Misano GP Sprint Race reports/results/points + Moto2/3/E

MotoGP 2023

Round 12 – Misano

MotoGP Sprint Race Report

Jorge Martin got the exact launch he’d have wanted from pole as he grabbed the holeshot into Turn 1, as Bagnaia powered his way around the outside of Bezzecchi in to second place. Pedrosa went from fifth to fourth to get the better of Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) as Binder didn’t get away well – the South African was outside the top 10.

Martin immediately began to pull the pin. On Lap 2 his lead was up to 0.9s as Bagnaia made a small mistake to relinquish second place to Bezzecchi. Meanwhile, Binder was responding in the only way he knows how: full attack mode. Midway around Lap 3 Binder was up to sixth and hounding Viñales, who by then was already nearly two seconds back from Pedrosa.

At the front, it quickly became Martin vs Bezzecchi. Lap 3 belonged to the latter, the Italian cut the gap by a sizeable 0.5s, with Bagnaia dropping to two-seconds off the front running duo. Binder vs Viñales was raging on and on Lap 6 of 13, a move finally stuck for the South African. Next on his radar: KTM stablemate Pedrosa.

With five laps to go, Martin’s gap to Bezzecchi was up to 0.8s as Pedrosa reeled in Bagnaia in by 0.4s. Binder was making ground but he wasn’t taking chunks out of the pair just up the road, the gap to try and bridge was hovering at around one second.

With two laps left in the Tissot Sprint, a two-horse race for third became a three-horse affair. Binder was right with Bagnaia and Pedrosa, knowing gaining points on Pecco is absolutely crucial. Considering what happened less than a week ago, however, the reigning Champion was riding unbelievably to keep the KTMs behind as the last lap began.

Martin led by a second over Bezzecchi as we strapped in for a KTM vs Bagnaia scrap for the final podium place. Halfway around the lap, Pecco was holding on. Binder was out of shape; Pedrosa was waiting to pounce. A headshake down the back straight cost Pedrosa time and despite the efforts of the orange bikes, Pecco just held on to claim P3 behind Martin and Bezzecchi who took the chequered flag in P1 and P2 respectively.

Behind the rostrum lock out for the top three in the title fight, a dream podium wasn’t to be on Saturday but Pedrosa rolled back the years again to claim a wonderful fourth, with Binder crossing the line 0.159s off the ‘Little Samurai’ in fifth after a belting comeback.

Viñales grabbed sixth ahead of Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP), the latter in ninth picking up the final Sprint point in Misano. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) initially got his elbows out in that fight but came home in tenth, just missing out on a point.

Jack Miller had not found the confidence he needed to push towards the front after a problem with the ride-height device initially held him back in the race, crossing the line in 15th, 17-seconds off victor Jorge Martin.

Bagnaia’s heroic efforts haven’t stopped his title lead dropping to 45 points ahead of Sunday’s main event in Misano, with Martin eyeing up a pole-Sprint-race triple to bring himself right back into title contention.

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MotoGP Sprint Race Results

MotoGP Rider Quotes

Marco Bezzecchi – P2

“I’m really happy with this podium in the Sprint in front of the home crowd, I tried but Martin was really fast in the first and second sectors. I tried to stay close to him in the second part of the track, but he was faster and then I started to have pain in my hand. I started well and wasn’t perfect in braking into the first corner. I recovered and tried to push, not so much from Martin who was in front, but from those behind to open a gap. I struggled when changing direction, but I tried not to give up and I hope tomorrow will be better with the pain. With the medium, the bike becomes less physical and easier to ride.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P3

“It was an intense battle, more with me or the bike than with the other riders. Dani was pushing a lot in the last laps, and I was trying to find the energy to brake hard and not give him any chance to be close enough. In the first two or three laps, I needed to warm again the leg, I was struggling to lean the bike on the right, but after a few laps, it got better, and I was increasing the lap time and pace. The feeling was quite good, but with the soft rear, I was struggling, as it also happened this morning, so for sure, tomorrow we will change because, with the medium, I feel better. It won’t be easy, because it is double the laps, which is very long and I’m quite scared about that, so for sure I will increase the painkillers, but I don’t want to think too much about that. My objective is top-5, I think this is one of the best results ever because of my situation. I couldn’t ask for more.”

