Marc Marquez fights to the finish for fourth, Pol Espargaro earns seventh at Misano 19.09.2021: Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini MotoGP 2021 Round 14 The Repsol Honda Team earned another double top-ten finish as both Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro pushed until the finish line for fourth and seventh respectively, each p

Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini
MotoGP 2021   Round 14



The Repsol Honda Team earned another double top-ten finish as both Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro pushed until the finish line for fourth and seventh respectively, each pleased with how their Sundays played out.



After a calm and productive Warm Up session where Marquez and Espargaro finished 11th and 12th, everyone’s attention turned, as always recently, to the weather as clouds gathered. Light spits of rain fell as the MotoGP riders prepared to go to the grid but the rain would ultimately stay away and the 27-lap San Marino Grand Prix was run in the dry.



There was not a moment’s hesitation when the lights went out, Marc Marquez shooting forward on his RC213V and hustling himself into the top five. On lap four of the race Marquez moved past Aleix Espargaro and up into fourth position with Enea Bastianini launching an assault on the eight-time World Champion just a few laps later. Marquez stayed with the Ducati rider until mid-race when Alex Rins slipped past the #93, but Rins would fall on lap 17.



Steady pace in the latter stages of the race saw Marquez gain on Miller in fourth, the pair joined by defending World Champion Joan Mir as they fought it out to the line. A great final half of the lap saw Marquez gain an advantage on the back straight and used the power of his Honda RC213V to fire out of the last corner and lock in fourth place.



This is Marquez’s first back-to-back top five finishes since his return from injury. He holds 92 points and ninth in the World Championship standings.



Pol Espargaro was also quick off the line from sixth on the grid, making up ground as the lights went out and beginning to battle with the top five through the opening corners. The start had him well placed to fight with Alex Rins as the pair chased down Espargaro’s Repsol Honda Team teammate just ahead in the early laps. Lapping in the 1’32s for almost every single lap of the race, Espargaro was able to continue the progress he has shown throughout the weekend as his understanding of and performance with the RC213V grows.



On the last lap Espargaro moved past brother Aleix for seventh place, his seventh top ten result of the season. Pleased with the pace he showed in the race, Espargaro is eager for two more days on track. The result gives the #44 64 World Championship points, 14th overall.


All five Honda RC213V machines finished inside the points at the San Marino Grand Prix. The riders won’t have to wait long before they’re back on track as the Italian circuit will host a two-day test on Tuesday and Wednesday.   
    
       




    
Marc Marquez  93
4TH  


“I am really happy with our performance today because honestly speaking I was not expecting this result today! At the start I was calm and honestly not riding very fast, but step by step we went faster and our feeling improved. The key point was staying calm in the first laps and pushing at the end, I’m quite proud about the last part of the race because I brought Mir with me.


In practice it was a little different, I was following him, but in the race, he was following me and we caught Jack. In the last lap I didn’t feel like I could fight, but Mir and Miller went wide and I saw my opportunity! It was nice and now we get ready for a really important two-day test here.”         

    



       
Pol Espargaro  44
7TH  


“At the end of the day I am surprised with the rhythm we had in the race because during the weekend I was struggling to get under the 33.0 time, but we did the race under this every lap. We were also able to finish just three seconds behind my teammate, of course the position is not what we are aiming for but this is a better situation than I was expecting.


We started in the second row and finished seventh, a little off the top four and we should be happy with this result. We’ll carry the positive vibe into the Tuesday and Wednesday test and keep working. Of course there are still some things to work on and it will be a busy test but I feel like we have made a step and there’s more to come.”         

    
       
