Just like London buses, you wait ages for a Pecco Bagnaia win and then two come along at once.
The battle at the front didn’t quite match up to the excitement of Aragon last week but was nonetheless enjoyable, Bagnaia again proving his cool by holding off a late charge from Fabio Quartararo.
There were also several great performances further down the field, as will be explored…
1st. Pecco Bagnaia – 10
You could almost copy and paste Pecco Bagnaia’s rating and review from last week.
After a blistering start, in which the Italian had built up a one second lead by the end of the first lap, he managed the race impeccably until his degrading soft rear tyre caused his lap times to fall away.
Even then, though, Bagnaia didn’t panic, somehow keeping the faster Quartararo behind him to take back-to-back wins.
All those laps of Misano during the winter break definitely paid off.
2nd. Fabio Quartararo – 9.5
The disappointment at coming second was visible on Fabio Quartararo’s face in parc fermé.
After maintaining his cool during the first part of the race, overtaking and dropping the Ducatis of Jack Miller and Jorge Martin, Quartararo was within a second of Bagnaia with 5 laps to go.
Running the more durable medium rear tyre, it looked as if the Frenchman would comfortably be able to pass the Ducati rider for the win.
As Quartararo conceded, however, Bagnaia was incredibly quick through the final sector, and never gave the Yamaha rider an opportunity to pass.
Still 48 points in front of the Italian, Quartararo was nonetheless happy to maintain his firm grip on the championship.
With just four races remaining, surely nobody can stop him now.
3rd. Enea Bastianini – 10
Who had Enea Bastianini to finish on the podium before the race had started?
After finishing 6th in Aragon last week, the Italian rookie enjoyed an even better weekend this time round.
Starting from 12th, Bastianini showed incredible pace to be fourth by Lap 6, overtaking and dropping the likes of Marc Marquez and Joan Mir.
The reigning Moto2 champion then set three consecutive fastest laps as he chased down and overtook Jack Miller for the final spot on the podium.
All of that on a 2019 Ducati. Simply incredible.
4th. Marc Marquez – 9
A mixed weekend for Marc Marquez.
On the one hand, it was his best result at a ‘right-hand’ track since sustaining the injury to his right shoulder at Jerez in 2020.
Visibly struggling to turn the bike through the final sequence of right turns, however, the Spaniard still finished 10 seconds behind Bagnaia, and was overtaken and dropped by Bastianini in front of him.
Still rebuilding the strength in his right arm and shoulder, the real question is whether the eight-time world champion can recover enough to be compete for the title next season. Right now, the answer to that question is anybody’s guess.
5th. Jack Miller – 8.5
Just like his teammate, Jack Miller opted for the soft rear tyre. That proved to be his downfall as his pace fell off a cliff in the second half of the race.
While nonetheless frustrated to have finished fifth and off the podium, Miller played the team game perfectly in Misano, staying ahead of Quartararo on Lap 1 after a beautiful move round the outside of Turn 2 and then the inside of Turn 3, before halting the Frenchman’s progress for the first half of the race.
He also would have come fourth had Joan Mir not dived down his inside at Turn 14 on the final lap, a move that compromised both of their exits and allowed Marquez through.
6th. Joan Mir – 7.5
If it wasn’t over before this weekend, Misano saw the end of Joan Mir’s title defence.
The Spaniard was slightly disgruntled for much of his time in Italy, enduring a tough qualifying session to no fault of his own before complaining about Marquez following him.
As he usually does, Mir showed good race pace to recover positions on Sunday. However, a late move on Miller at Turn 14 was misjudged since it allowed Marquez through.
Compounding matters for the Suzuki rider, he extended track limits at the next corner, meaning he lost 5th to Miller.
7th. Pol Espargaro – 8
Despite losing a position after staring 6th, ahead of teammate Marc Marquez, Pol Espargaro can be content with his weekend in Misano.
Finishing two seconds ahead of his brother, 7th represented Pol’s second-best result of what has been a relatively difficult first season with Repsol Honda.
8th. Aleix Espargaro – 8
Aleix’s Espargaro’s remarkable consistency continues.
His 8th-place finish continued his streak of finishing inside the top 10 at every race he has completed this season.
With only three DNFs to his name, that means he has finished inside the top 10 at eleven of the fourteen races. Solid from the Aprilia man.
9th. Brad Binder – 7.5
Once again, Brad Binder seemed to save all his pace for Sunday.
With the KTM’s struggling in Misano, the South African could only qualify his machine in 17th, albeit in front of teammate Miguel Oliveira and the two Tech3 KTMs.
That didn’t stop Binder in the race, however, as he again went about his business quietly to gain eight positions and be the only rider from the Austrian manufacturer to finish in the points.
