2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round 14 – Misano
Gran Premio Pramac dell’Emilia-Romagna
MotoGP Riders Reflect on Misano II
Enea Bastianini – P1
“A special Sunday, yesterday I worked a lot, at 10 pm I was inside my box to see the data, to be competitive today, and then this morning my confidence was very nice; I was confident for the race. Then Jorge pushed a lot for the race, his riding was super nice, with a lot of strongest point, nothing less, and well in the last lap I saw a bit of space and I went up the inside, he had closed the line a lot and I braked more than my expectation, and I crossed the line and won the race. A very difficult this overtake, but when you have the chance to win the race you have to do it, it was a bit on the limit, but then it was the only choice, because without this possibility it was impossible for me, for the rest of the track he was super nice, so this was the only possibility. About 100 Grand Prix wins, a big emotion for Ducati Factory, and also because I made that overtake in the corner in front of my fan club and the pink cloud, so this is a beautiful day for me and I want to spend the rest of the day with the fan and my team to enjoy the victory.”
Jorge Martin – P2
“Well for sure I think it was a great weekend, really competitive, strongest today, out there in Misano at the second race, after a lot of laps, I was able to make this step from the weekend, but then I had to manage the Enea situation and there was no room to make that manoeuvre. There’s no sense to keep talking about it, as it won’t change anything, but I think for sure I deserved that victory, but at least if he makes a move, make it clean, don’t touch me. I will try to focus on the positives, I think the pace was crazy, the start was good, qualifying was small question mark in the last race, I’m happy about the performance, I feel strong for Indonesia, I like that track, I like going there, I’ll try and focus on my riding. I finally gained a bit of advantage, try and make it a bit bigger, because I feel I’m a bit stronger, and if I don’t make any mistake I can beat these guys. I will try and think a bit less, and ride a bit more. It’s all about being focused, and don’t think about the sound that’s outside, the pressure will always be there, the best way to keep the pressure off you is to focus on riding, and the thing I know to do is to compete on a motorbike and I’ll focus on that and I’m not a really professional at maintaining a high level of pressure.”
Marc Marquez – P3
“Today I started the race with a clear target to fourth place, and in the first part of the race I was trying to control Acosta and Bezecchi – the two guys that have the pace to fight with me for fourth place. I knew that taking a lot of risks would be fourth place maybe four seconds behind the leader, less risk maybe eight seconds behind the leader. Fortunately for us, Bezecchi made a mistake, a gift for us, a podium position, I’m happy for the team, to be on the podium one more time at the home race. [Pecco] was leading the race, but then Martina was aggressive, then he lost some positions, at one point me and Acosta were patching Pecco… I was running 1:31.4, 1:31.5, and he was half a second faster than me, I don’t know which lap times he did, so when you’re riding at those lap times, you’re taking a lot of risk and he was pushing a lot, incredible.
“I saw a replay, Enea was out of the track, so for me it is not good for the championship, looking for our interest, but for me if Enea was out of the track, he dropped one position, if you go out of the track, you drop one position. When you do an aggressive overtake if you are inside the track, it’s ok, but if you go off track it’s drop one position. I’m not sure if it’s under investigation or it’s done…”
Marco Bezzechi – P4
“I’m very happy, even if the podium was so close, but it was important to have another solid race with the strongest riders. A beautiful Sunday, I took a risk with the soft, I tried and it went well. The soft was the only compound that allowed me to brake as I wanted, it wasn’t an obvious choice, but it was the right one for me. I only struggled the last two laps, everything went well. And now let’s go to Asia, where there are practically all my favourite tracks on the calendar.”
Franco Morbidelli – P5
“Finally a good Sunday race, starting from P10, we managed to pick up the weekend and get really good points at the end. The race itself was pretty tough because I found myself pretty soon behind Quartararo, I had more speed and more pace, but I couldn’t overtake him, so I couldn’t really make a pass, finally and unfortunately for him he had a problem at the end, and I managed to gain a position.”
Maverick Vinales – P6
“The race was extremely positive and I felt really good, especially in the second part, when I began to make up positions. I also had an outstanding race pace. It was important to rediscover our speed and we managed to do that. We are leaving Misano satisfied. Sixth place is positive after the recent complicated races.”
