Vinales claims maiden win of season as Bagnaia crashes
MISANO: Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales claimed his first win of the season in the Emilia Romagna MotoGP at Misano World Circuit yesterday, after race leader Francesco Bagnaia of Pramac Racing crashed with seven laps remaining.
Pole-sitter Vinales got off to a slow start but finished strongly to clock a time of 41 minutes, 55.846 seconds and beat fellow Spaniard Joan Mir of Suzuki by 2.425 seconds.
Vinales struggled from pole position in the first Misano race last week owing to an incorrect tyre choice, but a change in approach to set-up meant he was much stronger from the off yesterday.
KTM rider Pol Espargaro was moved up to third to make it an all-Spanish podium when Petronas Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo was handed a three-second penalty for exceeding track limits.
Bagnaia was denied the chance to start at the head of the grid despite setting a record lap on Saturday as he exceeded track limits and the Italian hit the tarmac on lap 20 after losing control of his bike at turn six.
Seven-time champion Valentino Rossi, who was chasing his 200th podium finish, crashed at turn four on the second lap in tricky conditions following earlier rain.
Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso finished eighth to cling on to the world championship lead with 84 points, a point ahead of Quartararo and Vinales.
San Marino winner Franco Morbidelli recovered from early contact after Aleix Espargaro crashed into him to finish ninth, with Danilo Petrucci (Ducati), Avintia’s Johann Zarco, Alex Rins (Suzuki) and Aprilia’s Bradley Smith claiming the final points.
The first seven rounds of the season have produced six different winners, with Quartararo taking the opening two races in Jerez, Spain.