MotoGP Round 9: Catalan Grand Prix (Barcelona Catalunya, Spain)

 Barcelona Catalunya, Spain, and a legendary raceway for both two and four wheeled vehicles, is the site of the ninth race of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship.  We are ready for launch.  Stand by, as the green flag is waving.  We are set for the Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalunya, to give this motorcycle race it's official title.  Revs up.  Red lights, on.  Red lights, out!  Away we go!  Franco Morbidelli has a good start while Valentino Rossi, the legend, bogs down on his Yamaha, bike #46.  It's Morbidelli into the lead as we have 24 laps on the board in this race.  Franco Morbidelli definitely got the hole shot and the Ducati riders, at least some of them, are mixing it up early already as well, look.

Morbidelli, meanwhile, leads into the first corner ahead of Jack Miller and Fabio Quartararo.  It's the two Petronas SRT Yamaha YZR M1's split by the #43 Pramac Ducati Desmosedici GP20.  To quote MotoGP color analyst Matt Birt, "Morbidelli absolutely smashed it right off the line", and jeepers creepers, did he ever!  A spot of bother for Valentino Rossi, and Johann Zarco has gone down, and guess who he takes out?  Our world championship leader, Andrea Dovizioso on the factory Ducati, it's game over!  Unbelievable!  Dovizioso came into this race with the championship lead, but it's all gone down the drain now.  Dovizioso's lead is gone!

MotoGP in 2020 has been crazy!  Dovizioso is fuming at Johann Zarco.  Probably, some of the things he's saying to the Frenchman just cannot be repeated here.  We are a family audience, folks.  But, Dovizioso has every right to be angry about his championship going up in a plume of sand.  Joan Mir on the Suzuki is bish bash boshing it and is up to fifth place as we speak!  Zarco is supposed to sign with Pramac Ducati, one of the factory teams, for next year.  I don't think he's considering pulling his pen out right now though.  Zarco of course, is riding currently for the Reale Avintia Ducati satellite team headquartered in Spain.  

Dovizioso, over and out, at the second corner on the race track.  Points as of now (and these are not official, so, no, yours truly doesn't like them, but we must broadcast them anyway).  We have Fabio Quartararo leading on 96 points, followed by Joan Mir five markers behind on 91.  Third is Franco Morbidelli with 89 points, eleven behind the leader, and Maverick Vinales on 85.  That's only 11 points among the top four riders in the world championship!  Mama Mia!  That's close!  Morbidelli and Rossi are first and second.  Miller, Quartararo, and Mir complete the top five.  Alex Rins, too, is making his move early in this motorcycle race.

Rins is sixth, right ahead of Pol Espargaro.  Andrea Dovizioso is walking back to the pits.  He cannot believe what has just happened to him.  Another quote from commentator Matt Birt. "He's gone from undaunted to unimpressed."  He looks back at Johann Zarco, his rival, thinking, "dude, I ought to give you a piece of my mind!"  Zarco must be equally upset.  But, it's like the old phrase, "Johann, you got some 'splainin' to do!"  Let's see what exactly happened headed into turn two.

Maverick Vinales, at first glance, got a horrible start.  He didn't launch off the line correctly.  But, closer inspection reveals that it's Danilo Petrucci, and Danilo Petrucci lost control of his factory Ducati and it made Zarco check up.  All apologies to Johann Zarco.  It was Danilo Petrucci who caused this melee.  Petrucci is the rider of the sister Ducati factory bike.  The top five, meanwhile, on lap four, have all cleared away from Johann Zarco.  Franco Morbidelli leads Valentino Rossi and Fabio Quartararo followed by Jack Miller and Joan Mir.

Espargaro is in a battle with Alex Rins.  Those two are running in the 1:40.9 range.  Lap five, and soon, we will see the cream rise to the top when the tires begin to go away.  Fabio Quartararo, the young charger, he is right in the slipstream of the multiple world champion.  Quartararo holds on, beating Rossi into the corner.  "The Doctor" gets a taste of his own medicine through the first turn.  This is one of the few times since both Morbidelli and Quartararo arrived as team mates at Petronas Yamaha SRT, that they've actually raced each other, heads up.

