Pecco Bagnaia never stops. This time he had to sweat the proverbial seven shirts, but the fourth consecutive victory for the Ducati rider arrived at Misano, who now has to go back to believing very much in the world championship comeback, given that the gap from Fabio Quartararo, today fifth, is reduced to just 30 points.
From today, however, he also knows that next year he will have one more opponent inside his garage, because Enea Bastianini only gave up on the finish line, and for just 34 thousandths. But it is certainly a day of great celebration for the Borgo Panigale manufacturer, thinking both of the present and of the future.
At the start, the vice-world champion immediately managed to have an excellent shot from the second row and moved to third position, behind Jack Miller and Bastianini. The Australian, however, has already abdicated the leadership during the second lap, slipping at turn 4.
A step later, Pecco went to take the top of the standings, putting “Beast” at the Quercia with determination. Behind the two Desmosedici GPs, in the meantime, Maverick Vinales’ Aprilia became very aggressive, and for a good part of the race it was the Spaniard who worried Bagnaia, remaining in his wake.
With eight laps to go, however, Maverick made a small mistake by going long at the Quercia and Bastianini took the opportunity to snatch the second position from him and throw himself in pursuit of Bagnaia. The reunion came a couple of laps from the end and in the end there was the thrill.
On the last lap Enea forced the braking at turn 4, going long and risking contact. It seemed over, but the Gresini Racing standard bearer, racing today with a livery dedicated to patron Fausto, tried it to the last meter, with a lap of 1’31 “868 that brought him just 34 thousandths from the other Red under the checkered flag.
Rounding out the podium is Vinales, who at the end broke away from the leading tandem, but won his third place in the top 3 in the last four races, confirming that the feeling with his RS-GP is now a thing of the past. and that therefore in the last few races he could also be one of the “referees” of the World Championship.
At the foot of the podium, Luca Marini confirms the fourth place obtained in Austria, who however ran his best race in MotoGP, always remaining attached to the train of the best and resisting Quartararo’s attempt to comeback in the final, who had to be satisfied with the top 5, allowing Bagnaia to recover another 14 points. And now the overall comeback is 61 points in the last four races, so “El Diablo” has to start worrying, despite having also gained a point on Aleix Espargaro, sixth at the finish line and now at -33, but above all never credited with the pace of the leading group.
In seventh place is Alex Rins’ Suzuki, followed by Brad Binder’s KTM. After four races of absence, Honda also returns to the top 10 with Alex Marquez who finished tenth behind Jorge Martin. Andrea Dovizioso’s career in MotoGP, on the other hand, ended with a 12th place, therefore missing the top 10 that he would have hoped for, but with a great party after the sack flag.
Unfortunately it was not a lucky Sunday for all the other Italians, who all ended up in the air. Marco Bezzecchi, who therefore wasted his start in the front row, and Fabio Di Giannantonio left again, but only to finish their race in 17th and 20th position.
#MotoGP #Bagnaia #resists #Bastianini #plays #poker #Misano