Emilia Romagna GP

Valentino Rossi’s farewell at Misano was filled with great emotion after a stunning performance

Kevin Peterson06 mins

Nine-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi is proud to bid farewell to his home Misano MotoGP fans with a decent race, Sunday’s ‘Grazie Vale’ tributes a ‘great surprise’. Valentino Rossi passed the last major milestone before the official end of his MotoGP career with an ’emotional’ final home race in Emilia Romagna GP at his local Misano circuit on Sunday. While tenth place couldn’t compare with his past victories at the circuit, it was a ‘decent’ result from 23rd and last on the grid. That matched Rossi’s best dry result of a difficult season as he overtook Petronas Yamaha team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, injured factory Yamaha rider Franco Morbidelli, Ducati wild-card Michele Pirro before passing KTM’s Brad Binder on the final lap. Ever the racer, Rossi was proud to have put on a fighting display to the chequered flag, but his finishing position was probably immaterial for the Covid-capacity 35,000 fans, most of whom were present simply to say farewell to The Doctor. The yellow grandstands would have been left deflated had Rossi crashed out, but instead the Italian was able to soak up the applause and ‘fantastic’ atmosphere of his final Misano slow down lap. “I’m very happy about today, especially because I did a decent race and it’s the best way to say ‘ciao’,” Rossi said. “I didn’t want to make a bad race and stay behind. Starting from the back of the grid is always difficult, but I knew my potential was better in the full dry [after a damp qualifying] and I felt good with the bike and tyres. “I was able to make some overtaking and have some battles until the last lap. “So it’s the best way to say ‘ciao’ to all the crowd, because there was a fantastic atmosphere around the track and a lot of fans on Sunday. It was very emotional.” The 42-year-old showed his appreciation by throwing his final special helmet design, featuring a yellow heart, into the crowd, a gesture rarely seen during his racing career. “I tried to enjoy this moment because a lot of my close friends said ‘go out and enjoy because Sunday will be great’. Like a big hug from all the fans. But I also want to make a good race, ride at my maximum and try to have a good result,” Rossi said. “So I’m very happy especially for this and it was a great emotion after the flag, I enjoyed a lot.” Adding to the usual yellow Misano haze were special ‘Grazie Vale’ tributes, including a special bright yellow livery on the VR46 bikes of Rossi’s brother Luca Marini plus Moto2 riders Marco Bezzecchi and Celestino Vietti. “Usually I don’t like surprises, I want to know everything!” said Rossi. “But this was a great surprise. I’m very happy. I have to say thank you to Uccio all my team, and to Sky. I like a lot.” When asked on whether Misano fans will remember him as the nine-time MotoGP World Champion 30 years from now Rossi said, “Misano is my home grand prix and my home circuit. It’s 10 kilometres from my house and we are very lucky to have a circuit like this close to our house because we feel like home and it’s not normal.” “MotoGP raced in Misano from 2007, so not in all my career but I was able to win three times. Especially the last time in 2014 was great,” Rossi continued. “So I hope that all the people remember this, all the good races, all the fights and all the enjoyment. “I think a lot of fans followed MotoGP because they enjoyed a lot my races. So I hope a lot they remember these special moments, like today, because also today was good.” Just two more races, at Portimao and then Valencia, now remain before the end of Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP career.

Bagnaia frustrated after Emilia Romagna GP crash, says it was ‘win or gravel’

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia trailed Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo by 52 points coming into this weekend’s Misano race and only needed to be outscored by three for the championship to go to Quartararo. The Ducati rider led for the first 22 of 27 laps on Sunday from pole and was on course to keep the championship rolling to Portugal, as Quartararo’s recovery from 15th on the grid was set to end with fifth. But Bagnaia crashed at the penultimate corner on lap 23, leaving Quartararo to celebrate France’s first MotoGP world title. Bagnaia joined Ducati teammate Jack Miller in making a late change to the hard front tyre, which both admitted was a gamble in the cooler conditions but one that was working. However, it would ultimately lead to both riders crashing out of the race at the penultimate corner. “This for sure was not that because I lost concentration,” Bagnaia said of his title-ending crash. “I was pushing, today was either winning or gravel, and I tried all to achieve this win and I crashed. “The tyre choice was, I think, good because this was the only one that was helping me on the braking and the medium for me was worse than the soft. “Soft was already on the limit yesterday and this morning, so the hard was the correct choice. “The only thing was that you just needed to push every single lap like hell, to get the tyre hot, so this lap maybe I braked a little early in Turn 8 and, nothing. “What I just want to say is that we’re working a lot. It was difficult this weekend. The pace was stronger than five weeks ago [when I won the San Marino GP at Misano]. “So, we have to be happy about this. But for sure we are frustrated in this moment. “But it’s something that we have to be happy with because today we demonstrated that we were on top again.” Bagnaia was one of the first to congratulate Quartararo in pitlane after the Yamaha rider won the title and says he was “more deserving” of the championship. “I’m happy about my performance of today. For sure I’m a bit frustrated about the result because I think that we were deserving more but we just try to be always more competitive and for the next year we are for sure in a good way,” Bagnaia added. “And I told just to Fabio that he deserved this title. “For sure he was he was the one that was more deserving this title, so I’m happy for him and last year he was in my situation because was the first time he was winning like this and he committed errors in the last part of the season. “I’m in this situation now this year and for the next year I think we will come back more prepared.”

