MotoGP in Misano

08.09.2024

Sprint

Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team finished second in today’s sprint race at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ – the thirteenth of the season. Enea Bastianini crossed the finish line in fourth place after battling for third in the closing stages of the encounter. After taking pole position and setting the new outright lap record for the Misano track in 1:30.304secs during Q2, Bagnaia did not manage to keep the lead at the start, but still managed to stay within reach of Martín’s lead. In the final laps, Bagnaia could not keep his opponent’s pace due to a drop of grip at the front-end as he lost ground but still defended second place well up to the chequered flag. Bastianini had an excellent start from the third row of the grid as he entered turn one in fifth place. After struggling to overtake Binder in the early laps, with clear track ahead Enea managed to make the most of his strong race pace as – lap after lap – he bridged the gap with the frontrunners. On the final lap, the rider #23 tried an overtaking manoeuvre on Morbidelli at turn eight but ran wide, losing the chance for a podium finish. The 27-lap, Sunday race for the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix will get underway tomorrow at 14:00 local time. Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd “I tried to stay in the battle for the win but already from lap four I started struggling with a lack of grip at the front-end, and towards the end it got worse. I almost tucked the front at turn 13 and at Misano 1 and front then on I focused on bringing the bike home, especially in light of the margin I had on Franco (Morbidelli). It’s a pity, because this situation was created at the very beginning as I couldn’t get the best start. We still did our best and after Aragón, it was important to do a good race. We lost three points, but the most important race is tomorrow.” Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 4th “The race went quite well, but unfortunately qualifying not as much as I wasn’t fully comfortable with the front end, and I struggled a bit especially with the second tyre. I was very competitive in the final laps of the race, and I managed to close the gap on the leading group, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to study and plan the move on Franco (Morbidelli) and therefore I couldn’t find his weak points. I tried anyway at the ‘Quercia’ corner but went wide. Hopefully things will be better tomorrow.”

Race

The Ducati Lenovo Team has completed the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix in a positive way at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ , with Francesco Bagnaia second at the chequered flag and his teammate Enea Bastianini third, in what was a 27-lap race full of surprises and turn of events. Bagnaia had a good start from pole position as he stayed on top of proceedings entering turn one. The reining world champion managed well the small margin on Martín and decided to stay out of track with twenty laps to go despite a sudden but short downpour. With mixed conditions, Bagnaia was overtaken by Marc Márquez but managed to stay on the rival’s tail in the central part of the encounter. During the final laps, Pecco gradually lost ground from the lead, but still secured a very important second place for the title race. Bastianini did a good job on the opening lap as he moved up two positions and was already running fourth during lap three. With the arrival of the rain, Bastianini made the most of the opportunity to narrow the gap down to the frontrunners before riding a lonely third with a 1.4secs gap to his teammate. In the latter stages of the encounter, the Ducati rider #23 struggled with a lack of grip that prevented him from keeping the strong pace, with the Rimini-born rider successfully defending his third position up to the chequered flag. With the thirteenth Grand Prix of the season drawing to a close, Bagnaia is still second in the championship standings albeit now with a much-reduced, 7-point gap from Martín. Enea Bastianini sits fourth, 62 points in arrears. Ducati holds a solid lead in the manufacturers’ standings (463), with the Ducati Lenovo Team still atop the team standings (555 points). The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ in a fortnight’s time for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd “In hindsight, a second place under these conditions was the best result we could have aimed at. Once the rain started falling, I saw Franco (Morbidelli) crashing out and I chose to ride in a bit of a safer way, while Marc (Márquez) ended up being the stronger and braver of us all. I did all I could to stay with him and had a shot at the lead on a couple of occasions at the ‘Curvone’ corner, but I was never incisive enough to make it happen. In the final laps, I saw that Enea’s gap went up to more than three seconds and in that moment, I lost some of the concentration, also due to the fact that my fitness condition wasn’t ideal. We did our best, unlike yesterday, so I’m happy. Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 3rd “It was quite a strange and unexpected type of race to some degree, but still a fun one. I wasn’t fully confident at the start of the race as I had some stomach issue in the morning, but I made sure it didn’t affect me mentally. Once the rain came and saw Franco’s crash, I thought about pushing without overdoing. The temptation of getting back to the pits for the bike swap was there, but luckily enough I chose to stay out on track. Towards the end, with the soft rear-tyre, I felt the drop of grip, but I’m still happy that I was able to finish on the podium in front of my home crowd and I’d like to thank the team and the fans for all the support they gave me.”

Race results

Pos.	Nr.	Driver	Team	Bike	Time
1	93	M. Marquez			41:52.083
2	1	F. Bagnaia			+3.102
3	23	E. Bastianini			+5.428
4	33	B. Binder			+14.185
5	72	M. Bezzecchi			+16.725
6	73	A. Marquez			+17.582
7	20	F. Quartararo			+17.642
8	43	J. Miller			+19.327
9	49	F. Di Giannantonio			+27.946
10	44	P. Espargaro			+38.781
11	88	M. Oliveira			+46.386
12	5	J. Zarco			+62.637
13	30	T. Nakagami			+70.717
14	6	S. Bradl	HRC Test Team		+77.547
15	89	J. Martin			+0.000
16	12	M. Viñales			+0.000
17	31	P. Acosta			+0.000
18	25	R. Fernandez			+0.000
19	42	A. Rins			+0.000
DNF	41	A. Espargaro
DNF	37	A. Fernandez
DNF	21	F. Morbidelli

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