Fabio Quartararo – P7
“Already in the second-to-last corner I had no more fuel left. I tried to do whatever I could, but I’m still super happy about how the Race went. This is by far one of the best GPs we’ve had this year. Now we will see what kind of results we can get at the overseas races. If we do a similar kind of weekend in Indonesia, I think it’s a big step forward for us. Lately, when I’m riding, I’m feeling much better. I think that we can be happy with the work we’ve done in the last few weeks.”
Aleix Espargaro – P8
“I had quite a bit of chattering for the last six laps. Since I had a good gap ahead of the riders behind me, I decided to clinch eighth place. I’m satisfied with the result, especially after the difficulties we have had in Misano. The difference from the first riders was not that huge. We were more competitive than I had expected. Especially in the first two-thirds of the race, we were rather fast.”
Alex Marquez – P9
“This was likely my worst race start of the year and despite that we scored a good result in what was a tough race. We suffered from the extra grip here and now it’s time for Indonesia, a race that I missed out last year due to injury and where conditions will be very different.”
Miguel Oliveira – P10
“The result was somewhat rewarding for sure. P10, OK, I accept it but, to be honest, I really hoped for an easier bike to be able to overtake today. After the start, it just took me too many laps to find the line to overtake some people and I lost so much time behind Miller, behind Di Giannantonio, where I had much faster pace. It’s also true that I didn’t feel that I was competitive enough with the medium rear, so I don’t know if I should have gone with the soft rear, but I had a very strange feeling with the rear tyre – by the time the balance of the grip was right, many laps had passed. It’s nice, anyway, that we found some speed, but for sure we lacked the 1:31 pace and I had that yesterday.”
Joan Mir – P11
“A really good race, the first time I could really push and really ride and enjoy being on the bike. I made a good start but then Raul was quite optimistic into the opening corners, so I went wide and dropped down to last. Then I got my head down and started to overtake, especially in the second half of the race I was really pleased with my performance. Not just the overtaking, but also the lap times which were the same as those guys in the top ten. 11th is a good result from where we are coming from and it’s really good to see improvements over the weekend. I have to also say thank you to my team for their work this weekend, my first in Misano, they did a good job to improve the feeling overnight. It’s encouraging and gives us all a boost as we head to Asia.”
Luca Marini – P12
“I am really happy with this weekend. I fully enjoyed it and there are a lot of positives to take away from it. We have found a good package with the upgrades the Japanese have made; all of the engineers have been making a good effort and now we are starting to see it in the results. The first three laps with the rear are quite complicated still, we need to work on this because even starting in 15th, we are missing something in the first laps and it stops us fighting with the others. The new aero has helped a lot, but we have also improved a lot of other small areas in the last few outings. We can head to Indonesia with optimism to continue in this way. Thank you to everyone in the team who has been working hard and staying focused all year.”
Raul Fernandez – P13
“It was a crazy race because in the first corner, I had an impact with another rider and I was almost last by the end of the first lap. The positive is that I managed to overtake some other guys quite well and I made up a lot of positions. But others were more difficult, so I spent more than 12 laps behind Jack (Miller) and we couldn’t get past, so we were four or five riders there and nobody could overtake him. Now, there are two options to be on the pace; trying to enter the corner fast, or, trying to exit fast and we can’t put everything together at the moment. I can try to do a fast entry, but then I can’t exit the corner fast and the other way around. We need to analyse this now and try to find a compromise as, at the moment, it’s quite difficult for us, while we are working towards the future.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P14
“A tough weekend, I never managed to be perfect with the bike. The steps forward were too small and I wasn’t fast. The race today was difficult: after the crash on Friday, I wasn’t in great shape. I started to have pain in my left shoulder, then I started to lose sensitivity in my right forearm too. I just tried to get to the finish line. Let’s recover our energy, the next few weeks will be important with many races coming up. Let’s keep going, let’s not give up. Next stop Indonesia, in front of all our local fans.”
Johann Zarco – P15
“It’s positive to head to the Asian rounds after scoring points again. This weekend, we’ve taken a step forward, and today, during the race, I felt fast at the beginning as I managed to catch the group I had in front, which meant a lot. It was cool, and I had fun. However, I made some mistakes and lost time, so I could not do better than that. The good lap times at the last stages of the race are another sign that we are on the correct way. Let’s see in the upcoming races!”
Jack Miller – P16
“Back at Misano to complete the doubleheader at this circuit, and after the positive momentum we’d gained last time out and over the last couple of events, we were looking to keep the ball rolling.