Wet Emilia Romagna GP practices helped Marc Marquez win

Kevin Peterson03 mins

six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez tallied up his third win of the 2021 season after inheriting victory when long-time leader Francesco Bagnaia crashed out on lap 23, ending his title hopes. Marquez had shadowed Bagnaia for most of the race, piling the pressure on him as he did at Aragon last month, but had just conceded defeat when the Ducati rider crashed. The Honda rider was left to lead the first factory Honda 1-2 since Aragon 2017, and to claim his first win on a clockwise circuit since Japan 2019. Marquez has been limited by the physical condition of his recovering right shoulder in 2021, but says the fact much of the weekend was affected by rain meant he came into Sunday’s Misano race feeling “fresh”. “This year I realised the qualifying practice is not my best point, or my strongest point, so then I started to focus a lot on the starts,” Marquez said after starting from seventh. “I started really good, really fast, from seventh to third in the first lap because I knew both Ducati riders will push from the beginning. “In fact, when I saw the laptime in the beginning was 1m32.2s, I say ‘OK, what’s going on here’ because yesterday I was struggling to do 1m33.8s. “But today the feeling was there, the bike was working good. “Especially also the last laps, the distance between me and the others was very big and it’s something also that is important because in the end to have this margin, I was able to ride in a good way because in the last laps I was struggling a bit with my physical condition. “But the fact that all weekend was in wet conditions, [this] gave me the chance to have the first Sunday where I arrived [to the race] fresh to ride with energy. “When I woke up I said ‘OK, I feel the arm is there, I have power’.”

Marc Marquez wins Emilia Romagna GP as Quartararo wins 2021 MotoGP championship

Kevin Peterson07 mins

Fabio Quartararo has won the 2021 MotoGP World Championship following a crash for Francesco Bagnaia while leading the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, a crash that resulted in Marc Marquez winning his third race of the year. Although Jack Miller got a better launch and was side-by-side with Bagnaia heading into turn one, the Italian was much later on the brakes and retained the lead. Miller was also passed by Miguel Oliveira, but the Ducati man regained P2 in turn four. Just behind that was Marquez who made a brilliant start from seventh to fourth. Marquez then made it third by getting ahead of Oliveira into turn eight. One man who didn’t get a great start was championship leader Quartararo as he lost two places. However, the Yamaha rider soon found his feet and picked off Alex Marquez, Takaaki Nakagami and Johann Zarco. While the front three of Bagnaia, Miller and Marquez began to pull clear of Pol Espargaro in fourth, Quartararo was then elevated into 11th as Miller crashed out at turn 15. Miller was the third rider to go down after early contact between Joan Mir, who was given a double long-lap penalty due to jumping the start, and Danilo Petrucci made contact at turn two. Both riders were unable to rejoin. After moving up to tenth due to a mistake by Iker Lecuona, Quartararo then made that ninth after a lovely move on Jorge Martin. What was already a disappointing race for LCR Honda then got even worse as Nakagami and Marquez both retired on the same lap – Nakagami due to a crash and Marquez because of a technical problem. Tech 3 KTM joined LCR in having both riders out of the race as Lecuona crashed at turn one. At the front, Bagnaia continued to lead from Marquez but the gap was only two tenths of a second. A great move by Alex Rins saw him get ahead of Franco Mobidelli for sixth at mid-race distance, a move that began a drop of four positions for the Italian as Luca Marini, Quartararo and Zarco all got through. With eight laps to go Quartararo moved up to fifth after back-to-back overtakes on Rins and Aleix Espargaro. A few laps after Bagnaia set his personal best lap, Marquez did the same to remain within half a second of the Ducati rider. A big moment at turn 15 then followed for Marquez as he lost three tenths to Bagnaia. However, just as Bagnaia looked to be in complete control and pulling clear, the Italian crashed at the same corner as Miller. Quartararo was elevated to fourth due to Bagnaia’s crash, before that then became third as Oliveira crashed from third.  Marquez went on to win from Espargaro, while Quartararo narrowly missed out on the podium after Bastianini got ahead of the Frenchman at turn 14.  KTM rider Brad Binder had to start from the back of the grid after crashing on the sighting lap. After making progress through to 12th, the South African rider’s day went from bad to worse after being given a long-lap penalty. Quartararo has also become the first ever French premier class world champion.  EMILIA ROMAGNA MOTOGP, MISANO – RACE RESULTS POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF 1 Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) 41m 52.83s 2 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +4.859s 3 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +12.013s 4 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +12.775s 5 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +16.458s 6 Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +17.669s 7 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +18.468s 8 Maverick Vinales SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +18.607s 9 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +25.417s 10 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +27.735s 11 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +27.879s 12 Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +28.137s 13 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +41.413s 14 Franco Morbidelli ITA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +42.830s 15 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +22.462s   Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) DNF   Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) DNF   Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* DNF   Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) DNF   Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) DNF   Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) DNF   Danilo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) DNF   Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) DNF

