Andrea Dovizioso scored a
straightforward third win of the MotoGP season at Misano ahead of Marc Marquez,
as Jorge Lorenzo crashed out of second place. Dovizioso scored Ducati's third
successive race win - the first time the Italian marque has taken a hat-trick
since 2008 - after scything his way from fourth on the grid in the opening laps
and then setting a pace his adversaries couldn't match.
Lorenzo and Marquez managed to
close the gap in the latter stages until the former slid out at the Turn 8
left-hander on the penultimate lap, which left Dovizioso with a clear run to
victory. Poleman Lorenzo hung onto the lead in the opening sequence of corners
ahead of fellow front-row starter Jack Miller, as Marquez jumped to third ahead
of Dovizioso.
But by the end of the lap Dovizioso
had cleared both Marquez and Miller to move into second, and on the sixth lap
of 27 he eased past Lorenzo on the run down to the Turn 8 left-hander to assume
command. By that time, Pramac Ducati man Miller had crashed out of what had
become fourth, leaving the leading trio with a significant gap over the rest. Dovizioso
lead was hovering at less than a second until he set a new fastest lap on lap nine
and five laps later his advantage had grown to nearly two seconds.
Marquez and Lorenzo, engaged in a
thrilling scrap over second, edged back towards Dovizioso in the final five
laps but the Italian was able to stabilize his gap and finally take the
chequered flag by 2.8s after Lorenzo's crash. Behind Marquez, LCR Honda's Cal
Crutchlow - who ran a lonely fourth for most of the race - was promoted to the
final podium spot, a further 4s down on Marquez, followed by Suzuki man Alex
Rins. Yamaha's Maverick Vinales failed to make the most of his front-row
starting spot, slipping to fifth on the opening lap and ultimately ending up in
the same position.
Teammate
Valentino Rossi had a similarly indifferent run to seventh behind the second
works Honda of Dani Pedrosa. Andrea Iannone (Suzuki), Alvaro Bautista (Nieto
Ducati) and Johann Zarco (Tech 3 Yamaha) completed the top 10.
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