“That was looking reasonable as we started the weekend decently – I missed out on a direct entry into Q2 with P11 in practice, which is always a bit frustrating, but the times were tight and I felt like we were in the ballpark of where we needed to be.
“We made some tweaks heading into the Sprint Race, although what we were experiencing in practice followed us into the race, with the balance a bit off in the high-speed sections and we were bleeding time there. Things felt a bit better as the fuel load dropped, although it was a bit too little too late by that time, and we wound up in P14.
“Feature Race, more of the same story, unfortunately – I was pretty much maxed out by lap three. The vibration came along and I nearly lost it a couple of times, so had to really back ‘er down and bring it home for a finish, which was a pretty disappointing P16 result in the end.
“Not the weekend we were chasing, like I said especially off the back of the momentum that I felt we were building in the previous rounds. It’s not for a lack of trying, we threw a lot of things at it again this weekend, but couldn’t seem to nail the setup on where we needed to be.
“Quick turnaround now to Indonesian GP, we’ll come out swinging and look to get this thing back on track.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P17
“It was a tough race, but we were prepared for the challenges we faced. Despite the lack of rear grip and the chattering, we didn’t give up and pushed as hard as we could. We are now focused on the Asian rounds, determined to try new things and make significant improvements to our bike’s performance.”
Augusto Fernandez – P18
“We managed to do a good start, we gained positions, and we were fighting hard in the first laps to be in a good position to take our pace, but the vibrations from yesterday continued, and it made it difficult to ride. The rounds in Misano were the first time where we felt these vibrations, and they are limiting me a lot, so I am hoping that we will find a solution in Indonesia next week.”
Brad Binder – P19
“I felt pretty good in warm-up and we made a little step from yesterday. I knew if I wanted to do anything here then I had to go with the boys early on. That’s what I tried to do and hang with their speed, but unfortunately, I washed the front at Turn 4. Sorry to my team for the mistake because we could have had a decent result. My goal is to fight in the top three and that’s what I wanted to do. We’ll try again next week.”
Pecco Bagnaia – DNF
“Today simply went the way it did. I was already having some issues with the front locking since the start of the race so even when the rear tyre started to perform with 15 laps in and set the fastest lap of the race two times in a row, I still tried to be as careful as possible, especially under braking. Then, I lost the front as hit the brakes, despite being still in an upright position. It was a strange day no doubt, but we’ll be ready next time.”
Pedro Acosta – DNF
“We were competitive, fast and with the top group, so it is difficult to crash that early into the race. The feeling from the start was great on the bike, although the front tyre was a bit cold at the start. With regards to the crash, we need to analyse everything a bit, but for sure it is a disappointing result, but the weekend was positive overall.”
Team Managers
Claudio Domenicali – CEO of Ducati Motor Holding
“The milestone of 100 MotoGP victories and the conquest of the Constructors’ World Title makes us proud and write the name Ducati even more indelibly in the history of the world’s top motorcycle racing competition. These moments are an opportunity to look back and give due importance to every single effort, to the hard work and to years of commitment and continuous innovation. These are the values that have characterised our participation in the MotoGP World Championship since 2003 and the perseverance and dedication with which we have applied them have led us to become the benchmark of the Championship today, through a working method that also includes a continuous exchange with the world of production motorcycles, as demonstrated by the new Panigale V4, the seventh generation of Ducati supersports bikes recently presented right here in Misano. We celebrated 50 victories in 2020, and the subsequent 50 have arrived over the last 4 years in an extraordinary crescendo of successes. 100 MotoGP victories and fifth consecutive Constructors’ World Championship title are the crowning achievement of our best sporting moment ever. A heartfelt thank you to all the riders, colleagues, engineers, technicians, our partners and sponsors, collaborators, Ducatisti and all the people who have worked hard with passion and determination over the years to take Ducati to the top step of the podium.”
Luigi Dall’Igna – General Manager of Ducati Corse
“Only four years have passed since we celebrated the first historic milestone of 50 victories in MotoGP and in such a short time, we have managed to add up the same number of successes and reach 100. Before us, only two other manufacturers had achieved this and we are the first Europeans to do so. It is certainly an important result, which fills us with immense pride. We owe all this to 15 fantastic riders, who have written important pages of history with us over the years. Today, we also conquer our sixth manufacturers’ title in MotoGP, the fifth consecutive. In addition to the riders and teams, this is the victory of all the men and women of Ducati Corse, many of whom are involved behind the scenes, who with their tireless work, passion and dedication have allowed us to grow and become what we are. So, a heartfelt thank you to all of them and a special thank you also to all our fans, the Ducatisti, who with their support push us every day to reach ever greater goals.”