Dani Pedrosa – P4

“I’m very satisfied with the race. My start was better than in Jerez and I could go through the first turns in better style. I was in a good place from the beginning and to get up to pace. I was surprised that the first two broke away, but I could increase my speed to Pecco; I just couldn’t overtake him. The only positive part of missing the podium today was that I could study the world champion and how the bike is reacting, and we got some info about that. My team and I are very happy.”

Brad Binder – P5

“I think that was the worst start of my life and I got hit three times on the first lap! It meant things were interesting after that! I put some moves out and had good pace. I could come back and catch Dani and Pecco, and it was a pity it wasn’t the full race distance today because I think we could have done something. In the end I was happy enough with 5th after everything that had happened. Dani was really impressive; he rides so clean, so smooth. He is special to watch.”

Maverick Vinales – P6

“Today, with the soft tyre I did not find the best feeling. The bike moved around a lot. This is something that we need to figure out and work on. Tomorrow things could go differently. In race configuration with the medium tyre, we demonstrated that we can be extremely fast. The Sprint Race was still important to understand how the bike is working and to better prepare for the long race. Being out front from the start will be fundamental.”

Luca Marini – P7

“Starting so far back in the grid is always complicated, even if the start, as in my case, is good, it is very difficult to overtake. At the start I gave my all, I was in battle with many strong riders and I can only be satisfied, on the one hand, with my performance and the sensations. I pushed the first laps and then set a good pace for the whole race. Unfortunately I paid dearly for the mistake in qualifying and tomorrow will be a similar race. On this track, there is no need to manage the tire and I hope to recover some positions.”

Aleix Espargaro – P8

“Even though it may seem like a disappointing result, I can actually consider myself satisfied. On an unfavourable track, after yesterday’s difficulties, I was able to finish close to Maverick who rides extremely well here and not far from the podium. Even physically, I felt better than expected. I thought I would wake up in pain, but I can say that I did not have any big problems. We’ll see what we’re able to do in the long race, which is a very different situation from today.”

Alex Marquez – P9

“We made a step forward compared to yesterday even though qualifying kind of ruined our weekend. It was my mistake as I couldn’t put together the perfect lap, and that kind of affected us. With clear track we did well in the sprint race, but in the middle of traffic it was hard. Tomorrow’s full race will need a good start and we’ll also have to show our real pace.”

Marc Marquez – P10

“I felt good on the bike, I am feeling more competitive and like I am riding the bike well. Unfortunately, the results aren’t coming yet and we finished tenth, but I feel I’m riding well and I hope we can do it again tomorrow. Again, I was able to be stronger at the start of the race and in the second half I focused on defending. When I checked the pace with my team last night, it looked like we would be between eighth and 12th and finally we finished tenth – so it looks like we were correct. Tomorrow, we start ninth which is important, but the long race will be very demanding. It’s something we are working on.”

Raul Fernandez – P11

“Today was a good day honestly. I did a mistake in FP2, tried to do a different line, but I crashed. I think it was not the correct moment to try it. In Qualifying, I only had one bike and I pushed to do something good. But anyway, I feel more comfortable and very competitive now and that is most important. I feel that I have the pace and I am very comfortable on the bike. In the Sprint Race, I started well and that is something to feel good for tomorrow too, but then I had a mistake with Fabio (Quartararo), I lost four positions and it was difficult to overtake. I am really happy that day by day I feel more competitive and I can improve my riding style and this makes me enjoy riding the bike a lot.”

Miguel Oliveira – P12

“Today was a little bit better. I could at least do a fairly competitive Qualifying. It’s not easy when you go through Q1 and have to do it twice again in Q2, but I was happy that I made it through with a good lap time. I didn’t have much more in terms of speed in Q2, nothing significant to progress. I had a good start and a good first couple of corners, then after two or three laps I started to feel the rear tyre didn’t have a good grip and I struggled to keep the pace. I also struggled to turn in Turn 11 in the fast sector and lost most of my lap time there. Hopefully, with what we learned today we can make another step for tomorrow. We made a huge jump from yesterday to today already and I hope that we can do something similar for the main Race.”

