Reigning World Champion Marc Márquez claimed his fourth victory of the season after overhauling long-time leader Danilo Petrucci on the final lap of a wet San Marino Grand Prix at Misano.
Rain throughout the day at Misano left the circuit wet. And Márquez shadowed Petrucci for much of the race after early leader Jorge Lorenzo crashed out. Before sweeping past the Pramac rider on the last of 28 laps.
Márquez win means he moves into the lead of the championship, level on points with Andrea Dovizioso, who came home in third position, the pair split on countback of second places.
Maverick Viñales started from pole. But his track advantage lasted mere seconds. As Lorenzo shot into the lead from the middle of the second row.
Lorenzo leapt clear at a rapid rate and opened a four-second lead over Márquez, as the Repsol Honda rider came under pressure from Petrucci, the Pramac rider making swift progress from eighth on the grid.
Márquez appeared to be struggling and gestured with his foot to the pit wall after a handful of laps, just as Petrucci moved ahead for second. Moments later, Lorenzo’s initial work was undone as he high-sided through Turn 6, handing the lead of the race to Petrucci, as he, Márquez and Dovizioso broke clear.
The trio posted similar lap times for the bulk of the race before Dovizioso dropped away, leaving Petrucci and Márquez clear to contest victory. Márquez hounded Petrucci on the penultimate lap and used his superior exit from Turn 16 to move ahead as the pair began the final lap, completing his overtake under braking for Turn 1.
Márquez quickly pulled clear, denying Petrucci the opportunity to fight back, and crossed the line 1.1s clear of the Italian. Dovizioso ultimately came home 11 seconds adrift, having lacked pace in the closing stages. Viñales had a lonely run to fourth place.
Ducati wildcard rider Michele Pirro captured a fine fifth, passing Marc VDS’ Jack Miller. Who nonetheless equalled his best result of the campaign in sixth. Scott Redding was seventh, ahead of Suzuki rookie Álex Rins. While Tech 3’s Jonas Folger and KTM’s Bradley Smith rounded out the top 10, the quartet all staying out of trouble to improve on their grid spots.
Pol Espargaró was unable to stay with team-mate Smith and claimed 11th, ahead of Álvaro Bautista and Cal Crutchlow. Crutchlow held fifth spot early on but crashed and lost ground, before remounting to take 13th position.
Dani Pedrosa struggled throughout. He plummeted down the order early on, even being passed by Crutchlow, despite the Briton suffering a crash.
Johann Zarco held 7th place on the final lap. But he run out of fuel during the closing stages and had to push his bike across the line. Zarco determination was rewarded as he finished in 15th place, adding a further point to his tally.
Loris Baz ran as high as sixth before crashing and compounded matters by hitting the floor again. And he finished a lapped 16th, ahead only of Karel Abraham, who fell on the first lap. Sam Lowes held a place inside the top 10 before crashing out, his fifth fall of the weekend. While team-mate Aleix Espargaró also failed to finish after taking a tumble.
