2013 Misano MotoGP | San Marino GP Preview

2013 San Marino Grand Prix Preview

Following a one-week break since round 12 of the 2013 MotoGP Championship at Silverstone, the grid heads to Misano for the San Marino Grand Prix.

At Silverstone, the reigning MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo broke the rookie Marc Marquez’s streak of four race wins. The Yamaha Factory Racing YZR-M1 pilot had to ride aggressively to take the win, Lorenzo finishing a mere 0.008 of a second ahead of Repsol Honda’s Marquez.

Due to his second-place finish at Silverstone – his 11th podium of 2013 MotoGP – Marquez still holds the points’ lead with 233, 39 ahead of Lorenzo and 30 ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa.

Although Marquez finished second, he put in yet another impressive performance as he swapped the lead with Lorenzo during the final laps at Silverstone. Marquez suffered a dislocated shoulder during warm-up for Silverstone, but was able to ride with extreme confidence while in pain.

The extra week break following Silverstone gave the RC213V rider some further recovery time, and Marquez will be looking to get back to his dominate ways.

But much can change at Misano, a track that has been kind to both Marquez and Lorenzo over the past few years. The Spaniards both won at the circuit the past two years in their perspective classes (Lorenzo, MotoGP; Marquez, Moto2. Here’s a recap of 2012 Misano MotoGP).

Pedrosa can’t be ruled out, either. He will hope to redeem some extra points to chase his first-ever premier-class MotoGP title since joining series in 2006. He also has a win at Misano (2010), and has finished on the podium in the past three rounds of 2013 MotoGP.

Lorenzo’s teammate Valentino Rossi has finished fourth in the past three races. The nine-time World Champion can battle his way up front, but his pace drops towards the end of the race. Rossi has two wins at San Marino, and will be searching for his late-race rhythm at Misano.

As Rossi chases the podium, GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista will be chasing the Italian. Bautista has been beaten to the line by Rossi in the last three races.

LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl has developed a great pace at the beginning of races, but begins dramatically losing positions as the race progresses. He’ll be searching for a cure to this at Misano.  Also looking for a cure will be future Ducati rider Cal Crutchlow. The British Monster Tech 3 Yamaha pilot crashed multiple times at Silverstone, the YZR-M1 pilot forced to finish seventh. His teammate Bradley Smith will also be searching for a cure to finish in the top seven.

The Ducati crowd will be lively at Misano, considering San Marino is located in Italy. The team has tested there before, but its riders Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso have struggled all season.

Ignite Pramac Racing’s Ben Spies is once again replaced due to injury by Ducati test rider Michele Pirro, who will make it a fully Italian garage alongside Energy T.I. Pramac’s Andrea Iannone.

Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro still looks near unstoppable as top CRT on his ART machine, and the likes of NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards and Avintia Blusens’ Hector Barbera will have a tough job chasing him down.

2013 Misano MotoGP TV Schedule

Fox Sports 1 will broadcast the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano at 8 a.m. EDT Sunday, Sept. 15.

2013 MotoGP Championship Point Standings (after 12 of 18 rounds):