Pablo Nieto – VR46 Team Manager
“What a race Marco, in the end we hoped for the podium, but in any case these are the positions he deserves to be in. He’s working hard, we knew he wouldn’t solve his problems with the bike in one or two races, he needed consistency, data analysis and a riding step. He’s doing it and he’s getting closer and closer. I’m sure he’ll entertain us in Asia. More difficult race for Fabio, he’s suffering a lot with his shoulder and the crash on Friday was not needed. He gritted his teeth, he left no stone unturned, but the long race is physically difficult for him to manage. Now just 24 hours of stop and then off to Indonesia, our fourth home GP together with Pertamina.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“It’s a real shame that the Race ended the way it did. Fabio was doing a great job defending fifth place, but then, in the final corners, he ran out of fuel and crossed the finish line in seventh. It‘s a small setback after a great race weekend. But focusing on the silver lining, we are seeing gradual improvements. So, we take the positives from this weekend, and we will try to fight for good positions again next week in Mandalika.”
Massimo Rivola – Aprilia Racing
“On such a sad weekend for motorcycle racing, after the death of Luca Salvadori, we wish to remember him affectionately and send his family a warm embrace. It was also wonderful to see such a big crowd this weekend, especially considering the difficulties the Romagna region is facing with flooding recently. As for the race, we are happy that Aleix rediscovered his pace, but Maverick especially was very fast, maintaining a pace close to the podium finishers throughout the race. It’s a pity about the positions lost in the opening stages, but overall, we saw Aprilia’s speed again, although still not at the same levels as the season start. We will head to the upcoming races in Asia confident that we have found the right path.”
Wilzo Zeelenberg – Trackhouse Team Manager
“P10 and P13 – if you look at our starting positions these are the places we have been fighting for. Of course, it’s good to get some extra points, this is nice; Miguel had a good feeling and Raul as well. They were fighting together in a big group but we are quite far away from the leading group, in total 30 seconds behind, but not very far from Aleix (Espargaro) and Maverick (Viñales), so that’s good. This one is done, let’s focus on Indonesia now. It’s nice to see and hear that the riders are feeling comfortable with the bike but, like Miguel said, overtaking is difficult and you lose a lot of time so that is a point to focus on.”
Davide Brivio – Trackhouse Team Principal
“I feel that Miguel did a good job today considering the starting position. He tried to ride steady and we recovered some places, so that was a positive. Raul had a bad first lap – he was almost last and then he caught up and recovered, but he was not fully comfortable with the bike, I think. I believe we could have been better and we have to learn from this weekend, try to understand how we can improve and then we have another opportunity next weekend. So, let’s analyze what happened and keep making progress.”
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager
“Brad was there at the beginning and things were under control until the crash. It means we were close to the limit so we have some work ahead. Jack also made a strong start but also had some contact with other riders and lost time running off-line. His feeling wasn’t too bad but we still need to look well at his race and set-up. We’ll hope for better in the overseas.”
Nicolas Goyon – GASGAS Tech3 Team Manager
“It was obviously not the Sunday we were dreaming of in Misano as we had high hopes after yesterday’s P5 of Pedro Acosta in the sprint. In the race, he had a good start, the feeling was good, and he was following the plan, which was to stay in the top 5 and see what opportunities could come out. Unfortunately, he crashed losing the front, which ruined his chances. Let’s keep the positives, he was faster than last weekend, and he made some improvements on the bike. Augusto Fernandez took a good start today, gained positions in the first laps, but sooner than later he went through similar issues to yesterday, and he could not go faster. We have not solved the problem from Saturday’s sprint, which is a big shame. Racing can be frustrating sometimes, and today is one of them. Luckily, we will already be back on track next Friday, as we are now travelling to Lombok for the Grand Prix of Indonesia.”
