MOTOGP: san Marino
Factory Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso storms to his third victory of the season at Misano
It was a good day for ItalIan fans at MIsano with two ducatis starting at the front of the grid on sunday. Jorge lorenzo was in pole position, followed by Jack Miller on the satellite ducati in second, Maverick Viñales of Movistar yamaha in third, andrea dovizioso in fourth, and repsol Honda rider and championship leader, Marc Marquez, completing the top five. as the lights went out, lorenzo took a lightning lead and was right at the front of the pack. Behind him was his team-mate, andrea dovizioso, and Marc Marquez. as the race progressed, dovi looked set on chasing lorenzo down and, taking that lead from the spaniard on lap six, the Italian muscled his way through to the top, relegating lorenzo to second place. the fight for the top spot continued to heat up as Marquez and lorenzo tried chasing dovi down. However, just a few laps later the two spaniards engaged in a duel of their own, both exchanging places right till the end.
the duel between lorenzo and Marquez was also interesting as it gave dovi a chance to slip away and build a nice time gap and that is exactly what the Italian did. dovi found his rhythm and rode exceptionally well right till the chequered flag to claim his third victory of the season. dovi’s performance also enabled him to earn some valuable points in the championship standing, thereby allowing him to inch closer to Marquez. dovi is still trailing Marquez by 67 points and, with just six rounds to go, it would surely take a lot of race wins if dovi wants to win the championship this year. However, Marquez’s form looks pretty good right now and Marquez’s technique and race sensibilities have matured through the years. It looks likely that he will continue to maintain his form as much as he can. as for dovi, his gP18 has proved that it has the pace and ability to not only win races but win them by a good margin. therefore, it will be interesting to see how these two top riders fare in the last six rounds of the season.
Meanwhile, the duel between Marquez and lorenzo continued until the penultimate lap. the two spaniards locked horns throughout the race but, unfortunately, lorenzo’s race was interrupted by a low-side on the penultimate lap which gave Marquez the opening he was looking for. the Honda rider wasted no time in chasing the chequered flag and eventually finishing the race on the podium in second place. lorenzo’s unfortunate crash also allowed lCr Honda’s Cal Crutchlow to move up a place and finish in third place. this was the first podium for the British rider since his win in argentina.
the drama behind the top three riders was also exciting as suzuki Ecstar rider alex rins was engaged in a duel with Maverick Viñales. the suzuki rider was able to defend his position well and ended up finishing fourth with Viñales taking fifth. repsol Honda’s second rider and MotogP veteran, dani Pedrosa, finished a second behind Viñales, competing the top six.
local hero and one of the greatest MotogP racers ever, Valentino rossi, rode his yamaha yZf-M1 home to a sad seventh place after a bad start. rossi was also caught up behind Pedrosa for much of the race. despite disappointing Misano results, rossi is still third in the championship, just three points behind dovizioso at 151. with six rounds to go, it will be interesting to see if the Movistar yamaha rider is able to climb up the order or remain in third place.
Moto2
the Moto2 race was even more exciting as there was a lot of action, quite a few crashes, and a black flag. the race started in the most unusual way possible with francesco Bagnaia of sky racing team Vr46 and Marcel schrotter of dynavolt Intact gP coming into contact from the lights till C1; however, Bagnaia was able to break free and wrest the lead from schrotter. from here onwards Bagnaia was untouchable, for he had exceptional pace which he maintained till the chequered flag, claiming a muchdeserved victory. Bagnaia was able to cross the line three seconds before Miguel oliveira of red Bull KtM ajo.
the rest of the race was also pretty exciting as riders like Mattia Pasini of Italtrans fought with Miguel oliveira in the opening stages of the race and then the Portuguese rider had to face some competition from schrotter. In the end, oliveira finished second, schrotter third, and Pasini fourth.
the most dramatic moment of the race occurred when romano fenati of Marinelli snipers team was black-flagged for irresponsible riding.
Moto3
the racing action in Moto3 was as close as it could get because a lot changed on the penultimate lap of the race. the race started with Jorge Martin in the lead, followed by his arch-rival, Marco Bezzecchi of redox PruestelgP, fabio di giannantonio of del Conca gresini, lorenzo dalla Porta of leopard racing, and gabriel rodrigo of rBa BoE skull rider in the mix. these top riders kept exchanging places throughout the race. the action really heated up towards the end of the race when the top five riders were within a second of one another. In the closing stages of the race, lorenzo dalla Porta and Jorge Martin were fighting for the number one spot and it was dalla Porta who managed to take the fight down to the wire. the two riders were side by side just before the finishline when Martin wheeled just before it while his teammate, fabio di giannantonio, tried to pass him.
In the end, the picture-perfect finish by the three riders revealed that it was dalla Porta who had won the race with Martin in second and giannantonio in third. gabriel rodrigo also finished less than a second behind dalla Porta. Unfortunately, championship leader Marco Bezzecchi crashed out on the last lap. this saw him lose the championship lead to Martin, who is now eight points ahead of the Italian.