Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1507502
ROUND 12 / SEPTEMBER 8-10, 2023 MISANO WORLD CIRCUIT MARCO SIMONCELLI / RIMINI, SAN MARINO MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP P102 Ducati), rounding out the top 10. In the championship, Martin is refusing to give up without a se - rious fight, closing the gap to 36 points behind Bagnaia, 283-247. Bezzecchi is third with 65. Moto2 Pedro Acosta stamped his authority on the Moto2 field with a dominant performance at Mi - sano. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider controlled the race perfectly as he edged away from home hero Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) piling on the pressure mid-race. But, like Martin in the premier class, Acosta was bulletproof to any attack from Vietti, coming home a massive 6.305 seconds to the good. Vietti had several front-end scares and consigned himself to an important second place to continue his season revival with Alonso Lopez (+Ego SpeedUp) keeping Tony Arbolino (Elf Mar - cVDS Racing Team) at bay to round out the podium. Arbolino held off Idemitsu Honda Team Asia's Ai Ogura and "My target is to win races," said Martin. "I'm not even a factory rider, so it's not on me to win the champi - onship. I don't have responsibility. For sure, if I have the chance, as I am having now, then I will try and go for it. My day will come when I'm a factory rider. But today, I am not. But it is not on me." Pedrosa was given a rousing reception by his team by tak - ing another fourth, miles ahead of the next KTM/GasGas rider, Augusto Fernandez, in 16th after Jack Miller's weekend went from bad to worse with a despondent 15th in the Sprint at getting crashed out by his former Ducati Lenovo colleague Michele Pirro early in the Sunday GP. Vinales pushed through for fifth ahead of CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team's Miguel Oliveira. Marc Marquez was seventh, like Pedrosa, miles up on his nearest Honda rider Stefan Bradl in 18th. Raul Fernandez (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team) had the best MotoGP finish of his career in eighth, just pipping Marini and Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac MARINI EXTENDS VR46 STAY Another piece of the 2024 jigsaw puzzle fell into place on Thursday as it was confirmed Luca Marini will stay at VR46 Ducati for anoth- er year. The Italian, who has been with the team since his Moto2 days in 2018, will stay in place, along with current teammate Marco Bez- zecchi. And he has lofty ambitions for next year, too. "This is a ques- tion of trust in a very close-knit working group, which has believed in me for many years," said Marini. "As a team, we will do everything to achieve our goals the next sea- son. Being among the protagonists of the 2024 season, fighting for the championship as a rider and as a team is certainly a real ambition." PEDROSA DEBUTS CARBON-FIBER CHASSIS It was difficult to know what was more remarkable on Friday: the fact that Dani Pedrosa set the third-fastest time at 37 years of age in just his third racing appear- ance since 2018; or the equipment he used to do it. Pedrosa had both his bikes fitted with a carbon-fiber chassis after trying it out in recent tests as KTM—a factory famed for its work with steel frames—works on its machine for next year. The three-time world champ was tight- lipped on the change, but offered, "They are trying their best as you can see. I think they are open to new technologies and new ways. The team is working very well." Tech3's Pol Espargaro added, "Dani is working for the future with a different bike, let's say. So, considering our weekend, to use Briefly... MotoGP Sunday