MotoGP™: Valencia honours for Morbidelli, as Mir clinches title!

The Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana – Round 14 of the 2020 MotoGPTM World Championship – as won by Franco Morbidelli. The Yamaha Petronas SRT rider was joined on the Valencia podium by Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) and Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Racing Factory), while seventh place sufficed for Joan Mir (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) to make certain of this season’s Riders’ crown. The MICHELIN Power Slick provided further evidence of its versatility with the top four finishers in Spain running two different tyre combinations. 

A near-perfect weekend for Morbidelli saw him qualify on pole position and claim his third win of the year.

Miller was first out of Turn 1 from second on the grid, but the Italian – racing on hard and medium MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear – regained control during the first of the afternoon’s 27 laps.

He then focused on pulling out a gap to his Australian challenger (medium compound front and rear) who fought back in the closing stages to post the fastest race lap and put Morbidelli under pressure. He even appeared in front briefly during the last lap, but the Yamaha rider responded to pick up the third MotoGPTM victory of his career, albeit by a margin of just 0.093s.

For the record, Morbidelli completed the 27 laps almost 15 seconds faster than last week’s victor at the same venue, Joan Mir.

Pol Espargaro scored his second podium finish is as many weekends and Alex Rins (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) fought back remarkably from 14th on the gridto pocket fourth spot, aided by the lasting performance of his hard and medium MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear.

The top four featured four different bikemakers, while Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Racing Factory) and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) rounded out the top six.

Seventh over the line was Mir who added to Suzuki’s Constructors’ crown by putting the seal on his first MotoGPTM world title at the age of just 23. He is the brand’s first representative to take the coveted prize since Kenny Roberts Junior in 2000.

By becoming premier-class motorcycle racing’s 15th world champion, the Spaniard provided Michelin with its 31st title.

On the tyre front, the track temperature of 27°C led to just three of the available Michelin tyre specifications being selected for the race. All of the riders opted for the medium front and the hard compound was the favoured choice for the rear, although some exceptions – including Miller – went for mediums all-round.

With one round of the championship to come, the chief focus in Portugal will be on the battle for 2020’s silver and bronze medals. Morbidelli and Rins are currently second and third in the provisional standings, split by just four points.

Next round: Grande Prémio MEO de Portugal, Portimão, Portugal (November 20-22).