It's been a weekend full of stories at the Red Bull Grand Prix of San Marino. The 12th round of the 2023 season has seen records broken as well as some incredible racing action! Find out more in 10 things you need to know ahead of race day in Misano!
1) Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) has qualified on pole for the 10th time in MotoGP™ (the first time since Valencia last year on his way to finishing P3), setting a new all-time lap record at Misano. He took his third Sprint win and will now be aiming to take his third MotoGP™ win along with Styria 2021 and Germany 2023.
2) Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) has qualified second for his fourth top three in qualifying so far this year. On his previous three top threes, he went on to finish on the podium twice, including his maiden win in Argentina. He finished P2 in the Sprint at Misano (his fifth Sprint podium), and he will be aiming to take his third MotoGP™ win on Sunday (along with Argentina and France this year).
3) Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) has qualified third for his 10th top three in qualifying so far this year. He finished P3 in the Sprint for his 10th Sprint podium and will now be aiming to take his sixth GP win of the season, which would be one less than he took all last year. This would be his third MotoGP™ win at the track, equalling MotoGP™ Legends Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.
4) This is Ducati’s eighth successive pole position in MotoGP™ (a sequence that started in France) which is their longest pole sequence in MotoGP. In addition, this is the 52nd successive race where there is at least one Ducati rider within the top three in qualifying.
5) Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) has qualified fourth, as he did in Catalunya last week, which are second-best qualifying results so far this season after he qualified second in Austria. He finished P6 in the Sprint, but he is in the running to make MotoGP™ history on Sunday by taking Grand Prix wins with three different factories (after already winning with Suzuki and Yamaha). He has taken Aprilia’s only MotoGP™ podium so far at the track, with third in 2022.
6) Wildcard and MotoGP™ Legend Pedrosa has qualified fifth as the top KTM, for his best qualifying result since he qualified second at the 2018 Spanish GP. He has finished on the podium six times in MotoGP™ at Misano, the last time being in 2016 when he took the win. He finished P4 in the Sprint and if he stands on the podium on Sunday, he will have one podium less (113) than MotoGP™ Legend Jorge Lorenzo (114) who sits second on the list of riders with most premier class podiums. On Sunday, Pedrosa is also scheduled to start his 298th Grand Prix race to move above Lorenzo into seventh on the list of riders with most GP starts.
7) Winner last time out in Catalunya, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) passed through Q1 but eventually qualified sixth, which is his fifth top six in qualifying so far this season. He finished P8 in the Sprint and will now be aiming to win for the fourth time in Grand Prix racing.
8) Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) has qualified seventh, which is the sixth time so far this year he has qualified with the top nine. He finished P5 in the Sprint and will now be aiming to score his ninth podium in MotoGP™, which would see him become the South African rider with most podiums in the premier class.
9) Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) has qualified eighth for his worst qualifying result at Misano since he qualified 15th at the 2021 San Marino GP. He finished P7 in the Sprint but will be aiming to stand on the podium for the second time in MotoGP™ along with Americas this year.
10) Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has qualified ninth for his best qualifying result since he qualified seventh at the German GP earlier this year (but then subsequently missed the race). He finished P10 in the Sprint as the top Honda and will now be aiming to win for the first time since Emilia-Romagna 2021, 686 days ago here at Misano.
Follow the entire 2023 Season LIVE & VOD with VideoPass!