Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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VOLUME 57 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 P73 Coming into turn five, Bagnaia lost control of the Ducati early in the turn and slid into the gravel trap, capping off what was a bad day for the VR46 Academy with Valentino Rossi also crashing at turn four on lap three, remount- ing and finally retiring with 12 laps remaining. Another crasher was Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM), who had made his way up to third place on lap two but threw it away at turn 14. He, too, remounted, only to crash terminally a few laps later at turn one. Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro and KTM's Iker Lecuona were also crashers. Jack Miller was a retiree, the Australian pulling into the pits with a mechanical gremlin that dealt his championship a huge blow. Second in Misano was the bril- liant Joan Mir. The Suzuki rider was fourth for much of the race before taking first Fabio Quartararo (Petro- nas Yamaha SRT) and Pol Espar- garo (Red Bull KTM). Mir's pace was equal to that of Vinales, but a low qualifying position, once again, held back his chances of victory. Quartararo followed Mir past Espargaro late in the race but was handed a three-second penalty for exceeding track limits, drop- ping him to fourth and handing a second KTM podium to Espar- garo in third. In the championship, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), eighth to- day, still leads with 84 points, one ahead of Quartararo and Vinales, with Mir fourth with 80 points. IIIMY OWN RACE: 88 MIGUEL OLIVEIRA 5TH MOTOGP "I'm happy about the race," Miguel Oliveira said. "We started far behind and we could manage to gain a few po- si ons and also benefit from a couple of crashes. Our poten al was there, we had a very good pace, I felt good with the bike and I made no mistakes, so I kept concentrated all the race. We managed to come out with a top five, which was our goal from the begin- ning, plus scoring important points for the championship and now we go to Barcelona, can clean our minds now and have fun also there. I think we can have another good weekend!" 73 ALEX MARQUEZ 7TH MOTOGP "Last Sunday, and especially a er the test, we managed to make some improvements," Alex Marquez said. "We were able to carry these im- provements into this weekend, and all weekend I have felt very strong. Throughout the weekend we had constant steps. In the race, I started well and was aggressive early, which I am happy with. In the first laps, I felt good, and I was able to keep Dovi be- hind me for the race. Three laps from the end, I had a big moment which allowed Nakagami to get through." Bagnaia was sublime for two-thirds the race but threw it away at four in a mistake he'll likely for a long time.