Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa became the eighth different MotoGP winner in eight races a fortnight ago taking a stunning victory at Misano, his 29th in MotoGP and the 52nd in his career, as well as the 120th for Honda since the start of the MotoGP era in 2002. Marc Marquez struggled with his front end but managed to score an important fourth-place finish, which allows him to keep an advantage of 43 points in the Championship standings
Dani’s choice of a soft-front and medium-rear Michelin tire combination proved to be the best one for today’s conditions and for his riding style, as it allowed him to charge through the field at an incredibly fast pace and to set a new track record of 1:32.979 (hours) on his way to the victory. Starting eighth on the grid, he was sixth at the end of the first lap and progressively improved his speed over the course of 22 laps, overtaking Dovizioso, Viñales, Marquez, Lorenzo and finally Rossi before crossing the line 2.8 seconds ahead of the Italian to became the fourth Honda rider to win a race this year.