ROUND 12 / SEPTEMBER 8-10, 2023
MISANO WORLD CIRCUIT MARCO SIMONCELLI / RIMINI, SAN MARINO
MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P98
Jorge Martin crushed
'em at Misano. He's
now got the momentum
heading into India in
two weeks.
TOTAL
MARTINATION
POLE POSITION, A NEW LAP RECORD, THE
IT WAS A DOMINATING
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
J
orge Martin roared back into
title contention at Misano
with one of the best perfor-
mances of his Grand Prix career,
taking first in every session that
mattered to claw to within 36
points of Francesco Bagnaia, who
put on a heroic performance with
two third places following his mas-
sive Catalunya crash last week.
Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM
Ajo) was likewise superior in
Moto2 with a massive 6.3-second
win over Celestino Vietti (Fantic
Racing), while in Moto3, David
Alonso took his third win in four
races to completely nullify Daniel
Holgado's (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
title lead, now just four points as
the series heads to India in two
weeks' time.
MotoGP Sprint Race
After blitzing the qualifying ses-
sion with a new lap record of
1:30.390, Martin (Prima Pramac
Ducati) charged into the lead at
turn one ahead of Bagnaia (Leno-
vo Ducati) and Marco Bezzecchi
(Mooney VR46 Ducati), with Red
Bull KTM wildcard Dani Pedrosa
slotting into fourth place.
It ended up being a fairly proces-
sional encounter as the top four,
also joined by Pedrosa's teammate
Brad Binder, gradually pulled a gap
over the chasing pack, the only big
change coming with 12 laps to go
when Bezzecchi squeezed past
Bagnaia for second.
Pedrosa managed to keep
Binder at bay and closed in on
Bagnaia, who was really hurting
following his massive Catalunya