In 2019, Fabio was faster than Franco.  Meanwhile, Maverick Vinales on the factory Yamaha, the second factory Yamaha is trapped in 15th spot.  He said on Saturday "it is very tough to overtake on the Yamaha", and unfortunately for Vinales, those words are ringing true.  In replay, we watch Quartararo moving around Rossi, again, with ease.  Rossi and Miller are staying right in the wheel tracks of the top three as it's early doors yet, and we are only on lap seven.  Quartararo puts himself in the slipstream of Franco Morbidelli.  Quartararo moves into the lead of this motorcycle race.

Lap nine, and will Morbidelli or Rossi respond?  Will Quartararo begin whistling off into the distance?  Manage the gap, and do this even when the tires begin to fall off, when they begin to lose whatever sweet spot they're in at the moment.  Quartararo fell off his motorcycle in morning warmup here in Barcelona this morning.  He does not want to repeat that mishap.  Some smoke there, look, from Quartararo's rear tire.  The tires are beginning to drop off a cliff, as there's a king size scrap for seventh spot between Danilo Petrucci on the factory Ducati and Pol Espargaro on the factory KTM.

Joan Mir on the Suzuki also needs to pick up the pace as we are a lap away from the halfway mark in this race.  The gap is 3/10ths of a second between Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli.  Then, it's five tenths between Franco Morbidelli and Valentino Rossi.  In the meantime, Cal Cruchlow is closing up on Aleix Espargaro.  It's Crutchlow on the Castrol LCR Honda RC213V #35 vs. Aleix Espargaro aboard the factory Red Bull KTM RC16, bike #44.

We have Maverick Vinales lapping the circuit in the 1:41.3 bracket as well.  We are now into the second half of this motorcycle race in Barcelona.  Alex Rins has run the fastest lap so far but we do not know the lap time he registered.  Oh dear!  I hear that nasty sound of a motorcycle scraping along the pavement.  Someone has gone down.  Someone has ditched their bike.  Pol Espargaro has crashed out of his home Grand Prix.  So, that's one of the factory Red Bull KTM riders over and out.  He just went around Danilo Petrucci but leans too hard into turn one and falls over, dropping the motorcycle.

Quartararo's rear tire may be giving out as Joan Mir is the shark and Jack Miller is definitely the minnow.  He is being gobbled up by the Spaniard.  Franco Morbidelli runs wide into turn one and almost goes down!  He saves it!  That was into the first corner, the same place where Pol Espargaro crashed as he was trying to go by Danilo Petrucci.  Blimey!  Morbidelli did a whale of a job to keep that motorcycle upright.  Joan Mir is chasing Jack Miller.  Also, give a call to Takaaki Nakagami.  The Japanese rider is up to ninth place aboard his #30 Idemitsu sponsored LCR Honda RC213V.  

With eight laps left on the board, on lap 16, Maverick Vinales is way down in 14th spot.  Miller hangs on but another rider, as we can tell by a decelerating engine and scraping on the pavement, has hit the deck.  It's "The Doctor"!  Valentino Rossi is down and out!  The dream is over of trying to win the 2020 MotoGP World Championship.  Rossi is a seven time champion, including five straight titles.  But, the dream of an eighth title will not materialize for "The Doctor" in 2020.  His 200th podium also disappears as he is obviously shaken after falling off the motorcycle and into the gravel trap.

He's on the brakes itno turn one, the right hander, and he went to change direction and the front end of the motorcycle washes out.  From there, Rossi is a passenger and gets pitched off the seat.  The bike rumbles to a stop, on it's side, in the gravel trap.  Game over for Rossi.  Iker Lecuona is also down and out.  The Spanish rider for Red Bull KTM Tech3 has actually crashed four times this weekend.  It's been a pear shaped weekend for him all around and one to erase from his memory bank.  Correction.  Right nation, but wrong rider.  That is Miguel Oliveira whose race has gone pear shaped.  He's fallen off the sister Tech3 KTM, bike #88.  

Tire temperatures are on a knife edge and the two turns we've seen here today in Barcelona that are "calamity corner(s)" have been turn two and turn five.  Alex Rins, meanwhile, is pouring on the steam, making inroads on Jack Miller.  Miller is very close to putting his Ducati on the podium.  Two laps left in this motorcycle race now, as we see Joan Mir in the slipstream of Franco Morbidelli.  Morbidelli tries to defend, but it ain't workin'.  He's having to give way to the Suzuki man.  Alex Rins is also all over Morbidelli like el cheapo suito here.  The Suzuki's have a late turn of speed here in Barcelona.