FIM raises MotoGP entry age from 16 to 18 from 2023 onwards

Kevin Peterson04 mins

The minimum age to compete in motorcycle grand prix racing will be raised from 16 to 18 for 2023 onwards following changes from the Federation of International Motorcycles (FIM). The raising of the age limit comes following a string of tragic accidents throughout 2021 across the Moto3-based categories as well as the similarly slipstream dependent World Supersport 300 series that culminated in the deaths of Jason Depasquier, Dean Berta Vinales as well Hugo Millan in a Red Bull Rookies race in July. Another frightening accident took place at the Circuit of the Americas during the Moto3 world championship contest three weeks ago, with Deniz Oncu picking up a two-race ban for dangerously cutting across Jeremy Alcoba at high speed, causing several riders to slam into the bikes strewn across the circuit. A document detailing the raft of changes across all FIM ruled series was released on Friday afternoon, revealing that from 2023 the minimum age to enter the Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP world championships will be raised from 16 to 18. Exceptions will be made for riders that enter the ’23 season under the age of 18 that have already competed in ’22, while going forward the champions of the FIM Moto3 Junior world championship and Red Bull Rookies series respectively will be given special dispensation to enter the Moto3 world championship at age 17. These changes come in order to try and reduce the risk the frequency of aggressive riding resulting in incidents, with the bulk of the problems coming from riders aged 16 and under and in series that frequently see large slipstream battles due to the underpowered nature of the motorcycles. The extra time afforded to the younger riders in lower series will hopefully allow them to mature at a better pace, and ideally allowing them to make their world series debuts under much reduced pressure to what they currently have to sustain. The changes would mean that current Moto3 series leader Pedro Acosta – who only recently turned 17 – would have been ineligible to join the full championship this year had the rules already been in place, though theoretically would have been able to enter wildcard events as the reigning Red Bull Rookies champion later in the year. The same could be said for last years Junior Moto3 champion Izan Guevara, who turned 17 in June.

