MotoGP Misano: Marquez wins but Petrucci surprise package

If you thought that the Misano race wouldn't be exciting without Valentino Rossi being there, well, you had another think coming. First, the race turned out to be a wet one, when the entire weekend was dry. Second, nobody expected Lorenzo to put in a Yamaha-like dominant performance so quickly on the Ducati - and in the wet, too. Third, that last-lap overtake from Marc Marquez meant that he is now tied for points with Andrea Dovizioso in the riders' championship.

Lorenzo had already opened up a 4.5 second leading over the next group of Dovi, Petrucci and Marquez by lap seven. Ducati must really be pleased with themselves, considering three out of the top four bikes were GP17s in the initial stages of the race. Expand that to the following group of three bikes, and you'll find yet another GP17 in the hands of Michele Pirro, test rider for Ducati, who made a wildcard appearance for the team. However, Lorenzo made an error on lap 7 - a lapse of concentration while he switched engine maps - and down he went, losing the opportunity to win Ducati colours for the first time. Marquez followed Petrucci around until the last lap, when he overtook the latter rider. Petrucci couldn't keep up with the Honda man, and briefly contemplated letting Dovizoso through, to help his chances in the championship.

Vinales rode home fourth while Pirro and Miller battled it out behind him, the Ducati test rider getting the better of the Australian on the Honda. Alex Rins was best of the rookies in eighth place on the Suzuki. Cal Crutchlow managed to bring it home in thirteenth despite his crash, earning some valuable points. Johann Zarco was in position to finish in seventh place, but ran out of fuel just before the end of the race, and pushed his bike over the finish line to earn a single point.

We're sure that even Rossi, watching the race from wherever he was, enjoyed it just as much as we did. MotoGP is in a good place, there's no doubting that. Full race results are below:

1. Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda

2. Danilo Petrucci, Pramac Ducati (+1.192)

3. Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati (+11.706)

4. Maverick Vinales, Movistar Yamaha (+16.559)

5. Michele Pirro, Ducati (+19.499)

6. Jack Miller, Marc VDS Honda (+24.882)

7. Scott Redding, Pramac Ducati (+33.872)

8. Alex Rins, Suzuki (+34.662)

9. Jonas Folger, Tech 3 Yamaha (+54.082)

10. Bradley Smith, KTM (+57.964)

11. Pol Espargaro, KTM (+1'00.440)

12. Alvaro Bautista, Aspar Ducati (+1'17.356)