MOTOGP
2017 FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 13 / SEPTEMBER 8-10, 2017
MISANO WORLD CIRCUIT MARCO SIMONCELLI / RIVIERA DI RIMINI, ITALY
P78
Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM)
in hot pursuit.
Mir had already survived a big
moment on the warm-up lap and
would suffer another one on lap
six. By then, Fenati was better
than four seconds clear, and
Martin had fallen back into Mir's
clutches after running off follow-
ing a major slide.
Martin fell off soon afterwards,
leaving Mir alone for a potentially
valuable second.
Another five seconds down,
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del
Moto3
The first race of the day set the
tone: a crash-fest with wildly
fluctuating fortunes, except for
one man. Romano Fenati (Riva-
cold Honda) just kept powering
away for a faultless victory. He
was still gaining ground at the
end, to win by almost 30 sec-
onds. It was quite a demonstra-
tion.
Nobody was close enough to
watch and learn, however.
Jorge Martin (Del Conca
Honda) had inherited pole after
Enea Bastianini (EF Honda) was
penalized three places, and he
led away, with Fenati, title leader
Joan Mir (Leopard Honda) and
This left Hafizh Syahrin (Petro-
nas Kalex) in third, not far away,
and he held station to the end,
claiming an emotional podium,
his first since finishing third as
a rookie at home in Malaysia in
2012.
American Joe Roberts (AGR
Kalex) crashed out on lap 13,
after moving up to 12th from 29th
on the grid.
The race injected tension
into the title battle. No-score
Morbidelli has 223 after seven
wins, one-time winner (but more
consistent) Luthi is closing with
214. The absent Alex Marquez
(injured in practice) has 155,
then Oliveira 141 and Bagnaia
124.
Moto3 was all about one man—
Romano Fenati. The Italian gave
everyone a demonstration in how
to ride in the wet, finishing 30
seconds clear of Joan Mir.