Fabio Quartararo – P13

“The feeling with the bike is the same as this morning and the same as it was yesterday. I struggled to overtake. It‘s really tough, so we have to make a massive step on Monday if we want to get back to fighting for ’normal‘ positions. My pace is really good. I was much faster but not able to pass. This is the main problem and hopefully something we can address during the Misano Test.”

Jack Miller – P15

“Not been the weekend we wanted so far. The pace is not that bad and things are not terrible but we’re just missing a bit: myself, the bike and that final edge. I’m really fast in sectors two and four but struggling in the first and third. I don’t quite have the confidence at the moment and we’re playing around to solve it. In the Sprint I lost a few positions at the beginning after an issue with the front ride height device but afterwards my pace was decent and I came back through. I’ll try and get better as a rider and understand what we need to do more.”

Pol Espargaro – P16

“Overall, a difficult day. This morning I believed I had the speed to go out of Q1 but made two big mistakes. I started the Sprint from last place but I could recover a lot of positions to 15th and had the group in front to be on the edge of P11-P10, so, tomorrow let’s see if I can repeat these first laps and go for it in the race.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P17

“With the hard tyre this morning and the cold track I ended up crashing and hit my left shoulder hard. I had to take painkillers to race, but it wasn’t easy. I wasn’t 100% fit and I felt it especially while changing direction. I’m very sorry because we were in the last group and honestly we had the pace to be a lot closer to the front.”

Franco Morbidelli – P18

“I had a problem at the start: I couldn‘t engage first gear. I then finally engaged it, but I went back to neutral because I didn’t know which gear I had. So, I was in neutral and didn‘t move, and I was lucky that nobody hit me. Then I finally was able to put it in first gear and started the Sprint, and the pace was not so bad. I was able to recover some positions, but anyway the pace is still off. We will try to make steps for tomorrow.”

Augusto Fernandez – P19

“I expected to be a bit better because I felt good in practice this morning and I made a huge step from yesterday and the lap-time was competitive. I was happy and wanted another step forwards in the Sprint but actually went a bit backwards in terms of feeling. I had very low grip on the rear tire and we need to analyse why. Hopefully we can fix it and make that step tomorrow.”

Michele Pirro – P20

“It was a disappointing day, especially the Sprint race. This morning my feelings were good, and in FP2, I had managed to close with the second time, and my feeling with the used tyres was good. In Q1, I narrowly missed a spot in Q2. In the Sprint, after the start, I struggled a lot in the first laps: I couldn’t stop the bike, and I made a lot of mistakes, going wide on several occasions and being overtaken several times. It was frustrating, but it definitely served as a lesson for tomorrow’s race in which we will aim for a better result.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P21

“It’s been a difficult race, we didn’t have enough pace, and we are missing on the speed. We need to change the balance of the bike because I feel a limitation on the front end of the bike. Tomorrow’s race will be difficult, let’s see what happens”.

Stefan Bradl – P22

“Our Saturday started very well with Qualifying, of course it was a little bit frustrating to miss on Q2 by only a few tenths but it was nice to reward the Test Team with a strong result after the hard work they have been doing. We still need to keep working on the performance over the longer distance, but I think overall we are heading in a good direction for the future.”

Joan Mir – P23

“After this morning we decided to go one direction for the race and at the start I almost made contact with Morbidelli which meant I lost a big opportunity to recover more positions in the first corners. From then I recovered a few positions, and I enjoyed the race more, the feeling on the front was better and I was able to ride the bike how it wanted. I got as high as passing Stefan but then I got the Long Lap Penalties for touching the green at the end of the last corner. The message appears in Sector 1 where you can’t really look at the dashboard in MotoGP, so I saw just seeing an orange light. I then did the long laps, but it was very complicated. I know tomorrow can be better.”

MotoGP Team Managers

Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager

“Dani’s result was amazing, and it is outstanding what he is doing for us. A pure legend. We are very happy to finish the race so near to the podium. Brad was close to Dani and recovered five positions after a start that wasn’t the best. He made some super-nice moves and there wasn’t any more time to get further forward but, anyway, good results by both guys. With Jack we started the race with another new setting because we still had some trouble during practice, and it took a few laps to understand the bike again and then he found some pace. We have to fix everything so he can be fast in all the sectors and not just two. His front device also didn’t disengage and he did half of the first lap with the front of the bike compressed. Not ideal but we are working as much as we can to help him.”

