Misano MotoGP 2019: Marc Marquez wins

The 2019 MotoGP Grand Prix of San Marino served up yet another late twist, with World Champion Marc Marquez passing Fabio Quartararo with a stunning move on the final lap to bag the win.

Quartararo led for the bulk of the race but could never put any distance between himself and Marquez. The standings leader, who was overtaken in the final lap of both the British and Austrian Grand Prix, out braked his rival late to cross the finish line first.

Valentino Rossi finished in fourth place, behind Maverick Vinales. Marquez's championship lead is now up to 93 points, moving ever closer to a sixth MotoGP world title. Vinales got way cleanly, while Marquez quickly moved up to third place, passing Franco Morbidelli. Andrea Dovizioso did not have a good start, finding himself in eighth place and well behind his main rivals.

Marquez and Vinales engaged in a battle for second place, giving Quartararo the opportunity to build an early lead at the front. Pol Espargaro bravely battled to keep hold of fifth place in the background but was eventually overtaken by Rossi. Marquez patiently hunted down Quartararo, dropping Vinales easily. The latter had a handful of poor laps in a row, but once he regained his composure, he was able to keep the gap under three seconds. With nine laps to race, Alex Rins' race came to an abrupt end when he lost traction in a corner. Cal Crutchlow also crashed out.

Rossi kept climbing, passing Morbidelli into fourth place, but all eyes turned to the front as the end of the race drew near. Marquez patiently waited before unleashing his attack with three laps to go and briefly took the lead, only to run wide and lose it again.

MotoGP 2016: Grand Prix of San Marino

Dani Pedrosa ended his five-race MotoGP podium drought with a stunning victory at Misano as the Repsol Honda rider denied home hero Valentino Rossi a dream result in front of his passionate fans.

Rossi took the lead from his Movistar Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo on the second lap and set his pace for much of the race, but it was Pedrosa who emerged as the surprise threat as the 30 year old Spaniard set a series of record laps to reel in the top three of Rossi, Lorenzo and championship leader Marc Marquez. Pedrosa snatched third place from team-mate Marquez with a clinical pass at turn 14, and three laps later he made the same move on Lorenzo, quickly pulling away from the Yamaha rider as he set off in pursuit of Rossi.

The Italian advantage at the front was visibly reducing as Pedrosa maintained his relentless charge, slashing Rossi lead from one second to 0.4 seconds with a few laps. Pedrosa continued to apply the pressure and with six laps remaining, he was now right on Rossi’s tail and the inevitable overtake came at the beginning of lap 22, with Pedrosa making a block pass on the brakes.

The difference between them at the finish was 2.8 seconds as Pedrosa returned to the premier class rostrum after a run of five races without a top three finish – his longest spell without a podium since its 125cc GP days. It was also Pedrosa first MotoGP win since Sepang in 2015. Pole men Lorenzo consolidated third place on the second of the Movistar Yamaha machines, 4.3 seconds behind Pedrosa, while championship leader Marquez was a lonely fourth, his lead in the standings reduced by seven points to 43 points by nine-time world Champion Rossi.