The Italian is the in-form rider with three wins in a row and Misano is a favoured stomping ground too
Another Grand Prix rears its head in 2022 as we get set for the Gran Premio Gryfyn di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, meaning it’s another weekend of important decisions in MotoGP™ Fantasy. The question is: is it all aboard the Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) express?
The ideal team from Austria
GOLD: Francesco Bagnaia (36) GOLD: Luca Marini (34) CONSTRUCTOR: Ducati (35) SILVER: Fabio Quartararo (32) SILVER: Marco Bezzecchi (29)
As expected, race winner Bagnaia came out on top in terms of points, closely followed by VR46 Academy stablemate Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing) as the Italian climbed from P13 on the grid to finish a career-best P4. The sensational effort from Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) made sure it wasn’t complete domination from Ducati, while Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) claimed a nice 29-point haul after his P20 to P9 rise on Sunday.
Is Bagnaia now a must-have?
After three wins from the last three races, Bagnaia is now the most owned rider in the game with 18,566 players either enjoying his recent run or wanting a piece of the action. Even before a wheel has been turned in anger at Misano, 356 players have already transferred him in – and for good reason. Pecco won on home soil last year and it should have been two if it wasn’t for a crash out of the lead in the Emilia-Romagna GP.
Basically, players should be trying to make Bagnaia their top priority ahead of the San Marino GP. Now at $4.7m, Pecco is joint with Quartararo on being the most expensive rider in the game. That means getting him in, without wanting to sell someone like Quartararo if you own the World Championship leader, is tricky. Tough decisions lie ahead.
MotoGP™ has the speed, and it’s bringing it to Misano! 26/08/2022
Can anyone stop Pecco Bagnaia four in a row charge, or will the title pendulum shift in another direction at the San Marino GP?
Riders to keep an eye on
Pecco’s teammate Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) has shown great form recently too, and at $3.4m, the Australian is much easier to get into your team than someone like Pecco. Miller is the fifth most owned rider in the game and has also seen plenty of players transfer him in ahead of the weekend – 305 to be exact. Miller will be eying up three podiums in a row this weekend and four in the last five races, so this could be as good a time as any to place some faith in the number 43.
However, at $3.1m, Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) is a very tempting prospect. The Beast finished third at Misano last year on a two-year-old Desmosedici in his rookie season, while in 2022 he’s coming into the San Marino GP off the back of the news that he’ll be Pecco’s teammate in 2023. After securing pole position at the Red Bull Ring, Bastianini should be on everyone’s radar.
If you’re fancying the look of some cheaper options, then Marini ($2.5m) and Bezzecchi ($2.7m) should be monitored. Marini is the most transferred in rider this week and both the Italians know the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli like the back of their hand. The duo could both act as enablers if you’re wanting to get the likes of Pecco or Quartararo into your teams too.
The deadline for making your moves is just before MotoGP™ Q1 gets underway at 14:10 local time (GMT+2) on Saturday afternoon.
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Fourth overall heading to the Adriatic coast is Angel Piqueras. After crashing out of podium contention last time out, the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider will be determined to bounce back. He sits just one point clear of Aspar Junior Team’s Filippo Farioli after the Italian was handed a 55 second penalty for irresponsible riding in Portimão. What happened? At the start of the final lap, the 17-year-old wiped out both his Aspar teammate David Alonso and SIC58 Squadra Corse’s Harrison Voight, so Farioli will be looking for a less dramatic finish on the Adriatic. For his part, Voight will be making his Grand Prix debut as a wildcard in Misano and, therefore, won’t be on the JuniorGP™ grid.
As a result of the big moves in the Ducati and Aprilia boxes, the five riders involved will take to the stage to discuss their respective moves, and their motivations behind them, on Thursday at 17:40 CET in Misano. Bastianini, Martin, Zarco, Oliveira and Fernandez will all be present at the Special Conference to field questions from the media, while it will be free to stream on motogp.com.
Enea Bastianini and Maverick Viñales will captain their respective sides, and if you are in the area, the event is free to attend. However, if you are unable to attend in person, you can still follow all the action through MotoGP™’s social channels on Youtube, Twitch and Facebook.
The season closer will be held at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia, with track action kicking off on November 25th. Miller took a podium on his visit last season and has lived up to his promise that he would return. The 27-year-old will join the Alpinestars Superbike class for the weekend, which will see him race twice on Sunday aboard his Thrill Racing Superbike.
With the likes of Repsol Honda Team and Ducati Lenovo Team confirming their rider lineups recently, the 2023 MotoGP™ grid is now really taking shape. Here’s a rundown of how the premier class grid looks so far, with LCR Honda Idemitsu, GASGAS Factory Racing Team and Mooney VR46 Racing Team the only teams who don’t have both riders officially confirmed.
Massimo Rivola – Aprilia Racing CEO: “Our satellite project with Team RNF is taking shape in the way we conceived it from the very beginning. We have succeeded in securing two extraordinary talents, two riders whom I greatly respect both from a human point of view and for their technical skills. Miguel has shown his talent in all categories, although he is still very young he has already accumulated a lot of experience, winning four races in MotoGP, sometimes with dominant performances. At his side will be Raul, a rider I make no secret of having sought out several times. I think he is one of the most crystal clear promises of recent years, what he did in Moto2 on his debut speaks volumes about his speed. We’ll have to be good at offering them both a technical package that will allow them to perform at their full potential. I would like to take this opportunity to thank KTM who, showing their great sportsmanship, have allowed Miguel and Raul to ride on our bikes immediately after the end of the 2022 Championship.”
Private, polite, friendly and rarely outspoken but I will never forget the look Andrea Dovizioso gave Marc Marquez after they had crossed the finishing line at Austria in 2017. The winner of an epic battle round the Red Bull Ring had just let World Champion Marc Marquez know in no uncertain fashion the fight for the MotoGP™ World Championship was on. The previous year in Austria it had come down to another last bend decider, that right hander at the bottom of the hill, and Dovi lost out to teammate Andrea Iannone. The gentleman off the track was not going to let it happen again. You do not win 24 Grands Prix and a World title without that inner aggression and confidence when the lights change. That stare said it all.
Luis Suarez left Liverpool having just helped the club to a second place finish in the Premier League, winning the Premier League Golden Boot, the European Golden Boot and the Premier League’s best player award in the process. So a lot of questions were asked on whether he could gel with Lionel Messi when his move to Barcelona was announced. However, along with Brazil’s Neymar, the trio formed arguably the greatest front three in footballing history. In their first season, the Barcelona attacking trio of Messi, Suárez and Neymar, dubbed “MSN”, ended with 122 goals, the most in a season for an attacking trio in Spanish football history. Suarez would leave Barcelona with four league titles, four Spanish Cup triumphs and a Champions League winners medal.
The lineups for the eagerly anticipated event have been announced, with Jorge Lorenzo, Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi all temporarily coming out of their sporting retirements for one last ride on the Riviera, albeit on the football pitch. They’ll join some of the biggest names currently in the sport, such as Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing), Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) and Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing).
