MotoGP with Boris – Fear and anger come to Misano

MotoGP 2022 – Round 14 – Misano

With Boris Mihailovic

I love watching the races in Misano. Hopefully one day I will actually go there in person if I can convince myself to leave nearby Tavullia, where I look forward to following in God’s footsteps for a while.

This year, Misano threatened rain, but instead provided blazing sunshine on race day. It got a little wet during practice, which kept riders brave enough to discuss the cut with excitement.

Of course, Jack Miller was certainly brave enough – and fast. All the Ducatis, and all the Italians. The Rossi Academy boys all showed off a quick pace, and the Mooney VR46 team even put special paint pads on their bikes that made my eyes ache and smile.

But Maverick Vinales is also very fast. It is so ominous. Maverick likes Misano. He won there in the past, back when he was less crazy. I think he’s getting great treatment at the moment, because he’s close to finishing in a couple of races. His teammates? Not much. The captain, Aleix Espargaro, seems to be struggling. Or getting back to his normal form… well, that’s getting in the way. I was predicting that the wheel would depreciate his championship after the summer break.

It was also the last race of Andrea Dovizioso. This makes me a bit sad. I’ve been following Dovi for almost as long as I’ve watched Valentino, and even though he’s never won a championship, longtime bridesmaids that he is, on a fine day, he’s played as well as it has been. yes.

You’ll recall him as one of the few who was able to hit Marquez, and their battles were epic. But Dovi had a year off, and when he returned on a satellite Yamaha to team up with Binder Junior, his performance was less than stellar.

Riders seem to get faster year after year, and usually less than a second separate the first 12 on the starting grid. It’s brutal, and Dovi, like Rossi, hasn’t aged at all. He cashed in on his chips and was walking happily and heartily, from a sport that made racers smash like old bottles. Just hearing Marc Marquez chat with Carlos Checa on Saturday and compare his dreaded arm surgeries to Checa’s dreaded hip surgeries is an eye-opener.

And while on the subject of terrorism, the one who caused the most terror in Europe that weekend had to be Kazuki Watanabe. Kazuki-san had been brought in to replace Mir, who had broken his ankle first round, and he looked a bit horrified by the whole thing.

One cannot blame him. He last rode Misano over a decade ago, and he has never ridden a MotoGP bike. He was steadily slower than five or six seconds a lap, and was the first rider I’ve ever seen before the last leaders, in ages. Trailers behind were once a thing, and they can make or break a race because the leads have to go around them. Kazuki-san made sure he dodged as soon as Peco and Beast charged.

Sunday’s grid is the manifestation of all the things I just mentioned. Jack got on the line, for the first time in a long time. Next to him were Beast and Bezzecchi. Both of them have ridden Misano a billion times – and may have been conceived there. As did Luca Marini, who started back in seventh place.

Maverick is fourth, Bagnaia is fifth after suffering a three-place penalty for obstructing Alex Marquez in FP1, although the reason why anyone cares about Alex being thwarted is other than me. Anyway, he’s not that fast. Zarco ended up in the front row.

Fabulous is back eighth, and next to him is Aleix. So the two at the top of the championship ladder weren’t quick in the Qualifiers.

The top of the grid is what makes it Turn One in the order in which they start – Jack, Beast and Bezzecchi. Behind them, Zarco, Pirro and Pol Espargaro, in Round One, removed two Ducatis from the race and a Honda HRC (again).

Maverick is in fourth place, and Jack finds himself ruthlessly pursued by the Beast. All too cruel. Jack as well as Bezzecchi, and the race is now Beast in the lead, Bagnaia in hot pursuit, with Maverick and Luca Marini in good contact with them.

Everyone looks dangerous with intentions. The Beast almost lost the point when he pushed the ball very hard to create a break, which allowed Pecco to pass.

Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio also found the pebble and headed to the bathroom, while Fabulous was still finding his pace and seeing the best route around Aleix Espargaro, who was in fifth place.

Maverick has found his speed. He passed Beast fiercely, looking inch by inch the old Maverick. People who have won races. Then, Marini started closing in on Beast, and Bagnaia overtook Maverick, and suddenly Beast was the fastest on the track. Great passing a vast Captain, while Vinales doesn’t let Bagnaia escape, just like Marini doesn’t let Beast run away.

Over the next two laps, as Fabulous climbed above the top four, everyone behind Bagnaia went faster than him. Maverick’s pass to Bagnaia started to look inevitable.

Jack, meanwhile, re-entered the race and came back in 18th place. We never saw him again, because this year’s TV show can’t afford to let you see any anything other than the front runners.

Beast and Luca swap places twice, and while Maverick continues to outrun Pecco, he just can’t outrun him. The race came to a standstill in a few laps.

With eight more rounds to go, Beast decided his fuel was light enough and took second place from Maverick. His usual late race continues to count. And he will definitely reach Bagnaia, just 0.6 seconds ahead.

The two of them have now left Maverick behind, while Fabuolus competes with Luca Marini for fourth place. Unless Maverick falls, there won’t be a podium for either of them. I’m not sure Fabulous cares much about that as he is interested in finishing against Aleix, and prolonging the championship there.

That would certainly have been possible without Pecco Bagnaia winning the race, and Beast was determined to make it happen. I got up to watch the last two laps. He was so close! But Pecco has kept him, and I think there’s one more lap left to go, and the Beast will have a crack – and Pecco’s championship hopes will likely go up in smoke for both of them.

That won’t make Ducati happy. And I am sure that Enea Bastianini is not a fool. He came so hard against Pecco six corners from the end, he had to jump on the brakes to avoid hitting him from behind, and that’s probably what could cost him the win. That’s right, he finished just three hundredths of a second behind his Italian compatriot.

And now Pecco is second on the championship ladder. He’s on four straight wins and looks to be in the top form of his career. But Fabulous has never driven better or smarter. He’s got a solid lead in the championship and he knows what he has to do to win it a second time.

As for whether he does it or not, we’ll see. And we’ll see the beginning of this at Aragon in two weeks’ time, before they load the whole circus onto a bunch of planes headed towards our world.

This year’s championship will definitely go down the wire.

Misano MotoGP race results 2022

MotoGP Championship Score Ranking

MotoGP 2022 Calendar