After suffering a DNF at Indy, Rossi wins at Misano and extends his lead with only four races remaining

Ron Lieback
AllAboutBikes.com Content Editor/Staff Writer

The Fiat Yamaha rider, winning before a home crowd of strong supporters for the second year in a row at Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, now has a 30-point lead over his teammate Jorge Lorenzo in the MotoGP Championship.

The Italian finished 2.416 seconds before the Spaniard Lorenzo, with Dani Pedrosa putting in another podium finish for the Repsol Honda 12.4 seconds behind Rossi. It was the six-time world champion’s sixth first-place finish this season, and also the fifth “one-two” finish for Fiat Yamaha. 

“This is a great feeling,” Rossi said. “It’s taken me some time to get used to Misano and view it as a ‘home’ race because Mugello is so special to me, but I can honestly say that winning here today, in front of everyone dressed in yellow and with 46s everywhere, is a great emotion and I want to thank everyone for making it so special. Today I had to go quite carefully with the full tank at the start and I took some time to get to the front but once I was there it was great and my bike felt fantastic.”  

Rossi started from the pole, but initially didn’t expect to be competitive during the 28-lap race at Misano, the DNF at Indy placing much pressure on the No. 46 team: “Since Indianapolis, when I made that mistake, we have been so focused and concentrated and everyone deserves this result. I was the ‘flying donkey’ today! I am happy that we are going into a month without racing with these memories and this points lead, but as we saw in Indy everything can change quickly so we will be fully focused once again in Estoril when we come back.” 

Rossi dropped to third at the start, with Pedrosa and Toni Elías on the San Carlo Honda Gresini battling up front for the lead. Lorenzo kept his bike from the ground when the other San Carlo Honda Greisin rider, Alex de Angelis, went down during the first corner and crashed out. Crashing with de Angelis were Americans Colin Edwards on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 and Nicky Hayden on the Ducati Marlboro.

After the wreck, Hayden had some words with de Angelis, later stating: “To be honest I had a feeling de Angelis might create some drama here. He’s at home and fighting for his job and when I saw him in the corner of my eye I just tried to gas it and get out of his way. Unfortunately he slightly clipped my rear wheel and that was the last I knew about it. I know in racing people can make mistakes and I have done plenty in my life but I’m not happy with Alex because this wasn’t racing - it was just stupid to try and pull a move like that on cold tires, in the second corner on the first lap. Anyway, we’re all OK and looking forward to Portugal.”

After barely escaping the crash, Lorenzo soon passed Rossi for third, but on the fifth lap, Rossi passed Lorenzo and Elias and began chasing down Pedrosa. Lorenzo soon passed Elias, grabbing third.