turn 10 ended his session a little early and left him sixth on the grid. Joe Roberts opens the third row of the grid ahead of the Marc VDS duo of Sam Lowes and Tony Arbolino – the Italian escaping Q1 and climbing into ninth position.

Filip Salac completed the top 10 and shares fourth row with Somkiat Chantra and Q1 graduate Zonta Van Den Goorbergh, while a subdued Ai Ogura heads fifth row. Jake Dixon joined the action quite late in Q2 and struggled to put together a fast lap, ending the session in a rapid tumble at turn 13, leaving him 14th on the grid, ahead of Q1 leader Bo Bendsneyder. 

The big surprise of Q1 was Fermin Aldeguer, whose final lap mistake cost him a Q2 place for the first time this season, the Spaniard having to start 21st on the grid, ahead of compatriot Sergio Garcia. 

Results:

The battle for pole in the intermediate class offered quite an interesting mix at the front of the grid, although Jaume Masia performed as expected and claimed prime position at the chequered flag, securing his third pole of the season, having led the way for much of practice. Rival Ayumu Sasaki started Q2 with a tumble through the gravel outside turn 13 on his outlap but was able to remount, tape up and rejoin the action. The Japanese rider made quick progress on the timesheets and was back in business in the final few seconds of the session, briefly taking top spot before getting demoted by Masia. Kaito Toba also had his moment in the sun in Q2 and was happy enough to return to the front row in third, two tenths of a second behind the poleman. 

Diogo Moreira gave us another hint of speed as he put his name at the top of the pile early on, holding on until the late rush of red sectors before settling for the second row, ahead of Deniz Öncü and David Alonso. David Muñoz had a particularly eventful afternoon, the Spaniard launched off his machine early in Q1 but some quick patch-up work from his team allowed him to steal the final ticket to Q2, where he climbed as high as seventh place. Compatriot Dani Holgado had a much easier time in Q1, leading the escape by four tenths of a second and joining Muñoz and Stefano Nepa on the third row. 

Collin Veijer completed the top 10, half a second off pole and in the company of Q1 graduate Joel Kelso and fellow rookie Jose Antonio Rueda, while Ivan Ortolá kept a low profile down in 13th position, ahead of Taiyo Furusato and Ryusei Yamanaka. Tatsuki Suzuki, Riccardo Rossi and Romano Fenati make up sixth row, while Matteo Bertelle was best of the rest in Q1 and was denied progression at the very last moment by three hundredths of a second.

Results:

The fight for pole at Misano had a lengthy list of contenders going into the 15-minute showdown but Jorge Martin made his intentions clear after taking control of the timing screens early in Q2. The Spaniard’s timid advantage early on soon turned into an outrageous new all-time lap record, Martin securing his first pole position of the season. The bandaged brigade had some trouble keeping within the white lines early on, but both Marco Bezzecchi and Pecco Bagnaia pushed themselves to climb onto the front row of the grid, Bezzecchi reducing Martin’s advantage to (a still sizeable) four tenths of a second, with Bagnaia only three hundredths of a second behind his compatriot. 

After impressing on Friday, Maverick Viñales made a slower start on Saturday, but his final flying lap promoted him to the front of the second row, half a second off pole. Dani Pedrosa continued to be quite the wildcard, the Spaniard steadily climbing the timesheets until settling into fifth. Aleix Espargaro looked to be in a bit of trouble after his crash on Friday, but the Spaniard dug deep and escaped Q1 to close the second row of the grid. 

Brad Binder had to settle for second best KTM in seventh place, sharing third row with Luca Marini and Marc Marquez, while Q1 leader Miguel Oliveira completed the top 10. The RNF teammates sandwiched Alex Marquez onto the fourth row, with Raul Fernandez almost a second behind the unreal pole time.

The most disappointed man in Q1 would’ve been Fabio Quartararo, who missed out on Q2 by three hundredths of a second and will line up 13th on the grid, ahead of wildcards Michele Pirro and Stefan Bradl. Johann Zarco, Augusto Fernandez and Jack Miller share an unlikely sixth row, while Pol Espargaro be starting from the back of the grid following two tumbles in Q1. 

Results: 

The premier class enjoyed their final practice session under a spotless sky and only Jorge Martin eventually denied Misano master Michele Pirro from topping FP2. Martin held a small margin initially but then extended this to over three tenths of a second on his final flying lap. Pirro settled for second ahead of compatriot Luca Marini, whose session was split by a tumble at turn six. Pecco Bagnaia kept close in fourth, with Maverick Viñales breaking up the Ducati brigade in the top five. 

Alex Marquez added another Ducati in sixth, while showing off a beautiful tribute livery, closely followed by Brad Binder and Marc Marquez. Teammates Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez completed the top 10 covered by half a second. Fabio Di Giannantonio started the session with a crash but ended it 11th, ahead of Fabio Quartararo, Jack Miller and Dani Pedrosa.

After an eventful Friday, Aleix Espargaro took it easy on Saturday morning, down in 18th position, right behind new record holder Marco Bezzechi and ahead of Johann Zarco, although the trio was only seven tenths slower than the leader. 

Results: