IIIMY OWN RACE:
36 JOAN MIR
3RD MOTOGP
"I wasn't as strong here as I was
in Austria, but I'm on the podium
anyway so that's good news," Mir
said. "I really enjoyed the end of the
race, and it was exci ng to make that
final overtake! I knew I could do it at
that corner so I was confident. I was
aware that I would struggle a li le bit
on the first laps with the fresh re but
my pace with the used re was a lot
faster, and I felt great with the bike, so
I managed to take advantage of that."
46 VALENTINO ROSSI
4TH MOTOGP
"It's a great shame because the po-
dium is always special, here in Misano
even more so," Rossi said. "Also, to
share the podium with Franco and
Pecco would have been like a race at
the ranch. I made a small mistake and
Mir was very strong in that moment,
he did very good lap mes in the last
part of the race. At the end, he was
able to beat me, which is a shame
with just 2 kilometers to go. On the
other hand, it was s ll a good race, a
good weekend, because I rode well.
We had a very good pace and I feel
good with the bike. So, even without
a podium, I enjoyed it."
Rossi was looking good for a dream
200th MotoGP podium until halfway
around the final lap as Mir scythed through
leading onto the back straight, breaking
Italian hearts and the hopes of a first-ever
VR46 Academy MotoGP podium lockout.
Mir headed home Rossi and Suzuki
teammate Alex Rins, with new champi-
onship leader Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati
Team) seventh, Jack Miller (Pramac
Ducati) eighth, Takaaki Nakagami the first
Honda in ninth and Pol Espargaro lead
KTM in 10th.
While it was jubilation for two of the
four Yamahas in first and fourth, pole man
Maverick Vinales and former championship
leader Fabio Quartararo both suffered.
Vinales never got going on the hard com-
pound rear tire, eventually salvaging sixth
after breaking clear of Dovizioso and Miller.
It was worse for Quartararo. The French-
man had just made his way past Vinales for
fourth with 20 laps remaining when he lost
the front of the Petronas Sprinta Yamaha at
turn four and crashed out. He remounted,
returned to the pits and eventually rejoined,
only to crash again, this time at turn six with
eight laps remaining. This time the crash
was terminal.
In the championship, Andrea Dovizioso
now leads with 76 points over Quartararo
at 70, with Jack Miller third with 64 points.
Morbidelli's win moves him up to seventh
in the standings. Incredibly, there's only
19 points covering the top seven.
VOLUME 57 ISSUE 37 SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 P71
(Top) Morbidelli and Francesco Bagnaia
are great buddies, training partners at
the VR46 ranch, and rivals, and now they
share the top two podium spots at their
home GP. (Bottom) Joan Mir shattered
the Italian dream of three VR46 Academy
riders in the top three with an audacious
pass on Rossi on the last lap for third.