Nicolas Goyon – GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager

“Quite a tough weekend for the team so far. Pol missed Q2 by 0.024 yesterday and suffered a double crash in Q1 which meant he couldn’t do a lap and ended-up last; that’s not an advantage! Even so, he did an OK race and managed to overtake eight riders to be P16 but feels he could have done more. This gives us some hope for tomorrow. Augusto qualified in 19th which is not his best of the season and suffered a lack of grip but he’s confident the race tomorrow will be better because he has a good feeling here.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“We did a lot of work today. Starting in FP2, we tried to find an improvement to help our riders in qualifying, but it wasn‘t enough for them to get into Q2. Consequently, they were lining up in P13 and P19 on the grid for the Sprint this afternoon. We knew it would be difficult to get the results we wanted. Fabio wasn‘t really able to make overtakes whilst riding in the midfield, so we need to find a solution for tomorrow‘s Race. It was a shame that Franky had a problem at the start, because he was riding well after that and doing a lot of overtakes. However, he was handed a long-lap penalty. He didn‘t complete it, so he got a 3s penalty. We know he wants to do well here in San Marino since it‘s his home GP, so we will take today‘s data to make some tweaks for tomorrow. It will be a long and hot Race, but it will be good for collecting data, also with Monday‘s Misano Test in mind.”

MotoGP Championship Points

MotoGP Qualifying

As the first hot laps were slammed in, Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team) led by a healthy 0.3s over Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) 0.6s adrift in P8 – as younger brother Pol Espargaro (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) suffered an early crash.

Quartararo improved his time to a 1:31.678 to get a tenth and a half clear of third place Michele Pirro (Aruba.it Racing), but Pirro’s fellow wildcard Stefan Bradl (HRC Team) then pounced to P2. Pol Espargaro’s session was then over as he went down unhurt for a second time, as Aleix Espargaro shot to P1 by 0.021s. Could Quartararo get himself back into the top two? Not quite. The slimmest of margins cost El Diablo – 0.038s to be precise – as Oliveira returned to P1 on his last lap, heading through with Aleix Espargaro.

After a brief pause in proceedings, the fastest 12 riders fired up their machines as we got set for the San Marino GP pole position fight. After the slower banker laps were set, the rapid times started to come in as Bezzecchi’s 1:31.027 handed the Italian a tenth advantage over Martin, with Bagnaia’s first lap placing him a brilliant P3 – 0.152s off Bezzecchi’s time. Martin then went for another time attack and it was a new all-time lap record – a 1:30.832 saw the Spaniard rise to P1, 0.195s clear of the chasers.

As the pack peeled back into pitlane, Martin led Bezzecchi and Bagnaia, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) P4 and Aleix Espargaro P5 – the leading quintet in the title race setting the pace in the opening part of Q2.

An absolute barnstormer then came from Martin on fresh rubber, a mind-blowing 1:30.390 putting the #89 0.6s clear on provisional pole. Dani Pedrosa (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was the rider in second, but briefly, as elsewhere Pecco climbed onto the front row again. Bezzecchi responded to return to take over in second, but the #72 was a mighty four tenths adrift.

On his final lap, Pecco was giving it all he had. A red split came through Sector 2 but time was lost in the latter half of the lap, as the Championship leader improved his time but stayed P3 – 0.039s away from Bezzecchi. In the end though, no one could get within touching distance of Martin’s absolute stunner. A first pole since the 2022 Valencia GP was clinched by the title-chasing Spaniard, and what a time to do it!

Behind the Martin, Bezzecchi, Bagnaia front row, Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) was able to set his personal best time on the final lap to climb to the front of Row 2 in P4. He has wildcard Pedrosa – the leading KTM! – and Aleix Espargaro for company behind the leading trio.

Binder fronts Row 3 in P7, with Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) claiming P8 and P9 respectively. Oliveira, Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Raul Fernandez (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team) round out the top 12. Find the full grid below!

