“I just followed the locals.”
Welcome back to yet another DRR, as MotoGP headed back to Italy and the first of two Grand Prix back-to-back at Misano, the first of which was named the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Motorcycle Grand Prix… Or Dave, to its friends.
Because MotoGP can’t go more than a week without mayhem, we got mental rain, a flag-to-flag race that wasn’t, and yet another twist in the title race. But first, Marc Marquez waits for a bus in London…
Mildly Moist
Have you ever played the Tekken games? Because MotoGP’s Championship is essentially the three main owners of the Devil Bozo gene at the front of the field, and Misano was another $70 game to shove in your PS5.
It all started on Saturday. Fresh off his Aragon dominance, Marc Marquez had another OTT qualifying crash in Q2 and had to start ninth, turning his bike too aggressively at the penultimate corner and tucking the front of his Duke. Francesco Bagnaia breaks the lap record and scores just his second pole position of 2024.
But in the race, Jorge Martin nails his start from P4, beats Bagnaia to Turn 1, and then wins the Sprint comfortably with Bagnaia unable to stay with Martin with his front tyre overheating. Martin beat a front row that had VR46 Academy experience and back-of-the-hand knowledge of Misano (Bagnaia, Morbidelli, Bezzecchi) and took his 5th Sprint win of the year. Championship lead up to 26, an entire GP in hand again, and Bagnaia was barely able to hide his frustration at losing out at a race he was a massive favourite to win.
Sunday’s GP was a different story. On and off sprinklings of rain on the track had riders unsure whether it would be a wet/dry tyre start. The riders took the sighting laps on wets but changed to dry tyres on the grid. As the Warm-Up Lap started, the race was declared wet, which meant for the first time since Motegi last year, we got a flag-to-flag race, with wet bike switches allowed, and the tyre pressure management rule scrapped.
Bagnaia took the holeshot this time, with Jorge Martin going ahead of Morbidelli to take second. It looked like it was going to be another Bagnaia/Martin stalemate at the front, but the rain got a little heavier. Bagnaia being the first through as the “guinea pig” bunches the field together, and Jorge Martin blinks and goes in for a bike change. It just wasn’t wet enough for a wet bike to work.
The rain never got heavier. Martin’s just made a catastrophic error. He changes bike to a dry bike a handful of laps later, along with some of the other backmarkers who took the bait. Martin ends up a lap down and barely holding Maverick Vinales off for 15th place. Just like that, Bagnaia’s Aragon mistake is completely wiped out.
Meanwhile, Misano is now a race of slippery conditions, and with it, sixth-placed Marc Marquez gambles and pushes up. We didn’t see it on camera in real-time, but Marc overtook FIVE riders in a single lap to take the lead, including passing Bagnaia at the final corner. It was stunning bravery and risk but he made it work. And once Marc got to the front, there was no stopping him. I suspect Bagnaia with about five laps left decided to make a business decision and take the 19-point swing presented to him, but Marquez was once again, unstoppable at the front.
An overall weird weekend for this Championship’s three biggest protagonists. For Pecco Bagnaia, more points left on the table, but a big win due to another unforced error from his main rival. In hindsight, it wasn’t a particularly stupid mistake from Martin. The rain and the track were right on the knife edge between wet and dry, and in MotoGP – Being on the wrong side of that gamble has horrendous consequences, whether it be via crashing or being on the wrong bike. In this case, it cost Martin 19 points, with his Championship lead reduced to just seven.
And just like that, Marc Marquez is only 53 points behind. It’s still going to be a mountain to climb for Marc to get back into title contention, but the fact this gap was back at 80 a fortnight ago says to me that the Top 2 are bringing him into play via their mistakes. The GP24 is still massively on top as a bike, and the rain was the big reason that Marquez was competitive, but you can only beat what’s out in front of you.
1,044-day wait, and then Marquez wins two GPs in a week. The Ultimate in London buses. And Marc’s secret?
“I just followed the local guys, they know more than me!”
Genius.
The Lightning Round
Horrible news to report thanks to my man RJ O’Connell and Simon Patterson of The Race, that Ryota Haga, son of Superbike legend Noriyuki Haga, has tragically died this afternoon during the All-Japan Road Racing Championship. Deep condolences to Nori and the family.
It’s also rock bottom at Honda. After 29 years as partners, Repsol will officially be breaking away from Honda at year’s end. And it’s saddening that their leaving statement was barely a paragraph long. This isn’t just another title sponsor, this is a massive part of the identity and history of HRC as a corporation saying: “This isn’t worth it anymore.” Honda will likely end up sponsoring themselves going forward, and Repsol will likely stick around as a sustainable fuels partner with the sport switching to them 100% in 2027. Honda will keep at it, and I know how hard they’re trying to bridge the gap, but they’re, as Johann Zarco said this weekend; “Out of the game”.
Miguel Oliveira is now confirmed at Pramac Yamaha for 2025, and it’s almost certain that Jack Miller will take the other seat alongside him. Still a big believer in Miggy and it’s a great low-pressure gig to help develop Yamaha for the future.
Moto2 is also getting interesting, with a lot of little stories here. Sergio Garcia riding through the pain of a Friday crash to finish 12th from 24th on the grid, while Ai Ogura wins from the front putting the Japanese rider in control of the Championship, and now everyone not on an MT-Helmets bike is at least 42 points back. So much for my post, last week talking about how close it all was. Some bonus notes:
Firstly, maybe we don’t need to zoom in on a crying, in pain Sergio Garcia for the best part of half a minute in the immediate aftermath of a race. It’s genuinely unsettling.
Bo Bendsneyder has been sacked from Precianos Racing Team with immediate effect. According to the man himself, Ziggo Sport, and some of my own sources, there was an internal vote to keep him in the team, but their new owner wanted Daniel Munoz instead. Bo didn’t want a downgrade to the European Moto2 Championship, so he was sacked instead. Bizarre scenes.
Also, are TNT mates with Joe Roberts/American Racing Team? It is getting genuinely weird seeing the relationship between them on TV play out, with the broadcasters spinning up the idea that Roberts has changed since missing out on the Trackhouse gig, and even Joe on the grid calling out Michael Laverty for being “negative”. It’s all getting a bit weird.
Bike racing is a “mates rates” industry at the best of the times, and I’ve pointed out the conflicts of interest numerous times already, but when it blurs into the quality of the broadcast, it’s fair to ask questions. All this for a rider that while good, was probably talked into the idea of getting the seat (And we’re all a little guilty of that one, me included), and is safely on the grid with ART for next year. It’s all… off.
And remember the name in Moto3 – Angel Piqueras just won from P17 after two Long Lap Penalties. He’s only 17. And he rides for Leopard with the #36 on it. Sound familiar?
Dre’s Race Rating: 7/10 (Good) – Flag-to-flag races are rarely ever boring, and the first 10 laps of this one were MotoGP at its best. Aggressive racing early on to try and beat the rain via track position, the drama of watching the weather and whether it got to the point of bike changing (Which it kinda did), and seeing the impact it can have on the field, bringing up the strengths of riders like Marquez, Miller and Quartararo, and hurting others. A good time all round, and we get to do it all again in a fortnight. See you then.
