The rain stayed away for the MotoGP race at Misano today and so it turned out pretty much as expected in the end. Pedrosa lead into the first corner and immediately started to open up a gap to the rest of the field which just got bigger and bigger with every lap and he took home his first back-to-back win.
Alvaro managed a decent start, but then was slowed down in the second corner when his teammate Loris Capirossi and Nicky Hayden crashed out, causing everyone behind to slow down and avoid their bikes on the track. After that Alvaro was down in 14th position, but then slowly started with his trademark comeback from far behind. As expected from the practice and qualifying sessions the laptimes throughout the field were close together which resulted in a big group of riders battling for the 8th position. Alvaro’s speed was as fast or faster than of all the guys in front of him, up to 5th or 6th position, so he quickly passed a lot of riders and found himself in 8th place after about half of the race. He pulled away from the battling group and closed down the gap to Edwards in 7th by several seconds, but it’s already been too big for him to close it all on his own. With a better grid position and first lap, he might have been able to fight for 6th or even 5th, but considering his 16th position on the grid and the crash in the first lap, he did a very good job once again.
But much more importantly than anything happening in the MotoGP race we’d like to express our condolences and send our very best wishes to Shoya Tomizawa’s family and friends. Shoya passed away in the Riccione hospital this afternoon after a horrible crash in the Moto2 race and he will be sorely missed. Rest in peace, Shoya.
Full Results MotoGP Race:
Pos. Rider Team Km/h Time/Gap
1 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 160.0 44’22.059
2 Jorge LORENZO Fiat Yamaha Team 159.9 +1.900
3 Valentino ROSSI Fiat Yamaha Team 159.8 +3.183
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 159.6 +6.454
5 Casey STONER Ducati Team 158.9 +18.479
6 Ben SPIES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 158.3 +28.385
7 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 157.9 +34.934
8 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 157.8 +38.157
9 Hector BARBERA Paginas Amarillas Aspar 157.6 +40.943
10 Marco MELANDRI San Carlo Honda Gresini 157.5 +42.377
11 Aleix ESPARGARO Pramac Racing Team 157.3 +45.906
12 Hiroshi AOYAMA Interwetten Honda MotoGP 157.3 +46.394
13 Randy DE PUNIET LCR Honda MotoGP 157.0 +50.481
14 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 155.2 +1’23.143
Not Classified
Mika KALLIO Pramac Racing Team 155.3 11 Laps
Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 122.9 25 Laps
Loris CAPIROSSI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 0 Lap
