Marquez Masters Misano, Rossi Extends Championship Lead

Sep 13, 2015
5 min read

Marc Marquez won an incredible San Marino Grand Prix affected by changeable conditions, whilst Valentino Rossi extended his lead in title race.

Not a cloud in the sky could be seen floating above the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on Friday and Saturday, nor were we expecting any for Sunday. But, like MotoGP, the weather can never be truly predicted and gloomy clouds formed as lights out drew near.

A few spots fell whilst the grid assembled, but the heat already soaked into the track meant that those water droplets were dissipating as soon as they touched the ground. This caused a real headache for the riders and mechanics, as the choice of front tyre became less clear. Initially Bridgestone were predicting most to run with the hard front for its better braking stability and durability, but the cooling track temperatures made the medium tyre a more viable option. Of the front row it was Marc Marquez who opted for the slightly softer front slick, whilst both Yamahas went with the hard.

Jorge Lorenzo got the hole-shot from pole and led into turn one. Ordinarily, this would be a disaster for Marquez and Rossi but for the worsening conditions. The Honda was able to stick with Lorenzo, and it wasn't long before Rossi was onto the tail of the pair.

Lap six saw the rain come down heavier and the fight for the lead went to the pits on the following tour. It was a disaster stop for Rossi, Michele Pirro's lapped GP15 exiting directly in front of him. Marquez and Lorenzo were side-by-side as they let go of the limiter, the Honda edging ahead. As the riders struggled for tyre temperature, the lead between Lorenzo and 3rd placed Rossi opened up to over four seconds. Worse for the Italian was that his team-mate had just retaken the lead from Marquez after the Spaniard ran too hot into turn eight.

But once the grip came, and with it the confidence to push, Rossi started demolishing the advantage the two in front had over him. With sixteen laps still to run Rossi was just 0.4 behind Marquez and the trio were bunched up once again. Soon after however, the rain stopped and the track began drying out. Marc was wise to this and decided to drop behind Rossi, the Spaniard not willing to make the first move and scupper his chances of the win. On the seventeenth lap, Rossi overtook Lorenzo around the outside of turn two and put the hammer down.

Rossi pushed for a gap as so he could emerge from the pits with his lead over Jorge still intact. Lorenzo kept his poker face and continued to follow his team-mate around the track whilst the rest of the field began boxing for their dry bikes. But in keeping his resolve, had Lorenzo actually fallen into Rossi's trap?

Marquez pitted with ten laps to go having fallen off the back of the M1s. A lap previous Loris Baz did the same and he was nearly ten seconds quicker than the leaders as a result. The Yamaha duo continued for three more laps whilst Marquez took a sledgehammer to their gap. Lorenzo had gambled for as long as he dared and ditched his wet-shod bike with eight laps to go. The win had slipped from his grasp, as had the podium. Had Valentino deliberately compromised his own race as to force Lorenzo to do the same, thinking he was keeping the Italian in his sights instead of handing positions away? After all, Rossi only needs to finish ahead of Lorenzo to keep his lead in the Championship, and the more places you lose the less points you get.

Whatever Rossi's plan - or possibly just misjudgement – what happened as the Italian changed bikes may just have won him his tenth title.

Lorenzo crashed at turn fifteen, the rear coming around on him under braking. He was taken to the medical centre for checks on his right hand, and preliminary checks suggest he escaped injury. It wasn't his body that took the biggest knock in that accident, however.

Rossi crossed the line 5th, the first time this season he's finished off of the podium, but extends his lead to 23 points. With five rounds to go Rossi has given himself a crucial buffer that did not appear likely coming into the race.

Marquez was left with a comfortable six-second lead to cruise to his first premier class win at Misano and close the gap to the leaders to 62 points. It's a long shot, but the Spaniard could find himself in the hunt come Valencia – as was proved today, you just never know what's going to happen.

With the grid all out of sorts as the stops were made, a certain Bradley Smith found himself in a career best 2nd position having gambled massively on sticking with the slick tyres on a wet track in the opening half of the race. The Tech 3 rider kept it clean to convert that punt to a podium. He was joined by his compatriot Scott Redding, also taking his career best finish in the premier class. The Marc VDS rider was probably the most stunned man on the rostrum after he'd crashed at turn four on the sixth lap. Finding himself with nothing to lose down in 20th as the track began to dry, Redding made the switch and was 4th with four to go. A move on Loris Baz at turn two bagged the Briton his first MotoGP podium and the first double British podium since the 500cc Venezuelan GP of 1979.

Baz, though unlucky to miss out on a podium in his rookie season, can be more than happy with a brilliant 4th on the Forward Yamaha. With San Marino possibly being the team's last event this year, this result could not be more timely and will hopefully see some sponsors step up.

Danilo Petrucci asserted himself as a rain specialist at Silverstone, and took to these conditions today kindly on the Pramac Ducati in 6th. The Factory Bologna bikes of Iannone and Dovizoso were 7th and 8th respectively, whilst Dani Pedrosa and Aleix Espargaro completed the top ten.

Michele Pirro's sensational qualifying position went to waste when an electrical glitch forced him off the grid at the start. He started the race on his wet bike, but it was too dry at the point and he was forced back into the pits where he threw in the towel. He was joined on the sidelines by Pol Espargaro, Yonny Hernandez and Alex De Angelis. The Ioda rider was taken out when the Colombian lost the front of his GP14.2 at turn six and slid into the San Marino rider.

2015 San Marino Grand Prix Result:

1st Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

2nd Bradley Smith, Monster Yamaha Tech 3

3rd Scott Redding, EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda

4th Loris Baz, Forward Racing Yamaha

5th Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

6th Danilo Petrucci, Octo Pramac Racing Ducati

7th Andrea Iannone, Ducati Team

8th Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team

9th Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team

10th Aleix Espargaro, Team Suzuki Ecstar

11th Cal Crutchlow, LCR Honda