Tire durability is paramount and the Suzuki boys are very good at nursing tires because their motorcycles are easy on the Michelin rubber.  They just don't overexert their tires.  Suzuki can get the durability out of their tires.  Now, Franco Morbidelli could be on for a podium.  Points as they run, sees Fabio Quartararo extending his lead by eight points over Joan Mir, 108-100.  Third spot belongs to Maverick Vinales, 19 markers behind on 89 points, and in fourth place, Andrea Dovizioso will have to dig himself out of a hole.  He's 24 points behind Quartararo with 84.  Morbidelli is desperate to hang onto the podium.

It's the final lap.  Lap 24.  Half a lap remains here at Barcelona.  Fabio Quartararo is desperate for the checkered flag.  He has fallen off a bit.  The virtual fan wall, is here, as fans watrch from home.  Fabio Quartararo won his first Grand Prix two years ago and got his first podium a year ago.  Fabio Quartararo wins at Catalunya ahead of the Suzuki's of Mir and Rins.  Morbidelli will be gutted, losing a podium.  Quartararo wins ahead of Joan Mir and Alex Rins.  Morbidelli is fourth.  Jack Miller completes the top five.  Sixth through tenth sees Francesco "Pecco" Bagnaia, followed by Takaaki Nakagami, Danilo Petrucci, Maverick Vinales, and Cal Crutchlow.

#20 Fabio Quartararo     FRA.    Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha YZR M1

Two weeks from now, it's the French motorcycle Grand Prix from Le Mans, France, and the Bugatti circuit for motorcycles.  We'll see you there for more MotoGP racing as the we are into the second half of this truncated 2020 MotoGP season.  Adios, from Barcelona. 

MotoGP Round 8: San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini #2 (Emilia Romagna)

We are back, for the second time in as many weeks, on Italy's Adriatic coast at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, for the eighth race of the 2020 MotoGP campaign.  This is officially titled as the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.  Are we set for more magic here at Misano?  Odds are, yes.  We will see how this race turns out.  Across the front row, it is Yamaha with Maverick Vinales on pole, Ducati with Jack Miller in second spot, and third, Fabio Quartararo.  It's the clash of the titans once again, as MotoGP lines up on the grid.  All five lights are on, and when they extinguish, we will be racing another time, here at Misano Adriatico for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Red lights, on.  Red lights, out!  Away we go!  Jack Miller is the one who gets a flyer of a start on the Ducati, zooming past Maverick Vinales' Yamaha.  Maverick Vinales, second, and Fabio Quartararo third, on the opening lap of 27 scheduled here at Misano.  Jack Miller, the Australian, leads this motorcycle race.  Francesco Bagnaia has made a pass on Pol Espargaro as well.  Francesco Bagnaia, team mates at Pramac Ducati with Jack Miller, and Pol Espargaro of course, on the factory Red Bull KTM RC16.  Vinales and Miller rub handlebars between turns two and three, headed through Variante del Parco for the first time.  Vinales makes his move on Miller into the next corner at Rio, the fourth turn on the circuit.  

Maverick Vinales and Yamaha lead from pole.  Valentino Rossi, "The Doctor", is up ahead of Brad Binder and now just behind Pol Espargaro.  Joan Mir on the #36 Ecstar Suzuki runs wide at turn five as he is trying to move up after starting 11th on the grid.  Vinales is where he wants to be.  Now, there's a scrap here, look, for the fourth position on the road.  Francesco "Pecco" Bagnaia is making his move on Fabio Quartararo.  It's tight stuff through there, and oh dear!  Someone has sailed off the road and off the bike!  Who just went down?  That is, from the look of it, last weekend's winner here at Misano, Franco Morbidelli.  He will not do the double at Misano in today's race.

