Article photo: MotoGP/Dorna Sports TV
Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix had a familiar looking front row to it, with Jorge Lorenzo starting from Pole Position for the third year running at Misano. It was about time too, with Jorge severely lacking confidence in the last 5 races, and underperforming in comparison to his teammate. Joining him on the front row was the man himself, Valentino Rossi, the home crowds favourite, and basically the only man they’ve come to see. Man on fire and 2017 Factory Yamaha signing, Suzuki’s Maverick Vinales completed the front row.
Two things were clear, Lorenzo was trying to escape very early, and Rossi was doing his upmost not to let him go. But Jorge never got close to gapping the Italian, and on the second lap Rossi pulled off a move which was unexpected considering how far back it came from, with Lorenzo having to sit the bike up to avoid the two crashing. More on that further down the article.
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Just when we thought it might be game over for the Doctor’s opponents, one man stood apart from the pack. Double 250cc World Champion and the man who’s in his 11th season with Repsol Honda, Dani Pedrosa was on a big charge in 4th. Constantly lapping quicker than anyone else, Dani sooner dispensed with Marquez, then Lorenzo, and it really didn’t take long for him to catch Valentino. With 7 laps left the little Spaniard dived under Rossi at turn 4 with a near identical move to that of Rossi’s on Lorenzo. The 9 times World Champion’s usual tactic of fighting back straight away to keep the fight alive couldn’t be fulfilled on Sunday. He even said himself in the post race interviews ‘I couldn’t keep up with Dani, no way, he was too fast.’
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Dani took his first win of the year after having a horrible season so far, the worst results of his career since his first season in 125cc, way back in 2001. For me it was one of the most deserving victories of 2016, not just because of how hard he’s had it this year, but because his performance was sublime and he was so clearly, visually quicker than anyone else. Lorenzo also praised Dani’s win, and was gracious in defeat, admitting in parc ferme that Pedrosa and Rossi were just faster on the day. However, it only took one question from a journalist in the official press conference to squeeze out the true opinions from Jorge and Valentino regarding the tough overtake at the start.
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You can find the discussion between Vale and Jorge video on the official MotoGP Twitter account (@motogp ) or their Facebook page. So without ‘commentating’ on the whole thing, I will say that both riders raise great points. I completely agree with Jorge in regards to when he says Valentino didn’t need to make such a move there, and that Rossi was that much faster already he could have executed the move when he got closer to Lorenzo. The pass would have been cleaner, and with less risk. It’s just puzzling for viewers as he only mentioned it because the overtake was brought up by a journo, and if it angered him that much perhaps he’d of said it regardless in a post race interview. Valentino makes a very clear point in stating that himself and Marquez ‘pass ten times like this in Silverstone, so what you say is not true…not too aggressive’ this is exactly right, given the extremely hard fought battle with Marc in Britain. On top of this, Pedrosa’s hard move on Rossi later in the race, was, as I wrote earlier, almost identical to the Rossi move on Lorenzo, and Valentino had no complaints on this move at all. 
Pedrosa’s win in Misano means for the first time in Grand Prix history, the Premier class has had 8 different winners in succession. And there’s still no win for Andrea Dovizioso for example, who has shown great form this year, and not won a single race, so it could be 9 successive different winners yet! The next port of call for the MotoGP paddock is Aragon in Spain, in just under a fortnights time.
Bradley Smith’s replacement, the impressive Alex Lowes didn’t manage to finish on Sunday, after crashing at turn 1, but gets a third outing at the next round in Spain. Andrea Iannone didn’t race on Sunday due to his vertebrae injury sustained in practice, it’s unknown if he’ll be ready for Aragon.
Race Results:
1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 43m 43.524s
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 43m 46.361s
3. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 43m 47.883s
4. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 43m 53.093s
5. Maverick Viñales ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 43m 58.991s
6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 44m 3.200s
7. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 44m 6.460s
8. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 44m 9.226s
9. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 44m 10.679s
10. Alvaro Bautista ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 44m 17.492s
11. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 44m 22.730s
12. Stefan Bradl GER Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 44m 23.491s
13. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 44m 26.521s
14. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 44m 32.974s
15. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 44m 38.403s
16. Yonny Hernandez COL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 44m 48.596s
17. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V)* 5 laps
Aleix Espargaro ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) DNF
Javier Fores ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) DNF
Alex Lowes GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) DNF
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