After the stunning racing we saw under the beautiful weather at Silverstone two weeks ago, Andrea Dovizioso heads to Misano as the championship leader, after a victory at the British circuit saw him rise to the top as his closest rival, Marc Marquez, suffered an engine failure.
When it looked to be Valentino Rossi’s victory, Dovizioso fought to the top to take the title of “winner of the most GP races this season”, wtith four wins tucked firmly under his belt.
But Rossi has suffered a blow – no, not engine like his Repsol rival Marquez, but a broken leg which will see him sit out his home round at Misano this weekend. With Rossi out, Maverick Viñales will be flying the factory Yamaha flag solo and all eyes will fall to Dovizioso to take a home victory.
In the last ten years, Dovizioso’s best finish at Misano has been fourth with a smattering of top ten finishes. Last year, he finished as the top Ducati in sixth place but ‘DesmoDovi’ has something behind him this year that he didn’t before – a championship lead. An overall lead is sure to boost Dovi’s confidence as he heads into his home round and with his recent form, he cannot be ruled out at Misano this weekend.
Marc Marquez will be looking to make amends, and with a nine point deficit on Dovizioso he will need to act fast. Marquez ended Honda’s winning drought at the track in 2015, the first since 2010, and is the second most successful rider at Misano since MotoGP returned to the circuit behind Jorge Lorenzo. On paper Marquez looks great here but whether he can add to his impressive CV is another question, especially with the grid looking stronger than it ever has.
Viñales is slowly creeping up on the Spaniard, with only four points separating second and third. Dani Pedrosa is the only other likely title contender even though he sits nine points behind Rossi overall. Rossi’s hopes of a tenth title are now just a dot on the horizon of the 2018 season.
Pedrosa won at Misano last year, with a 2.8s gap over Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo a further 1.5s behind. Even though Lorenzo has had a tough time adjusting and performing with the Ducati, he’s creeping up slowly. A fifth place finish at Silverstone with only 3.5s between him and the race winner is nothing but a confidence boost – something Lorenzo so desperately needs.
So what can we expect from the Italian GP? Drama, action and not as much yellow as we usually see.
Don’t forget Moto2 and Moto3 either. With Italian Franco Morbidelli grasping onto the championship lead, he’ll be working harder than ever in front of his home crowd to extend his point difference and take a victory for his crowd. His fellow Italians, Mattia Pasini and Francesco Bagnaia are looking stronger by the race, and they too will be pushing to experience victory in front of the Italian fans.
In Moto3, it is two Spaniards leading the way. Joan Mir is looking pretty set to take the title, but championships aren’t won in September. He has a healthy 62 point lead over Aron Canet, but never rule out the feisty Italian Romano Fenati who is just two points behind Canet in the standings.
All the action from the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli begins tomorrow morning at 8am (UK).