One of the Aprilia's could have also been involved there, and Morbidelli goes from first last week, to this weekend, being caboose on the field.  Brad Binder makes his move on Pol Espargaro, meanwhile, into turn ten at Tramonto.  It's a battle there, look, between the KTM factory riders.  Binder wants to make a move on Fabio Quartararo, but there's a crash!  Valentino Rossi is down and maybe out!  Nope.  It's game over.  Rossi wanted his 200th career podium in MotoGP, but that will not happen today.  Rossi today, is running his 250th race for the factory Yamaha team, but this one at Misano, in Emilio Romagna will be one to forget.

Rossi is back in the saddle but surely he's out of contention.  This also means Rossi will not break into the top three in points before the 2020 season ends.  Wow!  Brad Binder shoots to the inside of Jack Miller!  It's KTM and Ducati scrapping for position.  Binder is into the podium places, but it is game over and heartbreak for Aleix Espargaro.  His factory Gresini Team Aprilia is out of this motorcycle race with mechanical trouble.  He can't believe it.  Game over.  Brad Binder, the standout South African for the factory Red Bull KTM squad is making his move on Jack Miller.

He's nipped past Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia will be the next rider, the next motorcycle, on his shopping list.  "Pecco" Bagnaia is a second away from Maverick Vinales.  Jack Miller runs wide, and Pol Espargaro will move back around him.  Fabio Quartararo also goes by him.  Oh!  Brad Binder has hit the deck!  The KTM rider is down and maybe out.  What a disaster!  Binder, the standout South African was on the podium, and he ditches the motorcycle at turn 15, the next to last corner before the end of the lap.  Disaster for one of the factory KTM riders!

Does anyone want to win the 2020 MotoGP World Championship?  Or, should we just keep the trophy on a shelf and let it collect dust?  Is Binder back in the fight?  Not sure yet.  Close lap times at the front of the field, as Vinales uncorks a 1:32.8 and "Pecco" Bagnaia goes one better at a 1:32.7.  Fabio Quartararo is running fourth and also in the top six, quietly moving his way up, is Danilo Petrucci on the #9 factory Ducati.  Seventh spot is Joan Mir on the Suzuki, and next up in eighth and ninth are two riders we never thought we'd see.  Eighth place is Iker Lecuona on the Tech3 KTM and behind the Spaniard is his countryman, Alex Marquez on the Repsol Honda.

Alex Marquez's brother, multiple world champion Marc Marquez continues to recover from a broken leg he suffered at round two of the championship.  Germany's Stefan Bradl, is filling in for Marc Marquez, running motorcycle #6.  But as of late, Bradl has not been a major factor in any of the races.  Anyhow, Alex Marquez is ninth, directly behind Iker Lecuona.  Wow.  That's amazing!  We ride onboard with Andrea Dovizioso only to watch Aleix Espargaro slide his way off the bike.  He lost control and Franco Morbidelli had nowhere to go, as we also watch again, in replay, Rossi's crash.  Rossi had the front end wash out on his bike while on a full fuel load.

We also see the replay of Brad Binder's incident with the bike spinning like a top, fortunately separate from it's rider.  Petrucci, Miller, Lecuona, and Marquez are all battling for sixth spot.  Francesco Bagnaia is taking time out of Maverick Vinales hand over fist, going for the lead of the motorcycle race.  Oh good grief!  Brad Binder has crashed, again!  Two wrecks in only a few laps for the KTM rider, and this will be race to forget for him and his team.  Brad, it is time to park the bike, forget about this race and rebuild for next weekend's race in Spain.  Details of that event are coming your way, after this one ends.

Francesco Bagnaia has turned the fastest lap of this race so far, on lap six, putting in a 1:32.319.  "Pecco" is on rails and flies through to take the lead away from Maverick Vinales.  Wide on exit is the Italian, and it's a drag race as Maverick Vinales is fighting back on the outside!  It's get your own back time for Bagnaia through Quercia, turn eight.  Vinales got in a little too hot.  Fabio Quartararo just needs to be consistent.  He is fourth, behind Pol Espargaro.  Takaaki Nakagami, also, has been trapped behind Andrea Dovizioso, and is on his way to another top ten finish with six laps left on the board before the finish.