10th. Takaaki Nakagami – 7.5
A second consecutive 10th-place finish represented a good result for Takaaki Nakagami.
Starting 13th, the Japanese rider showed solid pace to gain three positions, also finishing five places and 12 seconds in front of teammate Alex Marquez.
11th. Michele Pirro – 7.5
After his 13th-place finish at Mugello back in May, Michele Pirro enjoyed an even better weekend in Misano, the wildcard rider bringing home his Ducati in 11th.
His only full season in MotoGP coming in 2012, Pirro was three places and eight seconds ahead of Honda’s wildcard Stefan Bradl, the fairest comparison to make when evaluating the Italian’s performance.
12th. Johann Zarco – 6
Another weekend, another disappointing result for Johann Zarco.
The Frenchman has really struggled since the summer break, with his 6th place finish at the Styrian GP being the only time he has finished inside the top 10 in five races.
Starting 5th in Misano, Zarco had looked good for another top 10 this weekend on his Pramac Ducati.
However, he lost seven places on the opening lap alone, and later incurred a long lap penalty for cutting Turn 1.
Somehow still fourth in the championship, he won’t be for much longer, now only one point ahead of Jack Miller.
13th. Maverick Vinales – 7
A better weekend for Maverick Vinales as he continues to adjust to his new Aprilia.
Vinales was only two tenths of a second behind teammate Aleix Espargaro in qualifying as he progressed through to Q2 in only his second race for the Italian team.
He characteristically went backwards at the start of Sunday’s race, however, dropping down to 17th before recovering to get back into the points.
14th. Stefan Bradl – 6.5
Stefan Bradl’s fourth race of the season resulted in his joint-worst result, bringing home his Honda in 14th.
A wildcard for the weekend, the German did gain four places to score two points after qualifying down in 18th.
The 2011 Moto2 champion, Bradl also beat fellow Honda rider Alex Marquez, something he has now done at every race he has competed at this season.
15th. Alex Marquez – 6
Alex Marquez followed up last week’s DNF with a disappointing 15th-place finish in Misano.
The worst result among the five Honda riders, it has been a difficult two weeks for the Spaniard who looked as though he was turning the corner on an average season with three consecutive top 10 finishes after the summer break.
16th. Danilo Petrucci – 6.5
While outside of the points for the first time since the Styrian GP at the start of August, Danilo Petrucci still finished in front of his teammate and Miguel Oliveira on the factory KTM.
He also held off Valentino Rossi for 16th and finished two places ahead of Franco Morbidelli on the Factory Yamaha. Overall then, a decent result for the 30-year-old Italian, who is still yet to decide on what to do next year.
17th. Valentino Rossi – 6.5
His penultimate race at home, Valentino Rossi would likely have qualified higher than 23rd had he not crashed in Q1 on Saturday.
In front of his adoring fans, he made up seven positions in the race, securing his best result since the wet Austrian GP last month.
With one more race to come in Misano this season, the Italian will hope he can go even better and finish in the points. Whether or not he does will not matter to the crowd, though, who are sure to give him an enormous send off.
18th. Franco Morbidelli – 6.5
It was good to see Frankie Morbidelli back from injury, and even better to see him on the Factory Yamaha, a long overdue move for an extremely talented rider.
His first race since the German GP on 20 June, the Italian showed good pace in the practice sessions on Friday but failed to progress through to Q2, ultimately starting from 16th.
The race will have been tough on his recently operated knee but will nonetheless stand him in good stead over the coming weeks and ahead of next season.
19th. Luca Marini – 6
A second consecutive week outside of the points, Luca Marini would have hoped for a better result after starting from 15th.
The Italian still enjoyed a good battle with Morbidelli and Miguel Oliveira, Marini finishing just 0.6 seconds behind his compatriot and 0.4 seconds ahead of Oliveira.
20th. Miguel Oliveira – 5.5
A bit like Johann Zarco, what has happened to Miguel Oliveira since the summer break?
Indeed, Oliveira has been even worse than the Frenchman over the last five races, finishing in the points just once. Even then, that was only a 14th place finish in Aragon last week.
Admittedly, the KTMs were struggling around Misano. With teammate Brad Binder coming home in 9th, however, more should be expected of Oliveira, especially considering he’s been on the podium three times this season, including on the top step in Catalunya.
21st. Andrea Dovizioso – 6
15-time MotoGP race winner Andrea Dovizioso will have been disappointed to have qualified and then finished last in his first race for the Petronas Yamaha team.
Riding a 2019-spec bike, however, the Italian will know that these final races in 2021 are about adjusting his riding style to the Yamaha in preparation for the 2022 season on a factory machine.
DNF – Alex Rins; Iker Lecuona; Jorge Martin