MotoGP Qualifying Results

Moto2 Qualifying

Hot laps, traffic, and yellow flags all played a crucial role in deciding the grid at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, and Celestino Vietti’s 1:36.201 was enough to deny Championship leader Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) by 0.080s. The Spaniard also had his fastest laps scrubbed off. Manuel Gonzalez (Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Mastercamp) added to the Moto2 Misano spectacle as he fought his way through Q1 to take a first front row.

It all got very hectic in Q2 with fast laps flying in and yellow flags seeing laps cancelled for some of the front runners. Acosta put down a 1:36.1 but had that lap taken away from him. The Spaniard then responded by setting a 1:36.281 as the new benchmark, but it didn’t take long before home hero Vietti – who also had a lap cancelled earlier on – moved the goalposts again though. Acosta was then on another flyer setting red sectors through the first two splits. The Spaniard then found himself held up in the final sector but was forced to settle for second.

Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) just missed out on the front row by only 0.003s as he’s set to head the second row ahead of wildcard Mattia Pasini (Fieten Olie Racing GP) and Alonso Lopez (+Ego Tools Speed Up). Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) will head Row 3 in P7 and will be joined by Sam Lowes (Elf MarcVDS Racing Team) and Tony Arbolino (Elf MarcVDS Racing Team). Arbolino still remains Acosta’s closest title threat, and despite struggling for form in San Marino has made some positive steps after battling through Q1.

Filip Salac (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2) rounded out the top 10, with a late crash from Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) limiting his progress to P14.

Senna Agius did not move up the order too far on Saturday but he did close the gap to the leaders and will be looking for further gains come Sunday.

Senna Agius – P20

“The feeling was good, I made some pretty good progress yesterday and unfortunately, we were only missing a bit more than one-tenth to make it to Q2. We still need to be happy, but Q2 was a hundred percent my goal today and just coming short makes me a bit disappointed. Still, I feel really good with the bike. We still need to analyse a few things tonight to get a bit more comfortable over the race distance. I am happy with my riding and I think we can have a good race tomorrow.”

Moto2 Qualifying Results

Moto2 Championship Points

Moto3 Qualifying

Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) will launch from his third pole position of the season after setting a 1:41.638 in Moto3 Q2 at the Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. Despite a crash, Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) rescued a second place starting slot as Kaito Toba (SIC58 Squadra Corse) claimed his first front row since 2020 in third.

After cruising through Q1 following a disappointing weekend so far, Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) joined his title rivals in the pole position scrap. And talking of title rivals, Sasaki suffered some early drama as the Japanese rider crashed – unhurt – on his out-lap at Turn 13.

Meanwhile, Masia set the early benchmark in Q2. The Spaniard’s 1:42.183 saw him sit 0.3s clear of the pack in the early exchanges, but it soon changed as Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) climbed to P1 by just over a tenth.

Having pitted and got some quick repairs sorted on his Husqvarna, Sasaki’s first hot lap placed him P8, 0.5s off provisional pole. His second lap was cancelled due to exceeding track limits at the final corner as the rest of the field rumbled out of pitlane for a final three-minute dash for pole.

Moments after Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) went P2, Toba launched himself to P1 as the last laps began. Toba’s time at the summit didn’t last long though as Sasaki snatched provisional pole before Masia moved the goalposts even further. The #5’s time wouldn’t be topped as the Leopard star will start on pole ahead of Japan’s Sasaki and Toba.

Moreira slipped to P4 by the end of the session, he has Öncü and Barcelona winner David Alonso (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) for company on the second row. David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) salvaged P7 despite a crash. Holgado claimed P8 and the Spaniard will want to make early ground on Sunday, as Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) and Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) complete the top 10 just ahead of Joel Kelso.

Moto3 Qualifying Results

Moto3 Championship Points

MotoE Race One

Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) is the 2023 FIM Enel MotoE World Champion, and he did it in style! The Italian took the crown with a hard-fought victory in Race 1 of his home round, coming out on top in a close finish against Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) by just 0.021s. Casadei is the first Champion since the series became a full eight-round, 16-race Championship this year, making some history in the process. The Champions’ teammate Nicholas Spinelli was in the mix from start to finish too, and took an important podium to add to the Pons team celebrations.

Casadei’s closest title rival Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) suffered some drama, slapped with a double long lap penalty after jumping the start, and it was a tougher first race for Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) as Casadei emerged imperious.

