Moto GP: DRC's San Marino GP 2023 Preview
Bagnaia declared fit, ultimate drag race winner Dani Pedrosa, bittersweet Misano return for Fabio and Aprilia’s heroics.
Greetings, let’s dive into Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini also called San Marino GP held at the Misano circuit. San Marino GP is the 12th race weekend from the 21-race season, and an exciting weekend ahead. Misano circuit has sixteen corners out of which ten are right and six are left-handers. Let’s move ahead with the rest of the roundup.
Weather forecast:
The whole race weekend will not be affected by rain.
Friday: Sunny weather throughout the session
Saturday: Sunny, along with a few afternoon clouds.
Sunday: Considerable clouds early. Some decrease in clouds later in the day.
Any changes on the grid?
Alex Rins is still recovering from injuries and won’t be riding this weekend. He will be replaced by 5-time Suzuka 8 Hours winner Takumi Takahashi. Takahashi’s only prior start in MotoGP came at Motegi in 2015, with a wildcard appearance resulting in 12th place. Iker Lecuona - who has ridden in place of Rins till this weekend - will be racing in WSBK at Magny-Cours.
Stefan Bradl and Michele Pirro will be making wildcard appearances this round for Honda and Ducati respectively - likely testing new parts and updates ahead of the critical post-race test.
Dani Pedrosa will also race this weekend as a wildcard for KTM. He is expected to test new chassis for next season.
Enea Bastianini suffered multiple fractures in a lap 1 incident in Catalunya. He’s expected to miss the San Marino, India & Japan GPs.
Francesco Bagnaia declared fit:
Rider’s championship leader Francesco Bagnaia is declared fit to race. The World Champion will compete at the San Marino GP after getting the all-clear from the doctors at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
While talking to the media Bagnaia said,
“I'm lucky that I had the best safety tech in the world”.
Pecco’s right leg was run over by Brad Binder after a horrific high-side at Catalunya GP.
Whom to look out for?
Aprilia finished 1, 2 for the first time in their racing history where Aleix Espargaró took the victory and Maverick Viñales was runner up. They are looking extremely competitive and Aprilia will want their riders to clinch the podium if not victory
Ducatis in the hands of Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzechi and Alex Marquez will shine as Bagnaia will suffer consequences from his recent crash. It will be a miracle if the world champion manages to step up on the podium. Jorge Martin is currently second in the world championship standings and will look to reduce the gap.
What about the rest?
Honda will continue to develop their bike for the 2024 season and looks like they have completely abolished any chances of podiums for the current season.
Fabio Quartararo sealed his name on the world championship at this same circuit in 2021. Frenchman will surely cherish Misano but he looked disappointed when asked about his hopes for this weekend. The former world champion said, “It hurts” while speaking to the media at Thursday’s press conference.
KTM in the hands of Jack Miller and Brad Binder will shine through. It’s the tyres that have hurt them the most across the season.
News & Rumours Circle
VR46 announced in the lead-up to the San Marino GP that Luca Marini will stay in the team for 2024.
KTM’s rider logjam for 2024 remains unresolved. It has 5 riders signed to race for 2024, but only 5 bikes. The longest-standing rumour has been that either Pol Espargaro or Augusto Fernandez will be moved aside from Tech3 KTM to testing+wildcard rider duties to make space for Pedro Acosta - the current Moto2 championship leader.
Another wild rumour linked to this saga is that Jack Miller was offered double his salary and 10 wildcard opportunities, for him to step aside for Acosta. However, Miller himself has refuted this idea.
Marc Marquez has been linked to the empty Gresini Racing Ducati seat for 2024, alongside his brother Alex. Key sponsors such as Estrella Galicia & Repsol are also supposed to move on from the factory Honda team to Gresini to facilitate the move.
Ultimate drag race winner, Dani Pedrosa:
Red Bull partnered with @carwow for a five-way ultimate drag race. This drag race had an F1 car, a MotoGP Bike, a World Rally Championship car, a World Rallycross car and a crazy Ford SuperVan 4.2 in a 5-way drag race. Dani Pedrosa, “The Little Samurai” emerged victorious in all three races with a substantial margin and was declared the ultimate drag race winner.
Watch Dani Pedrosa’s win using the below link:
With lots of corners at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, we shall witness extremely close battles. Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzechi probably have the best chance to catch up with Pecco in the world championship standings.
That’s all folks!!! You can watch the race on Sports 18 and stream on JioCinema for Free.1
Here’s the Weekend MotoGP Schedule :
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