Jack Miller dominates damp Emilia Romagna MotoGP FP2

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Ducati’s Jack Miller takes over at the top during another wet Friday practice session for the Emilia Romagna MotoGP, the second of this year’s events at Misano. Conditions were at least better than the morning session, with sunshine breaking through the clouds and a dry line starting to develop, prompting riders to switch from the soft to medium compound front wet tyre. Miller, fastest for most of this morning, was soon leading the timesheets this afternoon, where he remained to the chequered flag. FP1 leader Johann Zarco claimed second overall for a Ducati one-two, just 0.9s behind Miller, with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro snatching a late third. World championship leader Fabio Quartararo will need to keep his fingers crossed for dry weather on Saturday morning after again struggling in the wet. The Frenchman was left down in 16th place and is currently heading for a rare Qualifying 1 appearance. Quartararo won’t be alone in hoping for a fine FP3 with Joan Mir and Marc Marquez also among those outside the top ten. Quartararo has his first chance to win the 2021 MotoGP title this weekend, providing he can keep his 52-point lead over Francesco Bagnaia to at least 50-points on Sunday. Bagnaia was eighth today. Local hero Valentino Rossi is competing in his final Italian round before retirement, but could only manage 22nd. Bagnaia won last month’s first Misano round, ahead of Quartararo and Enea Bastianini. EMILIA ROMAGNA MOTOGP, MISANO – FREE PRACTICE (2) RESULTS POS   RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF LAP MAX 1 ^2 Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) 1’41.305s 10/16 295k 2 ˅1 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +0.927s 19/19 294k 3 ^16 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +0.986s 17/17 290k 4 ^5 Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.271s 8/22 286k 5 ^2 Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) +1.286s 16/21 288k 6 ^5 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +1.296s 16/16 290k 7 ^17 Lorenzo Salvadori ITA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* +1.310s 17/18 286k 8 ˅2 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +1.364s 5/21 293k 9 ˅1 Danilo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.470s 18/18 286k 10 ˅6 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* +1.504s 19/21 295k 11 ˅1 Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +1.537s 11/17 289k 12 ^8 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +1.537s 18/18 292k 13 ^1 Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +1.574s 12/17 291k 14 ˅12 Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +1.578s 6/18 290k 15 ^1 Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +1.639s 18/18 290k 16 ^2 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +1.792s 9/19 287k 17 ^6 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +1.932s 20/22 286k 18 ˅5 Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +2.108s 6/13 286k 19 ˅4 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +2.165s 8/17 290k 20 ˅15 Franco Morbidelli ITA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +2.280s 18/18 284k 21 ˅4 Maverick Vinales SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +2.374s 16/16 291k 22 ˅10 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +2.484s 19/19 286k 23 ˅1 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +2.770s 21/21 289k 24 ˅3 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +3.338s 10/16 286k

Johann Zarco tops wet Emilia Romagna MotoGP FP1

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Pramac Ducati rider Johann Zarco returns to the top by leading a wet opening practice session for MotoGP’s return to Misano at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, while fellow Ducati rider and title contender Francesco Bagnaia suffered a late fall. Factory Ducati’s Jack Miller led for the majority of the session ahead of factory team-mate Bagnaia, with Zarco moving to the top with seven minutes remaining. Zarco, who has struggled to repeat his early season podium run and recently underwent arm pump surgery, improved his time further to pull a big 1.4s clear of nearest rival Marc Marquez, who popped ahead of Miller on his final lap. Late improvements also moved Jorge Martin and Franco Morbidelli to fourth and fifth, ahead of Bagnaia, who had lowsided at the end of the back straight. World championship leader Fabio Quartararo may have stayed upright but the Frenchman’s Yamaha again looked twitchy in the wet on his way to 18th place, 3.1s behind Zarco. Quartararo has his first chance to win the MotoGP title this weekend, providing he can keep his 52-point lead over Bagnaia to at least 50-points on Sunday. There were early accidents for Alex Marquez and Brad Binder, plus a technical issue in the pits for Aleix Espargaro, who had been fastest at the Misano post-race test. Local hero Valentino Rossi is competing in his final Italian round before retirement. Bagnaia won last month’s first Misano round, ahead of Quartararo and Enea Bastianini. The tyre allocation will be the same for this weekend, but temperatures are cooler and more rain is expected throughout Friday. EMILIA ROMAGNA MOTOGP, MISANO – FREE PRACTICE (1) RESULTS POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF LAP MAX 1 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) 1’42.374s 19/19 295k 2 Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +1.417s 20/20 291k 3 Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) +1.625s 6/15 292k 4 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* +1.667s 19/19 293k 5 Franco Morbidelli ITA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +1.680s 13/13 283k 6 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +1.809s 17/17 290k 7 Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) +1.869s 20/20 289k 8 Danolo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.950s 17/17 286k 9 Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +2.031s 16/18 283k 10 Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +2.139s 16/18 289k 11 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +2.201s 15/17 288k 12 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +2.377s 14/14 284k 13 Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +2.514s 13/13 285k 14 Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +2.637s 18/18 289k 15 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +2.830s 19/19 289k 16 Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +2.847s 18/20 288k 17 Maverick Vinales SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +3.071s 16/19 293k 18 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +3.103s 20/20 283k 19 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +3.282s 15/15 288k 20 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +3.479s 13/15 286k 21 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +3.507s 16/16 284k 22 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +3.672s 18/18 287k 23 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +3.778s 14/14 278k 24 Lorenzo Salvadori ITA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* +4.592s 5/12 282k