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Gallery: 2016 Misano MotoGP

Action images from the San Marino Grand Prix

September 13, 2016

The MotoGP race at Misano saw yet another different winner for the season, with Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa topping the field for his first victory of the year; Pedrosa is the eighth different winner so far this season. Scroll through the gallery below for images from the race, with quotes from the riders and details on how they finished.

Jorge Lorenzo (99) leads on the opening lap from pole posiiton, followed by Valentino Rossi (46) and Maverick Vinales (25).Courtesy of Movistar Yamaha

Dani Pedrosa (26) had good pace all weekend but had to start the race from the third row of the grid and fight his way to the front, setting a new lap record in the process. Here he passes Rossi for the lead on lap 22.Courtesy of Repsol Honda

Pedrosa used a soft front and medium rear tire combination, while he teammate Marc Marquez struggled with the hard front tire. "Today I enjoyed myself, although I was a little worried about the choice of front tire because I hadn't used it in hot conditions," Pedrosa said. "In the end we were focused and everything went very well."Courtesy of Repsol Honda

Rossi held on for second place in front of his many hometown fans. With Marquez finishing in fourth position, Rossi closed the gap in the title chase to 43 points with five rounds remaining. "I tried the maximum to race against Marquez. When I saw that my rhythm was enough to win I was very happy, but later Pedrosa arrived and he was too fast. I tried the maximum but there was no way, he had a better pace."Courtesy of Movistar Yamaha

Pole-sitter Lorenzo led the opening lap but was soon passed by Rossi, with Pedrosa going by on lap 16. "I can’t be very happy, because I expected a bit more from the race. I tried hard for the victory but today I simply didn’t have the best pace. Honestly they were faster."Courtesy of Movistar Yamaha

Marquez struggle with the harder-option front Michelin tire to finish fourth, five seconds adrift of Lorenzo. "When Dani passed me, I tried to follow him, but I saw that it was more likely that I would crash than finish on the podium, so I concentrated on finishing the race. We have to keep improving, but the positive thing is that we only lost a few points during a weekend that had been good but that we weren’t able to capitalize on in the race."Courtesy of Repsol Honda

Suzuki Ecstar's Maverick Vinales had strong race pace during the weekend and qualified on the front row, but struggled with rear grip during the race to finish fifth. "This was one of the hardest tracks for our machine and here it was really hot - a condition in which we have always been struggling recently. During the race I felt really confident with the front, but the rear had no grip at all, so I had to push really hard and adapt my riding style. I managed to keep with the leading group at the beginning but then I had to go back. At around half-race distance I felt I could push more and my lap-times became faster again. I had to give-up one position for having exceeded the track limit but recovered immediately."Courtesy of Suzuki Ecstar

Andrea Dovizioso battled early with Marquez, Pedrosa and Vinales, and finished sixth."Unfortunately we are still struggling to get the bike to turn like our rivals and as the laps go by this difference increases. To reduce the gap I have to use a lot of energy, push hard on the handlebars and my riding style becomes less smooth and a bit more ragged. To do a consistent lap it’s better that I don’t push hard in the early laps, but we are forced to do so to remain with the leading group.”Courtesy of Ducati

After factory Ducati rider Andrea Iannone crashed on Friday and was unable to ride for the remainder of the weekend, test rider Michele Pirro was drafted in to ride the second Ducati, and finished in seventh position. “I gave away a bit too much at the start today: losing three or four seconds early on makes things all the more difficult, but it’s not easy to quickly find the right feeling to start well when you only take part in MotoGP occasionally like I do."Courtesy of Ducati

Cal Crutchlow finished as top satellite rider in eighth spot after dicing with Pirro for much of the race. The LCR Honda rider was originally assessed with a 1.5-second penalty for going off track, putting him in ninth, but this was revoked following the FIM stewards' study of sector times and data from his machine. “In the race I had some problems with the visor in my helmet because drips of sweat got onto it on about lap eight and it affected my vision for the last 20 laps. There was also a bit of a struggle with the front tire which was really difficult to ride with here and didn’t suit the setting or my style. I gave my best as always and could easily have been a different result if things had gone for us. I ran off the track five times into turn one due to the visor problem, and gained an advantage three laps out of the five. Then I deliberately gave the time back in the second sector, actually even more than I gained. After the race we got the penalty, which was then overturned once we provided Race Direction with the data and the sector times to clarify that I deliberately gave the time back on each occasion.”Courtesy of Michelin

After a strong start to the weekend, Tech 3 Yamaha rider Pol Espargaro finished in ninth. "I did my absolute best but it was very physically demanding. I struggled with the full fuel load, the bike moved a lot and my leg started to hurt a bit, which certainly didn't make things easier."Courtesy of Tech 3

After making steady progress over the past several races, Misano marked the first time the Aprilia RS-GP went directly to Q2 during qualifying with a top-ten practice time set by Alvaro Bautista. Unfortunately Bautista made contact with another rider in the opening laps and dropped down the field slightly, but recovered to finish in tenth position. "We knew that, despite going through to Q2, it would be a hard battle to get into the top ten and that is our goal. I started well, but in the second lap I lost a few positions because of contact with another rider, so I had to push hard to come back. Then, in the first laps, I had a strange feeling with the rear tyre. We don’t know why, but the bike slid around a lot. Then the situation went back to normal and I was able to maintain a good pace."Courtesy of Michelin