Dovizioso is steadily running mid-1:33 laps.  He is just not on song today at all.  Oh no!  Oh no!  Francesco Bagnaia has crashed out of the lead of this motorcycle race!  Bagnaia, the race leader, has dumped it!  Another monumental twist in the 2020 MotoGP World Championship, and we just saw it with our own eyes!  He had a second advantage over his rivals, whistling off into the distance.  Who is writing this script for MotoGP 2020?  There's a ghostwriter somewhere who is putting this stuff on paper.  I can guarantee that.  Bagnaia's pace was really hot throughout the weekend, and we wondered if he could maintain it.  Apparently not, now that he's crashed out of the race.

He was in strife in the same corner earlier this weekend in practice and qualifying.  That's a hard one to call.  He turned left, the engine revved up, and Bagnaia slid off the motorcycle in turn six before the long backstretch.  The wind has been taken from Bagnaia's sails.  That crash will take a long time to get over and a lot of personal reflection.  Maverick Vinales is leading this motorcycle race over Pol Espargaro and Fabio Quartararo in the other podium places.  The points championship as they run, shows Fabio Quartararo now in the lead on 86 points.  Second place is Maverick Vinales with 83.  Andrea Dovizioso is shown as tied for second with Vinales on 83 points, and Joan Mir is ten markers further back, in fourth, on 73 points.  

Maverick Vinales has a four second lead.  Joan Mir is closing up on Quartararo and Pol Espargaro.  Quartararo wants by Espargaro and is looking, but he has no edge grip right now.  Fabio Quartararo tries the inside at the final turn, Misano corner, but it's not going to work as the KTM rider slams the door in his face.  That was a close one!  VR46 are not having a good day either.  Some top contenders have fallen by the wayside.  Rossi, out.  Bagnaia, out.  Mir is coming, and fast.  Poor Pecco Bagnaia.  He must be in tears.  He must be asking, "what do I have to do to get a better result?  What do I have to do to win?"

Mir and Quartararo are ganging up on Pol Espargaro.  He isn't the smoothest rider in the world.  Just three laps remain in the second MotoGP race at Misano Adriatico in two weekends.  Espargaro can't get drive off the corner, but Joan Mir surely can get drive, and he attacks Fabio Quartararo!  The shark has bitten the surfer here.  He's got Quartararo.  He made the move!  Wow.  That's something to see!  "No Mercy" Mir is fighting hard once again.  Holy cow!  With two laps to go, we have ourselves a points standings update before the checkered flag.  Here's the situation as they run now.  Right now, it shows a three way tie between Quartararo, Vinales, and Dovizioso, with 83 points apiece.  Fourth spot would be Joan Mir, seven points behind, with 76.

Mir made a brilliant move on Quartararo last time by.  Will he try to go for it on Pol Espargaro this time?  Just two laps to go.  Pol holds on, but on the brakes and up the inside, Mir is going to attack.  Bish, bash, bosh, and Mir makes it stick for second spot into turn one.  The Suzuki team are going wild right now, cheering on their man Mir.  Fabio Quartararo has just spoiled Pol Espargaro's podium chances.  Iker Lecuona has dropped like a stone.  But we don't know if he's crashed or if his bike is not working right.  Darn.  Iker Lecuona has indeed crashed out.  Game over.  With Lecuona's misfortune, Andrea Dovizioso has moved up a place.

Pol Espargaro could just reach out and grab a podium place, but now he will have to settle for fourth right in front of Miguel Oliveira, his other KTM stablemate.  In the blink of an eye, Mir has said arriva derci to both Pol Espargaro and Fabio Quartararo basically in one fell swoop.  Maverick Vinales leads and surely his pit crew for the factory Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team have chewed their collective fingernails to the quick, wondering what is going to happen, and if their man can hold on.  Maverick Vinales will have a real shot in the arm, a confidence boost, should he win this motorcycle race.

Going into the next event, Fabio Quartararo would lead the championship standings.  Franco Morbidelli has been ill all weekend and should be in bed, resting, instead of racing.  But he's pushing on, hard.  He's gone past Danilo Petrucci.  He is up to ninth.  Oh no!  Long lap penalty for Fabio Quartararo!  He has to take the long lap!  He won't take it now becausre he wants a podium.  He has been given a track limits warning.  He will lose an podium spot!  Goodness gracious.  Can Quartararo get back after he takes the penalty loopp?  Has he seen seen the message on his dashboard?  Nope.  He will have to incur a time penalty after the race.  In incurring the time penalty, the marshals from the FIM will add the time for going through the long lap, onto his overall race time, which will still cost him a podium place.

