MotoGP: Marc Marquez makes the right strategy calls to win dry-wet-dry San Marino GP

MARC Marquez picked the changing conditions to perfection to win a crazy San Marino MotoGP in a disastrous race for title contender Jorge Lorenzo.

Marquez wins dry-wet thriller in Misano

MARC Marquez picked the changing conditions to perfection to win a crazy San Marino Grand Prix where the weather played right into hands of hometown hero Valetino Rossi’s title hopes.

Marquez led an unlikely Misano podium of he and British riders Bradley Smith and Scott Redding, with Open class rider Loris Baz a remarkable fourth after both factory Yamaha men got the final piece of the strategy puzzle wrong. Rossi finished a distant fifth but a worse fate befell Lorenzo, who crashed out of the race eight laps from home.

RESULTS: Click here for full results from the San Marino MotoGP

The race started in dry conditions and was a straight shootout between Lorenzo, Marquez and Rossi, with the pole man starting to eke a small advantage until showers rolled across the Misano circuit.

Lorenzo held the lead during the first round of bike changes.

Lorenzo continued to maintain his lead once the trio switched to wet-weather bikes, but Rossi began to surge in the greasy conditions. He carved over half a second out of the lap out of both leaders before sweeping into the lead just past the halfway mark.

With the track now drying rapidly, all three leaders began to struggle with their worn-out wet tyres. Several lower-placed riders began swapping back to dry-weather bikes, but all three leaders persisted for several laps more.

Marquez had slipped slightly off the tail of the blue Yamahas and, after having a good look at the conditions of their tyres, made the crucial call to pit for dry tyres with 10 laps to go.

It was the decision that would win him the race, his first triumph at Misano.

“The team informed me of the situation with the pit board and helped me decide when to come in to change bikes, and I have to thank them!” he said.

“I was close behind the Yamaha to try and see how the asphalt and tyres were. I saw Lorenzo and Rossi had a lot of degradation and then I saw my bike started to move and I was losing so much time so I thought ‘OK, it’s time to change’.”

Rossi led during the wet middle phase of the race.

Marquez was instantly several seconds a lap faster than either Rossi or Lorenzo. Despite Yamaha telling both men to pit for slicks, both title contenders baulked at being the first to head to the lane.

Lorenzo would be the first to blink, but it was far too late to stop the rampant Marquez from passing both the Yamaha men.

He pitted on Lap 20, but would not make it around to see Lap 21. Pushing hard on dry tyres - and on track to finish third behind Marquez and Smith - Lorenzo crashed at high speed, tumbling through the gravel at Turn 15 and out of the race.

Rossi would finally pit - far too late - at the end of the same lap, returning to the now bone-dry track in fifth place with no hope of overhauling the four riders ahead.

Although it was not the victory he’d hoped for in front of his home crowd - and it ends a podium finishing streak dating back to Motegi last year - it is still a result that boosts his title lead over Lorenzo to 23 points with just five races remaining.

“It’s true that the championship is a lot more important that winning this race, it’s the main target,” Rossi said.

“Unfortunately Jorge crashed and I was able to gain another 11-points. This is good for the championship, but it’s a shame to miss out on the podium, because I wanted to arrive in the top three in front of all the spectators.

“It was a crazy race and when you have to change the bike, in this case twice, you need luck and rapid thinking to understand the situation.”

Smith, Marquez and Redding on the podium.

Behind Marquez, Smith and Redding’s podium finishes made it the first time two British riders finished on the dais in the premier class since Barry Sheene and Pat Hennen at the 1979 Venezuelan Grand Prix.

At one point, both men looked completely out of contention. Smith had gambled on staying out on slicks as the rain washed over the circuit, but soon plummeted through the field. But once the track dried, Smith was a man on a mission. He soon overhauled all but Marquez, and was actually lapping faster than the reigning world champion in the final laps.

Redding’s rise to the podium was even more unlikely - he’d crashed when the heavens opened!

Although he regained the track he’d slipped from sixth to 23rd, but with nothing to lose he was one of the first to switch back from wets to dry tyres and reaped the benefits, running down Baz to take the final podium spot.

Behind Rossi in fifth came Silverstone podium finisher Danilo Petrucci, once again ahead of both factory Ducati riders Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso in seventh and eighth, while Dani Pedrosa struggled in the conditions to ninth place, with Aleix Espargaro rounding out the top 10 for Suzuki.

Jack Miller would have been among the top 10 but for an electrical problem late in the race. The Australian had initially stayed out too long on dry tyres but, like Redding and Baz, was one of the first to switch back to dry tyres.

He ran as high as seventh for several laps before slipping to 12th at the finish, once again banking three world championship points.

The next round of the MotoGP world championship is at Aragon in Spain on September 27.

Originally published as MotoGP: Marc Marquez makes the right strategy calls to win dry-wet-dry San Marino GP