MotoGP™: Bagnaia wins on home soil as Michelin helps more records tumble

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) scored his second victory in as many weekends by winning the Gran Premio Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, Round 14 of the 2021 MotoGPTM World Championship. The Italian was joined on the podium by Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and rookie Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama), while the MICHELIN Power Slick range contributed to new track-lap, race-lap and shortest race-duration records for Misano. 

After collecting his first premier class win last Sunday at Aragon, Spain, Bagnaia succeeded in making it two in a row at Misano.

The Ducati rider got away to a flying start from pole position and, aided by the outstanding warm-up performance of his hard and soft MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear, soon pulled out a gap over his pursuers. With a third of the 27-lap race completed, the margin stood at 2.5 seconds.

Meanwhile, Quartararo took advantage of the grip and consistency of his hard and medium MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear to find a way past Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) into second spot on Lap 14.

The championship leader went on to establish contact with the day’s eventual winner in the closing laps, but Bagnaia defended strongly to not only take the win but also shave 7.5 seconds off the previous shortest race-duration record for the circuit.

Third place went to the surprising Bastianini who posted the best result of his fledgling MotoGPTM career to date after climbing from 12th on the grid, clocking the fastest race lap (1m32.242s) in the process on Lap 17.

The day’s top six was rounded out by Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), Miller and Joan Mir (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR).

The complete MICHELIN Power Slick and Rain range was used in Misano where Michelin contributed to new track-lap (1m31.065s/Bagnaia), race-lap and shortest race-duration records. Four of the six available slicks were chosen for the grand prix, with two different combinations finishing in the top-three to provide yet another example of the range’s versatility.

Quartararo continues to top the provisional Riders’ standings on 234 points, 48 and 67 points clear of Bagnaia and Mir with four rounds remaining.

The program also included the last two rounds of the 2021 FIM Enel MotoETM World Cup. Saturday’s race was won by Jordi Torres, but the HP Pons 40 rider fell on the last lap of the second clash, handing first place to Matteo Ferrari (Indonesian E-Racing Gresini Moto). However, that didn’t prevent Torres from claiming the crown for the second year running to conclude a successful season for the latest-generation MICHELIN Power MotoETM tires which stand out through the fact that the proportion of sustainable materials they contain amounts to 33 percent (front) and 40 percent (rear).

Next round: Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, Austin, Texas, USA (October 1-3).