Last lap.  Maverick Vinales has been through the ringer, mentally, and critiqued a lot.  But he is going to be another new MotoGP race winner!  Maverick Vinales wins at Misano!  Mir in second.  Quartararo takes a three second penalty so he gives up third to Pol Espargaro.  What's next in MotoGP?  We have now seen six different race winners in seven races in MotoGP 2020!  Unbelievable!  

#12 Maverick Vinales     ESP.     Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha YZR-M1

Still more MotoGP action coming your way.  Next weekend, we are headed to Spain, to Catalunya, actually.  It's the Barcelona Catalunya circuit and the Catalunya Motorcycle Grand Prix.  Looking forward to bringing it to you.  See you next weekend, for more racing MotoGP style.  So long, for now.

MotoGP Round 7: San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini #1

We are set to go, for the first of two back-to-back MotoGP races in San Marino, actually in the town of Misano Adriatico on Italy's Adriatic Sea coast.  Today, and next Sunday, will see races run there.  It's time to bring the action at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.  Your polesitter for today's race, is Maverick Vinales on the factory Monster Energy Yamaha.  Green flag at the back, which means we are ready to roll here at Misano.  Red lights, on.  Red lights, out!  Away we go!  Wow.  Maverick Vinales bogs down at the start and it's Franco Morbidelli taking the lead immediately as the bikes head for the first turn.  Fabio Quartararo gets eaten up, and Jack Miller is pushing his way through the field right from the start of this motorcycle race.  The Ducati rider could be a danger man for victory here.  But, we shall see.

But, right now it is Franco Morbidelli leading this motorcycle race on the #21 Petronas Yamaha YZR M1 ahead of the identical, factory bike, in the hands of the legend, "The Doctor", Valentino Rossi.  Fabio Quartararo got a dreadful start from the front row and has been sent backwards.  An Italian 1-2 at Misano, on the Adriatic coast.  Maverick Vinales is running a defensive line at the moment.  Give a call as well, to the two factory Suzuki's.  The two GSX-RR bikes for Suzuki Ecstar of Joan Mir and Alex Rins, their two Spanish riders, are right in the thick of it, early on.

Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo will have to push like no tomorrow to get by Jack Miller on the second Pramac Racing Ducati, bike #63.  Rossi is side by side with Franco Morbidelli, and we're only on lap one of 27 scheduled!  There's a ding dong scrap for the lead of this motorcycle race that we'll be watching the whole time.  Rossi makes his move into Tramonto corner at turn ten.  He's through, on the tight inside line at Tramonto corner.  Morbidelli says, "not now, Valentino", and slams the door in the legend's face!  Maverick Vinales, meanwhile, is being monstered (no pun intended), by Jack Miller on the Ducati, look.  Alex Rins, too, is catching Fabio Quartararo at the moment.

Seven laps on the board, and Francesco Bagnaia has the fastest lap of the motorcycle race.  "Pecco" is the first rider in the 1:32 bracket.  He is Jack Miller's team mate on the #63 Pramac Ducati, running just ahead of the factory Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso, and right behind Joan Mir's Suzuki.  He's half a second ahead of Mir as well.  So, Bagnaia on the Ducati is bish bash boshing it at the moment.  Oh no!  He's gone down!  Our world championship leader, Fabio Quartararo has lost his motorcycle in a low side crash!

Can you believe it!  Quartararo has bailed out at Rio, turn four on the circuit!  He had just, on the previous lap, made a move on Maverick Vinales through turn 14, Carro, and was making inroads, but now, he's down, but maybe not out.  Let's hope he's going to get the bike re-fired and get back into the race.  Fabio fluffs it!  Unreal!  The marshals are getting his bike restarted so he can get back into the scrap, but he'll have to dig, hard, to get back in the game here.  Points as of now, if the race were to end (but there's still 20 laps left on the board), would see Quatararo losing his championship lead to Andrea Dovizioso on the factory Ducati, who is running ninth right now.  Dovizioso would have 75 points, leading by three over Jack Miller with 72, and Quatararo would be five points out, on 70, with Valentino Rossi, a further ten back, on 65.

