Nothing can stop Francesco Bagnaia. The Italian won his second race in a row on Sunday at the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano, resisting the return of Frenchman Fabio Quartararo in the final laps. Say like that, the statement could scare the title ambitions of the young 22-year-old from Nice. Except that mathematically, there is no fire in the lake for the French. Certainly, with this success, Bagnaia grabs five points to Quartararo but the latter still has 48 points ahead. What he did not fail to underline after the race at the microphone of Canal +: “
I do not need to play the title in Austin. If I play it in Portimao (Editor's note: theater of the penultimate grand prix of the season), it will be very good. I'm 48 points ahead with four races from the end,
it is very positive. "
Winner in Aragon for the first time in his MotoGP career last week, the 24-year-old Italian is certainly posing as the ultimate resistance to Quartararo, who continues his quest for the first world title. Starting from pole position, Bagnaia saw Quartararo return irremediably, starting third, in the last laps. But he was able to resist until the end, keeping 0''364 of a second in advance at the finish, to prevent the Frenchman from winning the 6th this season. “
The last ten laps, when I saw Fabio come back, it was very difficult, but I gave everything
,” said the Ducati rider. “
I had a hard time winning my first race and now I’m winning two at once ... I’m really happy.
". For his part, Quartararo did not harbor any particular regrets: “
I did not have an opportunity, he was very strong in sector three. I could not do anything. I gave it my all and if I had a chance I would have gone. But Pecco was stronger, congratulations to him. In any case we did the job and we still have 48 points in advance so let's stay calm
”.
Quartararo's lead remains comfortable four races from the end of the championship, but the Yamaha rider has found a strong opponent with his rival Ducati. The only one, because behind, the Spanish Joan Mir (Suzuki), title holder, is 67 points behind, and the other Frenchman Johann Zarco (Ducati-Pramac) is now 93 lengths behind his compatriot. Mir and Zarco finished 6th and 12th respectively on Sunday. Another Italian, Enea Bastianini (Ducati-Avintia) took 3rd place, his first podium in the premier class. Marc Marquez (Honda) and Jack Miller (Ducati), who started second on the grid, finished 4th and 5th. In front of his fans, limited to 23,000 due to the health crisis, Valentino Rossi took 17th place. The Italian motorcycle legend will retire at the end of the season, at the age of 42.