2016 San Marino MotoGP: Pedrosa rules Misano

The 2016 season of MotoGP has had so many surprise winners and twists in plots that it can give a best-selling thriller a run for its money. As the MotoGP entourage landed at Misano for the San Marino Grand Prix, one rider in particular who had been having a tough time was Jorge Lorenzo. The reigning champion was going through a torrid form until a fine afternoon in Misano where he shattered the previous lap record to secure pole, and yes, no one saw that coming! Home favourite Valentino Rossi qualified second while the last spot on the first row went to Maverick Vinales who was fresh from his first premiere class win at Silverstone. Rossi knew that a good start was important to keep a tab on Lorenzo as the Spaniard has a knack of breaking away once in the race lead with clear track in front of him.

Lorenzo did make a good start while Rossi struggled to hold his Yamaha M1 from pointing skywards and fended off a charge from Vinales to safeguard his position. But Lorenzo was soon facing the heat as his team-mate had closed down on him by end of the first lap. Rossi had a moment on Turn 8 in the following lap which gave the reigning champion some breathing space. But that joy was short lives as cheered by his home fans, The Doctor was on the charge and made a super aggressive move in which both the Yamaha riders touched each other as he grabbed the race lead to a thunderous roar from his fans that could put many rock concerts to shame. 

Once in the lead, Rossi was pushing hard and he also clocked the fastest lap of the race to inch out a lead on his team-mate. There was an interesting battle going on for third position between Vinales, Marc Marquez and Andrea Dovizioso. In the end, it was Marquez who grabbed third position with some aggressive manoeuvres which have become synonymous with the youngest MotoGP champion. The pecking order remain unchanged for few laps before Marquez started posted the fastest lap and started getting close to Lorenzo. The reigning champion responded by setting his personal best lap to keep Marquez at bay while Rossi had by now expanded his lead to over a second. Among all this action, Pedrosa was slowly sneaking his way towards the leading pack. By the halfway stage, Pedrosa was the quickest rider on the track and soon overtook his team-mate Marquez to take third position. The Repsol Honda rider was flying while others were finding it difficult with the deteriorating tyre. Such was Pedrosa’s pace that he passed Lorenzo in the very next lap effortlessly. 

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With 8 laps remaining in the race, Pedrosa had ample time on his hand to attack the MotoGP legend. Rossi was coming under immense pressure but he retaliated with the fastest lap of the race. Despite the above, Pedrosa was relentless in his pursuit and in a super aggressive move quite similar to what Rossi had done to pass Lorenzo, Dani took the race lead. Rossi tried with all his might to regain the race lead but he just couldn’t match the pace of the Repsol Honda rider and in the last few laps gave up the chase.

Pedrosa popped a wheelie as he crossed the finish line to celebrate his first win of 2016 while a dejected Rossi took second in front of his fans and Lorenzo completed the rostrum with Marquez in fourth, With this win, Pedrosa became the eighth different winner for the 2016 season which is a new record for MotoGP and gives us an idea about how unpredictable the premiere class has become. The second place for Rossi meant that he now has cut down Marquez’s lead which still stands at a comfortable 43 points. 

Race Results:

1 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team Honda 162.3 43’43.524

2 Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 162.1 +2.837

3 Jorge LORENZO Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 162.1 +4.359

4 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team Honda 161.7 +9.569

5 Maverick VIÑALES Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 161.4 +15.467

6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team Ducati 161.1 +19.676

7 Michele PIRRO Ducati Team Ducati 160.9 +22.936

8 Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda Honda 160.7 +25.702

9 Pol ESPARGARO Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 160.7 +27.155

10 Alvaro BAUTISTA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 160.2 +33.968