That's an uncharacteristic mistake by Fabio Quartararo, but let's not count him out yet.  He's still going.  He is back in the saddle, playing catch up.  Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi, both of them, could capitalize on this whole drama.  Lap 12, and Maverick Vinales, who was an early contender, he is dropping like a stone.  He languishes down in seventh spot behind Joan Mir and ahead of Dovizioso.  He is struggling to keep up the pace in the mid 1:33 bracket.  Alex Rins and Francesco "Pecco" Bagnaia are a second faster, both fo them, than is Vinales.  

So, now, we have reached halfway, on lap 14 of 27 of the MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix, the first encounter the MotoGP bikes will have at this circuit.  Franco Morbidelli continues to lead, and his margin over Valentino Rossi has ballooned to over a second.  Rossi just doesn't have enough in the locker to keep up with Morbidelli, and meanwhile, he is also being hounded by Alex Rins on the second Suzuki.  Francesco Bagnaia is also back there, running in fourth spot, on the Ducati.  So, he is an additional headache for Rossi to deal with.  

Bagnaia is matching Rins on lap time, and Joan Mir has run the fastest lap of this motorcycle race at 1:33 dead.  That's quicker than Franco Morbidelli in the lead.  Jack Miller, in fifth place, is being caught by Mir.  Here's a lap time comparison.  Mir, 1:33.029.  Miller, 1:34.467.  Aussie Jack Miller on the Ducati will have to pour on the steam to catch the Suzuki mounted Spaniard.  Jack Miller is now beginning to languish.  Rins and Bagnaia have practically said adios and arriva derci, and sped away from the Ducati rider.  As good as these riders are, they are the best motorcycle racers on the planet, no one can keep any consistency in this 2020 season.  It's been topsy turvy so far, and might continue in that fashion.

After five races, no one has more than two podium finishes in 2020.  That could continue once we have this first of the San Marino races, done and dusted.  Linn Jarvis at Yamaha is looking on from pit lane, watching the action intently, watching his riders, Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales.  KTM have been running very well this season so far, but here at Misano, they are on the back foot.  They've not got one of their bikes in the top ten.  We don't see either the factory bikes, or the Tech3 bikes at the sharp end.  Brad Binder, Pol Espargaro, Iker Lecuona, and Miguel Oliveira, are you guys there?  Yoohoo!  Oh KTM, where art thou?

Franco Morbidelli is whistling off into the distance in the lead, and knocking down some great lap times.  He sets his personal best lap time at 1:32.748.  This has broken Valentino Rossi.  "The Doctor" might not be able to keep up.  He might just have to settle for second on this day.  Rossi will just have to focus on keeping both Alex Rins and Francesco Bagnaia behind him.  Joan Mir, meanwhile, is racing Jack Miller for position, and Mir is out of the seat!  He wiggles just slightly but keeps the motorcycle planted, thankfully.

Every single point that can be earned in MotoGP, counts.  Just eleven laps remain here at Misano Adriatico.  Time is of the essence.  Franco Morbidelli has bolted.  He is the one to beat in this MotoGP race.  Rossi and Rins are struggling to stay ahad of Francesco Bagnaia.  Bagnaia is faster.  Working lap 17.  Ten laps to go.  Rossi has been doing his level best to keep up with Franco Morbidelli.  But, Morbidelli has been in another zip code this whole race.  Rossi and Rins are still in the 1:33s, but behind them, one more tire, we can see "Pecco" Bagnaia has uncorked yet another high 1:32 second lap.  Maverick Vinales, after 18 laps has finally gotten with the program and is in the low 1:33 range, but it's too little too late for the Spaniard to do anything with that.

Rossi will have to defend like no tomorrow.  He has medium compound Michelin tires on both ends of the bike, while Rins and Bagnaia are actually running soft rear tires.  Game over for Fabio Quartararo.  He is in the pit lane, and will not finish well in this race at Misano, today.  He'll have to try for a better result next week.  Details coming, after the checkered flag.  Rossi has made a mess of his most recent lap, losing a huge chunk of time in sector three on the road.  Rossi is the minnow, while Rins and Bagnaia are the sharks.

