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MotoGP Misano 2023 race: A three-way battle for the lead
Jorge Martin had a brilliant start and led comfortably into the first corner, leaving the riders behind him for second. Bagnaia dropped temporarily to fourth, as Dani Pedrosa came steaming into the first corner, but it was too fast and he nearly crashed. Bagnaia made a brave move around the outside of the second corner and passed Marco Bezzecchi to climb to second.
The leading trio was very close for the opening few laps and Bagnaia even threatened to make a move for first place. They were later joined by Brad Binder, whose good opening lap saw him gain three positions, up to fourth. The first change came on lap five, when the Mooney VR46 rider overtook his compatriot. He overshot the next corner though and dropped back again.
The next change came after a crash, as Binder fell from his bike. He rejoined the race, but a long way down the order. Just a lap later, the other factory KTM rider also crashed, as Jack Miller tangled with Michele Pirro, the Ducati wildcard rider. Joan Mir was another retirement and, later in the race, Pol Espargaro joined the list.
Despite Bagnaia and Bezzecchi riding with injuries, they were both able to keep up with Martin until the halfway point of the race. After that, the Pramac Ducati rider pulled away and quickly opened his lead to more than a second. Bagnaia, who raced in a special yellow livery, was struggling and he was soon overtaken for second position.
The attention then turned to the battle for the podium, with Bagnaia focusing on Pedrosa, who had a quiet race up to that point. The World Champion was under serious pressure in the final few laps, but he held on.
MotoGP Misano 2023 race: Results
Jorge Martin completed a perfect weekend, with pole position and victory on both the Sprint and the Grand Prix. This is his third Grand Prix victory, in his young MotoGP career. Marco Bezzecchi was grew up just a few minutes from the circuit and second place was a good result for the Italian, who had plenty of pain in his left hand.
Just a week after we feared for a serious injury for Francesco Bagnaia, whose legs were ran over by Brad Binder’s KTM on the opening lap of the last race, he stepped on the podium for a hard-fought podium finish. The gap in the championship is reduced to 36 points, but the weekend can only be deemed a success for the Italian.
Nothing more to give! 👊
7 days after his #CatalanGP crash, @PeccoBagnaia has finished third in the #TissotSprint, third in the race and got the fastest lap in the process 👏#SanMarinoGP 🇸🇲 pic.twitter.com/xrZYfp1oRm
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 10, 2023
Dani Pedrosa claimed a fantastic result in fourth, one that was very much unexpected. With Maverick Vinales in fifth, we got the same top five as in yesterday’s Sprint. Miguel Oliveira was sixth and claimed a good result for RNF Aprilia, in front of Marc Marquez, who impressed and claimed by far his best Grand Prix result of the season.
Another rider who impressed with his performance over the whole weekend was Raul Fernandez, as he finished eighth. Luca Marini battled against Marquez for seventh, but he nearly crashed and dropped to ninth, while the top ten was completed by Johann Zarco. Alex Marquez and Aleix Espargaro both had a very tricky weekend and the final result reflects upon that.
Fabio Quartararo was thirteenth, as Yamaha keeps struggling more and more. Despite his crash early in the race, Brad Binder came back to score a couple of points by finishing fourteenth, ahead of Franco Morbidelli.
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