The lights went out for MotoE Race 1 and there was fight in Torres yet as the Spaniard flew from 5th place on the grid to snatch the holeshot from Casadei, after that small but real jump start, with Spinelli watching on in 3rd. Garzo soon latched onto the top three too as a leading group of four broke away from the rest of the field.

Casadei had fire in his belly as he hit the front, with Torres being bullied to the back of the group. We then had six laps of frantic MotoE action ahead of us.

That’s when news broke of Torres’ lightning launch: it was down to a jump start from the title contender, and the Spaniard then had to take two tours through the long lap loop at Tramonto before rejoining the race down in 12th place.

Meanwhile at the front, Casadei led the way with Garzo and Spinelli snapping at his heels. All the Italian had to do was finish the race with Torres down the order and he would be crowned Champion, and Spinelli and Garzo started to swap paintwork behind the race leader too. That allowed Casadei to stretch out some breathing space with three laps to go, Championship in clear sight.

The Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse duo of Kevin Manfredi and Kevin Zannoni then joined the party, and they brought Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) with them. The trio latched onto Spinelli and Garzo, who started to reel in the race leader once again.

It was too little too late though as Garzo was left with few options to attack the race leader on the final lap. The Spaniard was all over Casadei’s rear wheel through the final sector and pulled alongside the Pons machine as they flew towards the line, but it wasn’t quite enough. Casadei made it the perfect ending to his Championship challenge as he just beat Garzo to it, sealing the crown with a win.

Behind the first ever FIM Enel MotoE World Champion came Garzo and then Spinelli completing the podium, with Torres recovering to 10th place in the end but making sure to congratulate his title rival after the flag dropped. Manfredi, Zannoni and Ferrari completed that front group in that order.

MotoE Race One Results

MotoE Race Two

Nicholas Spinelli (HP Pons Los40) rounded out the season in style in Race 2, making it a Pons team clean sweep of riders’ crown, double on Saturday and teams’ Championship as the squad prepare to bow out of World Championship competition. The Italian took his maiden win with the gloves off as he fought off both Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) and recently crowned Champion Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40), although the recently-crowned Champion still put a cherry on top of a dream weekend with another podium.

With the Championship decided it was time for all-out war as a showstopping MotoE finale was on it’s the way. The lights went out for the final time in 2023 and it was the Champion Casadei who held firm through the first sector to hold onto the lead, with Spinelli and Garzo glued to his rear wheel.

Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) was in the mix as well as the Spaniard now had nothing to lose, but everything to gain with his sights set on a solid result to cap off his 2023 season.

Right at the front though, Casadei dropped from 1st to 3rd in one fell swoop as Spinelli ducked under the Champion through the fastest sector on track, and Garzo quickly capitalised as well to barge his way through on the Italian.

Spinelli led Garzo as the duo broke away from the pack ever so slightly with the laps ticking away. The Spaniard had a few cheeky looks up the inside, but Spinelli held firm… until Turn 1 on the final lap. Garzo pushed his way through but Spinelli answered back with some poetry to leave the two side-by-side… and then Casadei appeared.

He shot past both, but Spinelli wasn’t accepting second in the final showdown of the season. He attacked again, Garzo took back over in second, and it was all down to the final sector. Spinelli kept it pinned to win in style, with Garzo holding off Casadei as the three staged another battle to remember.

With all that, Andrea Mantovani (RNF MotoE Team) and Torres both tagged right onto the podium fight, and a small freight train formed. They completed the top five, ahead of Kevin Zannoni (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) after a tougher weekend on home turf. Tito Rabat (Prettl Pramac MotoE), Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) and Alessandro Zaccone (Tech 3 E-Racing) completed the top ten. Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) crashed out with Kevin Manfredi (Ongetta SIC58 Squadra Corse), riders ok.

That brings the 2023 MotoE season to a close after a stunning year of competition. A new name on top, an incredible winning run and more history made is only the half of it as the electric series delivered some of the closest racing on Earth. But that’s all for now – join us for more in 2024!

MotoE Race Two Results

MotoE Championship Points Standings

Misano Grand Prix Schedule
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2023 MotoGP Calendar