Rossi may be one of the kings of Grand Prix bike racing, that's true.  But trying to keep a couple young lions like Rins and Bagnaia behind you, is a job like no other, and he'll have to pour on the steam to do so.  Eight laps left, and Rins can make up time on Rossi, but "Pecco" Bagnaia seems to have other ideas, and flashes past the Suzuki!  Will he do two in one?  That was brave to the extreme by Bagnaia, look.  Rossi is a few feet ahead, but Bagnaia can smell blood now.  That was a bold and brash move made by Francesco Bagnaia on Alex Rins through Curvone.  Unbelievable!  Uh oh.  Someone's gone down.  Someone's crashed out of this motorcycle race.  We just need to find out who.

Fabio Quartararo has crashed out.  This will be a race for him to forget entirely.  That's his second crash of the day.  Apologies to all fans of Franco Morbidelli as we first assumed that the leader had wrecked.  But, no.  He's still leading this motorcycle race with just seven laps left on the board.  Our hearts were fluttering there for a wee while!  Blimey!  Meanwhile, the sign of a legend and champion, Rossi is not cracking under pressure from his younger rivals.  He's still hanging on over Rins and Mir, the two hot shoes for the Suzuki team.  

Oh, will you look at that. While yours truly has been yammering on about this motorcycle race, the laps have ticked by and there's just two left now.  Rins wants by Rossi, and Rossi, he too, is wanting to get past Bagnaia.  This is a bottleneck of the highest order as these chaps battle for whatever positions they can get after Morbidelli has checked out.  Now, things are not all wine and roses for Morbidelli yet.  He's lost a second or so over the last lap run.  So he still has to push.  He still has to be bish bash boshing it as we close in on the checkers.  Vinales has set his personal best lap.  I wish timing and scoring would show that lap time to us, folks.  But I suppose not.

Joan Mir has passed Alex Rins, resetting the table, look, for the Suzuki Ecstar boys.  Hmmm.  That could be that particular battle, done and dusted, mate.  Ooh!  Rossi very nearly ditched the motorcycle on entry to turn one!  How did he get that close to the pavement without losing the bike completely?!  That was weird!  Rins could have also made a mistake.  Now, poor old Morbidelli is dropping pace hand over fist here, look.  He's going to have to fight for this one.  Again, it's not all wine and roses yet.  The fat lady has not sung.  It's the last lap of the motorcycle race, but it's not done.

Mir is going to have a bite of the cherry, trying to go after Rossi.  This'll be wild.  Eat the cherry, mate.  Just don't swallow the pit.  Rossi wants his 200th career MotoGP podium.  But he will have to earn it.  Mir doesn't have enough to get past Rossi through Quercia, turn eight, and Alex Rins, he's gotten smoked.  I don't think he has the power to move in on this scrum for second spot.  What a mega race we've seen here at Misano.  It's not done.  The fat lady is just warming up.  You have to believe Rossi will have something at turn fourteen.  But, ahhh!  Here's come Mir!  Mir is going for it, and they're almost touching!

What a move by Mir!  He's only in his sophomore season in MotoGP and he wants to be a winner!  Bravo Joan Mir!  But Rossi, he's steamed.  He wants to throw the kitchen sink at Joan Mir and give him back a taste of his own medicine!  Rossi is going to make the move, on the outside through Carro!  He's wide!  It's all gone pear shaped for Rossi!  "The Doctor" is going to need a dose of medicine after this one!  Mir ran the super tight line and beat the champ into the corner.  Franco Morbidelli, meanwhile, is going to win his first ever MotoGP race!

Mir takes third, but it's samba time for Franco Morbidelli!  He wins!  Francesco Bagnaia, broken leg and all, takes second for Ducati!  2020 MotoGP, we love you!  What a finish here in Misano!  Rossi is gutted!  Jeepers creepers!  Poor old Rossi.  It's a shame he can't be on that podium.

#21 Franco Morbidelli     ITA.     Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha YZR-M1

More action, suspense, drama, coming your way.  Get ready for round two here at Misano Adriatico, round eight of the championship, next Sunday!  If this weekend's race was any indication, next weekend will also be a barn burner!  Arriva derci, from Italy, for now, ladies and gentlemen.  We'll see you next weekend for more MotoGP madness.