Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales got his revenge the second time round at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. He executed his plan perfectly and claimed his eighth premier class victory, his seventh with Yamaha. Valentino Rossi was unlucky to have his challenge for the podium end early after a crash on lap two. He re-joined the race briefly but retired after 15 laps.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales earned bragging rights Sunday at the Gran Premio dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini. The Top Gun rider went full steam ahead in the 27-lap race, taking a brilliant win. Valentino Rossi’s hopes for a podium were dampened by an early crash. Though he was able to briefly re-join the race, he later retired and ended the day with an NC score.

Viñales had a perfect start from pole and took the holeshot. The Yamaha man planned on pushing right from the start, and that’s exactly what he did. He set a blistering hot pace that only Francesco Bagnaia was able to match. The pair were riding on the limit ahead of the pack, consistently increasing their lead. Then, on lap 6, Viñales made a small mistake in Turn 4 that made him go wide. He reluctantly handed over the lead but didn’t stop pushing.

The gap between him and Bagnaia stretched to 1.5s, but it didn’t extend beyond that. The Spaniard also still had a comfortable advantage over the rider in third place, so he could afford to focus on saving his tyres for the final stages of the race.

With ten laps to go, the time had come for the number-12 to put pressure on Bagnaia. He was inching closer, and the gap was reduced to just over a second when the race leader crashed. Viñales was now back in P1 with 7 laps left to go to the chequered flag. Just focusing on getting the bike home, he cruised towards his first victory of the 2020 season, which he secured with a still dominant 2.425s advantage. This is his eighth premier class GP win and his seventh with Yamaha.

Rossi had a good start, determined to deliver a good result at his second home Grand Prix of the 2020 season, but he lost the front on Turn 4 in lap two. Though it was a small crash and The Doctor was able to re-join the race, he lost a lot of time. He had dropped back to 18th with a lot of work ahead of him.

The local hero was disappointed to see his chances for a podium disappear but stayed out for as long as he could to confirm this week’s race settings changes ahead of next week's race. After lap 15 he decided to pull into the pits, ending his day with an NC score.

After today’s race Viñales moves up to third in the championship rankings, just 1 point from the top. Rossi drops to ninth place, with a 26-point gap to first. Yamaha remains first in the constructor standings, and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP also stay in second place in the team classification.

Viñales and Rossi will be back in the saddle next weekend for the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, held from 25 – 27 September in Montmeló, Spain.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI TEAM DIRECTOR

I’m really happy. I think this win is well deserved, both by Maverick and the team. Maverick's effort was fantastic. Yesterday he got pole, and today he finished the job. He had an aggressive start and kept a very high rhythm, pushing Bagnaia to make a mistake. It’s a great confidence boost for the next race. These 25 points are a testimony to the hard work the team did on Saturday during FP3 and are very useful for the championship. Maverick made a huge step in the standings and is close to the top. Of course, there are also mixed feelings. It’s a great shame to see Valentino’s chance for a podium end so early on, especially because it was his home race, and he was feeling very competitive. It’s a pity, but these things happen in racing. On the bright side, we have another race weekend coming up. The entire team is determined to keep the progress going in Barcelona.

MAVERICK VIÑALES MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MOTOGP RIDER
We did an amazing job this weekend, and we prepared really well for this race. Pecco was very fast, and I was pushing a lot throughout and trying to save a bit of tyre for the last ten laps. Then I started to push at the end, and I thought I was catching up with Pecco. But after he made a mistake, I just focused on keeping the bike with both wheels on the ground, trying to not crash and take the maximum amount of points. It’s fantastic! I’m very happy, because my mentality is exactly the same as it was last weekend and during the last races, but we just found a set-up that’s a bit better for when we ride with 20 litres at the beginning of the race. I actually made a mistake in Turn 4. I was pushing a lot in the beginning, trying to open the gap. But when we were with only two riders, it was good. I want to say ‘Thank you’ to all the people who are supporting me at home. They know we’ve had some tough times in our team, but it seems like we’ve passed it, right now we have some good luck, and that’s what counts. I’m very happy and appreciate all the work from the team, and we need to continue like that, pushing very hard, because we have a lot more potential.

VALENTINO ROSSI MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MOTOGP RIDER
For sure, it's a shame that I made a mistake on the second lap. There was a bit of confusion in that moment, because all riders were close together. Unfortunately, I lost the front in Turn 4. It's a pity because we lose some points. After the mistake I continued. I did some other laps to try to understand the rhythm, because we changed the setting of the bike a bit this weekend. It's a shame, but this is the way it is. On the bright side, we have another race next week in Barcelona. That is a very good track, I like it a lot. The asphalt and grip level will be very different there. We hope that we will be competitive again. The championship is still long, so anything can happen.

GP TISSOT DELL'EMILIA ROMAGNA E RIVIERA DI RIMINI
MotoGP Race Classification 2020 - Misano Adriatico, Sunday, September 20, 2020

Pos.    Points    Num.    Rider    Nation    Team    Bike    Km/h    Time/Gap
1    25    12    Maverick VIÑALES    SPA    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha    163.2    41'55.846
2    20    36    Joan MIR    SPA    Team SUZUKI ECSTAR    Suzuki    163.1    +2.425
3    16    44    Pol ESPARGARO    SPA    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    162.9    +4.528
4    13    20    Fabio QUARTARARO    FRA    Petronas Yamaha SRT    Yamaha    163.0    +6.419
5    11    88    Miguel OLIVEIRA    POR    Red Bull KTM Tech 3    KTM    162.7    +7.368
6    10    30    Takaaki NAKAGAMI    JPN    LCR Honda IDEMITSU    Honda    162.5    +11.139
7    9    73    Alex MARQUEZ    SPA    Repsol Honda Team    Honda    162.5    +11.929
8    8    4    Andrea DOVIZIOSO    ITA    Ducati Team    Ducati    162.4    +13.113
9    7    21    Franco MORBIDELLI    ITA    Petronas Yamaha SRT    Yamaha    162.2    +15.880
10    6    9    Danilo PETRUCCI    ITA    Ducati Team    Ducati    162.1    +17.682
11    5    5    Johann ZARCO    FRA    Esponsorama Racing    Ducati    161.7    +23.144
12    4    42    Alex RINS    SPA    Team SUZUKI ECSTAR    Suzuki    161.6    +24.962
13    3    38    Bradley SMITH    GBR    Aprilia Racing Team Gresini    Aprilia    161.3    +30.008
Not Classified
27    Iker LECUONA    SPA    Red Bull KTM Tech 3    KTM    162.7    3 Laps
63    Francesco BAGNAIA    ITA    Pramac Racing    Ducati    163.6    7 Laps
46    Valentino ROSSI    ITA    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha    159.6    12 Laps
53    Tito RABAT    SPA    Esponsorama Racing    Ducati    160.5    15 Laps
43    Jack MILLER    AUS    Pramac Racing    Ducati    160.8    20 Laps
33    Brad BINDER    RSA    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    147.1    24 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
41    Aleix ESPARGARO    SPA    Aprilia Racing Team Gresini    Aprilia        0 Lap