Well, the MotoGP World Championship is a little more lively. Jorge Martín finally went on the attack and in the Sprint of the San Marino GP he managed to cut a good handful of points, five, from the leader Pecco Bagnaia, third, visibly physically affected in the legs by his spectacular fall in Montmeló in the race of the last week.
Although the best entertainer of Misano's short career was a rejuvenated Dani Pedrosa at 37 years old. The KTM tester, racing with an invitation, had qualified fifth on the grid and managed to finish fourth, tightening the screws on a Bagnaia who resisted on the podium in the face of harassment from the Vallesano.
Ducati triplet in the first starting row, with the top three in the World Championship playing for the points. Jorge Martín accelerated better at the start, from pole - the first he achieved this year -, Bagnaia surpassed Bezzecchi in braking, and the man from Madrid and Turin began the escape very early.
Tremendous Dani Pedrosa, who jumped from fifth on the grid to fourth by overtaking Viñales; Aleix maintained sixth place and Marc Márquez gained one position, eighth, that of Binder and Marini. The one from Cervera had to give in to Binder's push in the first turn; The KTM rider was on fire and climbed to fifth place on the third lap, overtaking Marini and Viñales.
Ahead, Martín, with a superior pace, was very engaged and had a 9 tenths advantage over Bagnaia, who slipped into the Tramonto curve to make way for Bezzecchi, second from the third lap. However, the VR46 rider was more solid than his countryman from the official Ducati and he put pressure on Martín, getting only 2-3 tenths closer (v. 4). Pedrosa remained solid in fourth place.
Bagnaia, recovering from his brutal fall in Montmeló six days ago, could not keep up with the pace of the two escapees and fell 2 seconds behind, with Pedrosa hot on his heels. Meanwhile, Binder and Viñales had a tough duel for fifth place, with the South African superior.
Although Dani Pedrosa began to add salt to the short race mid-test, throwing himself on top of Bagnaia's world champion Ducati. The man from Castellar, at 37 years old, invited to the San Marino GP with a wild-card, hugged the leader fighting for the third drawer of the podium.
Once the mystery of victory was solved, with Martín leading Bezzecchi by 1 second with three laps remaining, Pedrosa was the most incisive, marking Bagnaia very closely. Each anomalous line by the Italian was taken advantage of by a precise Pedrosa to cut centimeters and hint at overtaking.
It was a braking duel, which Bagnaia ended up taking with great physical effort. "Finishing third today is something incredible, I have to feel happy, after what happened," said the Turin native, who added his tenth podium in Sprint.
The champion finished destroyed, and Pedrosa, applauded with shouts of "Dani, Dani" by the KTM garage, who saw how his starting rider, Binder, was overtaken by the tester... Behind Binder (5th), they arrived Viñales, Marini, Aleix Espargaró 8th, Àlex Márquez 9th closing the points, and Marc Márquez, 10th.
Jorge Martín, with his third Sprint victory in his pocket, expressed his satisfaction. "I hope in the race to repeat the start (from pole) and with the medium tire to be solid and not get as tired as today with the soft one, with which I have suffered a lot; I saved a bit on braking to get a good start." For the Sunday race he does not rule out Bagnaia, who "always takes a step forward."
