Winners
Enea Bastianini
I couldn’t spell his name until today and I’m not even sure ‘Enea’ is a real name – Microsoft Word doesn’t seem to think so as it’s put a big red squiggly line under it. But, in one single race, the Italian rookie has gone from being relatively unknown to relatively known without the help of a well-known relative.
[Ctrl-C Ctrl-V] Enea Bastianini’s was the undenied star of the show. His battle to finish on the podium saw him catch and pass world champions, ex-world champions and factory Ducati riders – all on parts-bin special Ducati. The kind of bike that would have had Morbidelli off-sick with his knee for another 6 months.
Francesco Bagnaia
London buses…blah blah…once you win one you break the duck…blah blah.
Truth is Pecco goes well at Misano. He almost won here last year as he led the race before slipping off on an invisible tear-off with zero mass. This year Bagnaia is a much improved rider to last year so was always going to be strong. And he was.
A great ride from a great rider. Rossi fans – pat yourself on the back for yet another win via proxy.
The French anti-rain dance
Fabio Quartarararo isn’t really a fan of the rain. In fact most Frenchmen are scared out of their macaroons at the cleansing prospect of water in general. Throw a bar of soap into the mix and they’re retreating behind the Louvre faster than Biaggi’s toupee in a hurricane.
We were told the rain was coming before the MotoGP event had started. It was a fact. At sometime during the race it would rain, the spectators would get wet and any lost Frenchmen would be forced to hide in a hollowed out croissant. This was bad news for Fabio who was all too aware of his and Yamaha’s weakness on a wet track.
During the race it started to rain all around the outskirts of the circuit in all directions. Dangerous looking black clouds filled the skies making the ever-enlarging frown on Johann Zarco’s forehead more and more pronounced. There was just one small patch in the Province of Rimini that wasn’t getting soaked…a little ‘circuit shaped’ patch.
Now if this was Marc Marquez that was not wanting the rain then an internet-based outrage would have started claiming Dorna has somehow fabricated the weather to help the ‘chosen one’.
Luckily we didn’t need adverse weather to give [Ctrl-C Ctrl-V] Enea Bastianini a podium…which made it more impressive. Although other than that maybe a bit of rain may have made it all a bit more entertaining?
Losers
Enea Bastianini
He won but, agonisingly, it could have been even more. Having easily coasted into Q2 [Ctrl-C Ctrl-V] Enea Bastianini couldn’t put a lap together and ended up qualifying in a somewhat disappointing 12th. This meant that his progression in the open laps was always set to be compromised.
Due to having to fight his way past other lesser known riders, such as Marc Marquez, by lap 13 [Ctrl-C Ctrl-V] Enea Bastianini was over six seconds behind the beard of race leader Bagnaia…yet finished 4.7 seconds off the ultimate pace.
So it was great to see a new masked face on the podium but it would have been far bettererer if he’d actually have won.
Cal Crutchlow
Back in 2019 in Argentina Cal Crutchlow was given a ride through penalty for a jump start that was utterly ridiculous.
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The English rider ‘rocked’ a little at worst. He certainly didn’t gain an advantage. But a race-ruining penalty was issued anyway as it would be deemed popular in Argentina to get one over the British…and of course everyone thought it was funny seeing an enraged Cal fume afterwards. Great TV.
Jumping back to the Misano race and the eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed Bagnaia set off before everyone else at the start of the race. It was clearly a jump start. Either that or the other 23 riders all had equal-yet-much-slower reflexes.
But, unlike poor Crutchlow, Bagnaia is quite popular. And more importantly he now is single-handedly keeping the championship alive and had he not won the race Quartarararo would have all but won the title. It’s bad enough for Dorna that a Frenchman is set to win the championship they certainly don’t want it all over with three races still to go.
KTM
KTM started off in MotoGP a bit rubbish. Then through hard work and microscopic test riders they slowly emerged as a great manufacturer. Now, in less time than it takes a child to get diabetes from a can of Red bull, KTM seem rubbish again. Just ask Miguel Oliveira – his attractive sister hasn’t answered his texts in over a month.
Luca Marini
Newton’s third law of motion bangs on about actions and reactions and the like. He should have stuck to inventing gravity and looking for safer places to sit in autumn. That (scientifically factually correct) statement said the consequences of [Ctrl-C Ctrl-V] Enea Bastianini’s fine result highlighted to the world his teammate’s somewhat lack of a fine result.
Marini finished the race half a minute behind Bastianini and whereas his teammate finished third he managed third-last. That said the mongrel Italian was forced to take a long lap penalty after race direction deemed he’d sneaked into MotoGP via nepotism.