Three crashes, Rossi deep in the field or a great battle for the win! That was the San Marino Grand Prix

The fourteenth round of the MotoGP royal category brought another dramatic and attractive spectacle, especially in the last laps of the race. Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo battled it out for the win, with an unexpected result from Enea Bastianini.

25,000 spectators were admitted to the stands for the San Marino Grand Prix of the Moto GP Royal Cubature. And they had a lot to watch!

Both Ducati riders literally flew out of their starting slots. Bagnaia held on to his first place, Jack Miller, despite pressure from Quartara, to second. The third-placed rider had put on two different tyre compounds for this race – a soft specification at the front and a medium specification at the back, marked in white.

The French rider was the only one of the top of the field to choose the medium for the rear.

Johann Zarco made a very poor start, dropping from fifth place to number 13. Valentino Rossi did not have a very promising start to the race either, as he found himself at the very tail of the field when all the lights went out.

Already on the third lap we witnessed the first crash. Braking on the banking – that’s always a big scare for Moto GP riders, kor at the San Marino circuit. As a result, Jorge Martin crashed in turn 4.

Gradually, Bagnaia on the Ducati was building a bigger and bigger lead, while Bastianini was running through the order like a knife through butter.

Lap eight saw the first penalty. Zarco received a long lap penalty for shortening the track at Turn 1. Two laps later, Luca Marini received the same penalty for the same offence.

Bagnaia, Miller, Quartararo, Bastianini, Marc Márquez – that was the order after the tenth round of the San Marino Grand Prix.

On lap 12, Jorge Martin, who also received a long lap, decided to end his misery. His performance on the Misano track therefore ended prematurely. But he was not the only one.

Traditionally, turn 4 is the one where, unlike other corners, he often crashes. This fact was confirmed on lap 15 by Tech 3 KTM rider Iker Lecuona. The third retirement was Alex Rins, who also failed to control his bike. But he managed to walk away on his own.

Meanwhile, second-placed Miller was overtaken by Quartararo. A few laps later, the Australian rider had to face enormous pressure from Bastianini, who even broke the previous course record (1:32.215).

Thanks to his incredible speed, he was able to catch his pursuers, namely Miller, Márquez and Joan Miró, and within a few laps he had built up a lead of five seconds!

With three laps to go in the race, it was going to be a dramatic battle for the win. Quartararo almost caught the race leader. But Bagnaia and his Ducati have an incredible top speed and he was able to pass his rival on the straights.

It was a close finish, but the former was able to withstand the pressure and win for the second time in a row! The current championship leader, Quartararo, finished second. Both riders were joined on the podium by Bastianini, who had a fantastic result!

Miller lost further positions at the end, and was eventually overtaken by Márquez and Mir. However, the Suzuki Ecstar rider was penalised by losing one position at the end of the race. The reason was that he exceeded the track limits.

“It was really hard today, especially to close the gap to the podium. I knew about our great potential today, but it was still impossible to attack the two at the front, but I’m happy for the podium,” Bastianini assessed his performance after the race.

“It was difficult (the battle for first place – ed.), Bagnaia defended well. I only had a few moments when I was really close and it was extremely difficult to attack him. At the beginning I faced several attacks, I had to defend my position and I lost a lot of time.

I was going to the limit and I really don’t understand how he (Bagnaia – ed.) was passing, especially in sector number 3 where Pecco was incredibly fast,” said Quartararo in the post-race interview.

Of course, race winner Francesco Pecco Bagnaia also gave his comments after the race.

“I knew at the start that the soft rear was going to be a problem and towards the end I also had a problem with the soft tyre at the back. That’s why I drove very fast at the beginning to build up as much of a lead as possible. I knew that Fabio would have the advantage in the last laps on the medium compound.

Luckily we had a good pace and I tried to push as hard as I could. I’m very happy that we were able to win for the second time in a row.”

The final standings of the San Marino Grand Prix are as follows:

1. Bagnaia, 2. Quartararo, 3. Bastianini, 4. Marc Márquez, 5. Miller, 6. Mir, 7. Pol Espargaro, 8. Aleix Espargaro, 9. Binder, 10. Nakagami, 11. Pirro, 12. Zarco, 13. Viñales, 14. Bradl, 15. Alex Márquez, 16. Petrucci, 17. Rossi, 18. Morbidelli, 19. Marini, 20. Oliveira and Andrea Dovizioso rounds out the standings.

Martin, Rins and Lecuona did not finish the race early.

Source: Moto GP Live