    
    San Marino Grand Prix Race Results


1    BAGNAIA Francesco     63    ITA    25    Ducati Lenovo Team    Ducati    41'48.305
2    QUARTARARO Fabio     20    FRA    20    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha    0.364
3    BASTIANINI Enea     23    ITA    16    Avintia Esponsorama    Ducati    4.789
4    MARQUEZ Marc     93    SPA    13    Repsol Honda Team    Honda    10.245
5    MILLER Jack     43    AUS    11    Ducati Lenovo Team    Ducati    10.469
6    MIR Joan     36    SPA    10    Team Suzuki Ecstar    Suzuki    10.325
7    ESPARGARO Pol     44    SPA    9    Repsol Honda Team    Honda    13.234
8    ESPARGARO Aleix     41    SPA    8    Aprilia Racing Team Gresini    Aprilia    15.698
9    BINDER Brad     33    RSA    7    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    16.129
10    NAKAGAMI Takaaki     30    JPN    6    LCR Honda    Honda    18.519
11    PIRRO Michele     51    ITA    5    Ducati Test Team    Ducati    20.373
12    ZARCO Johann     5    FRA    4    Pramac Racing    Ducati    21.066
13    VINALES Maverick     12    SPA    3    Aprilia Racing Team Gresini    Aprilia    21.258
14    BRADL Stefan     6    GER    2    Team HRC    Honda    28.142
15    MARQUEZ Alex     73    SPA    1    LCR Honda    Honda    30.686
16    PETRUCCI Danilo     9    ITA    0    Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing    KTM    32.654
17    ROSSI Valentino     46    ITA    0    Petronas Yamaha SRT    Yamaha    33.853
18    MORBIDELLI Franco     21    ITA    0    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha    36.272
19    MARINI Luca     10    ITA    0    SKY VR46 Avintia    Ducati    36.839
20    OLIVEIRA Miguel     88    POR    0    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    37.202
21    DOVIZIOSO Andrea     4    ITA    0    Petronas Yamaha SRT    Yamaha    42.587
22    RINS Alex     42    SPA    0    Team Suzuki Ecstar    Suzuki    DNF
23    LECUONA Iker     27    SPA    0    Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing    KTM    DNF
24    MARTIN Jorge     89    SPA    0    Pramac Racing    Ducati    DNF
    
    
       
Rider Standings

1    QUARTARARO Fabio     20    FRA    234    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha
2    BAGNAIA Francesco     63    ITA    186    Ducati Lenovo Team    Ducati
3    MIR Joan     36    SPA    167    Team Suzuki Ecstar    Suzuki
4    ZARCO Johann     5    FRA    141    Pramac Racing    Ducati
5    MILLER Jack     43    AUS    140    Ducati Lenovo Team    Ducati
6    BINDER Brad     33    RSA    124    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM
7    ESPARGARO Aleix     41    SPA    104    Aprilia Racing Team Gresini    Aprilia
8    VINALES Maverick     12    SPA    98    Aprilia Racing Team Gresini    Aprilia
9    MARQUEZ Marc     93    SPA    92    Repsol Honda Team    Honda
10    OLIVEIRA Miguel     88    POR    87    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM
11    MARTIN Jorge     89    SPA    71    Pramac Racing    Ducati
12    NAKAGAMI Takaaki     30    JPN    70    LCR Honda    Honda
13    RINS Alex     42    SPA    68    Team Suzuki Ecstar    Suzuki
14    ESPARGARO Pol     44    SPA    64    Repsol Honda Team    Honda
15    BASTIANINI Enea     23    ITA    61    Avintia Esponsorama    Ducati
16    MARQUEZ Alex     73    SPA    50    LCR Honda    Honda
17    MORBIDELLI Franco     21    ITA    40    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha
18    LECUONA Iker     27    SPA    38    Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing    KTM
19    PETRUCCI Danilo     9    ITA    37    Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing    KTM
20    MARINI Luca     10    ITA    28    SKY VR46 Avintia    Ducati
21    ROSSI Valentino     46    ITA    28    Petronas Yamaha SRT    Yamaha
22    BRADL Stefan     6    GER    13    Team HRC    Honda
23    PIRRO Michele     51    ITA    8    Ducati Test Team    Ducati
24    PEDROSA Dani     26    SPA    6    KTM Test Team    KTM
25    SAVADORI Lorenzo     32    ITA    4    Aprilia Racing Team Gresini    Aprilia
26    RABAT Tito     53    SPA    1    Pramac Racing    Ducati
    
    
    

    
    
Team Standings

1    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP    329
2    Ducati Lenovo Team    326
3    Team Suzuki Ecstar    235
4    Pramac Racing    216
5    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    211
6    Repsol Honda Team    163
7    LCR Honda    120
8    Aprilia Racing Team Gresini    111
9    Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing    75
10    Petronas Yamaha SRT    68
11    Avintia Esponsorama    61
12    SKY VR46 Avintia    28
13    KTM Test Team    6
14    Team HRC    6
15    Ducati Test Team    5
    


Constructor Standings

1    Ducati    275
2    Yamaha    262
3    Suzuki    184
4    KTM    178
5    Honda    148
6    Aprilia    105
    


    


 Repsol Honda Team - MotoGP, also photos