Piero Taramasso – Michelin
“We had some uncertainties after the rain, but the track quickly regained a good level of grip and our partners set a strong pace. Given that we raced here less than two weeks ago, which allowed the teams to work on more precise settings, we expected several records to be broken. However, the pace set during the 27 laps of the Grand Prix, where the level of attack did not weaken from the first to the last corner, was simply exceptional. The duration of the Grand Prix was reduced by almost 19 seconds, which represents an improvement of more than seven-tenths per lap compared to the previous Grand Prix. This performance speaks volumes about the quality of our tyres, and in addition, we were able to see that various rubber compounds fitted to the front and rear wheels could work well. For the Grand Prix, the vast majority of riders chose the Medium compound for both the front and the rear, but the 4th place of Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), who raced with the Soft compound on the rear, and who rode at a similar pace to the leaders, highlighted the consistent performance and longevity of our entire range. Without a doubt, we leave Misano with the feeling of a job well done!”
MotoGP Misano Race Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | E Bastianni | Duc | 41m14.653 |
| 2 | J Martin | Duc | +5.002 |
| 3 | M Marquez | Duc | +7.848 |
| 4 | M Bezzecchi | Duc | +9.200 |
| 5 | F Morbidelli | Duc | +13.601 |
| 6 | M Viñales | Apr | +15.484 |
| 7 | F Quartararo | Yam | +20.922 |
| 8 | A Espargaro | Apr | +22.795 |
| 9 | A Marquez | Duc | +27.704 |
| 10 | M Oliveira | Apr | +31.891 |
| 11 | J Mir | Hon | +33.062 |
| 12 | L Marini | Hon | +35.411 |
| 13 | R Fernandez | Apr | +36.335 |
| 14 | F D Giannatonio | Duc | +37.395 |
| 15 | J Zarco | Hon | +38.909 |
| 16 | J Miller | Ktm | +40.454 |
| 17 | T Nakagami | Hon | +46.394 |
| 18 | A Fernandez | Ktm | +47.755 |
| 19 | B Binder | Ktm | +1m25.918 |
| Not Classified | |||
| DNF | F Bagnaia | Duc | 7 laps |
| DNF | P Acosta | KTM | 19 laps |
Misano MotoGP Top Speeds Across Weekend
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Speed |
| 1 | M Bezzecchi | Duc | 305.0 |
| 2 | J Martin | Duc | 304.2 |
| 3 | M Oliveira | Apr | 304.2 |
| 4 | F Morbidelli | Duc | 304.2 |
| 5 | P Acosta | Ktm | 303.3 |
| 6 | J Mir | Hon | 302.5 |
| 7 | B Binder | Ktm | 302.5 |
| 8 | A Marquez | Duc | 302.5 |
| 9 | A Espargaro | Apr | 301.6 |
| 10 | F Bagnaia | Duc | 301.6 |
| 11 | E Bastianini | Duc | 301.6 |
| 12 | M Viñales | Apr | 301.6 |
| 13 | J Miller | Ktm | 300.8 |
| 14 | F Giannantonio | Duc | 300.8 |
| 15 | M Marquez | Duc | 300.0 |
| 16 | J Zarco | Hon | 300.0 |
| 17 | R Fernandez | Apr | 300.0 |
| 18 | L Marini | Hon | 300.0 |
| 19 | A Fernandez | Ktm | 298.3 |
| 20 | A Rins | Yam | 296.7 |
| 21 | T Nakagami | Hon | 296.7 |
| 22 | F Quartararo | Yam | 296.7 |
MotoGP Championship Standings
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | Martin | 341 |
| 2 | Bagnaia | 317 |
| 3 | Bastianini | 282 |
| 4 | Marquez | 281 |
| 5 | Binder | 165 |
| 6 | Acosta | 157 |
| 7 | Viñales | 149 |
| 8 | Espargaro | 127 |
| 9 | Marquez | 121 |
| 10 | Di Giannantonio | 121 |
| 11 | Bezzecchi | 108 |
| 12 | Morbidelli | 102 |
| 13 | Quartararo | 73 |
| 14 | Oliveira | 71 |
| 15 | Miller | 58 |
| 16 | Fernandez | 49 |
| 17 | Zarco | 22 |
| 18 | Nakagami | 21 |
| 19 | Mir | 20 |
| 20 | Fernandez | 20 |
| 21 | Rins | 15 |
| 22 | Espargaro | 12 |
| 23 | Pedrosa | 7 |
| 24 | Marini | 5 |
