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Misano MotoGP: Marquez wins in changing weather, Lorenzo crashes

Marc Marquez judged changing weather perfectly to win MotoGP's Misano race ahead of shock podium finishers Bradley Smith and Scott Redding, with Valentino Rossi only fifth and Jorge Lorenzo crashing

Most of the field made two pitstops to change bikes as a shower hit the race early on but departed in time for the track to dry before the finish.

Lorenzo, Marquez and Rossi were tied together for much of the race, pitting in unison for wet-shod tyres when the drizzle intensified early on.

Marquez handled the conditions better and slipped ahead of Lorenzo, only to run wide and hand the lead back.

There then followed a long tense period of Lorenzo fending off constant passing attempts from Marquez as Rossi probed at both.

It was Rossi who finally broke the deadlock, overtaking his rivals in quick succession and getting away.

But by that time the track was almost dry and riders on slicks in the midfield were flying.

Forward Racing rider Loris Baz was foremost among them, while Tech 3's Smith had bravely stayed on slicks right through the first shower - tumbling outside the top 20 and a minute from the lead, but rapidly regaining the ground as the rain passed.

Redding was also quick to retake slicks, having been running at the back after an early crash from sixth place.

The three leaders were among the last to go back to slicks, with the Yamaha pair hanging on even longer than Marquez and Rossi the final man to pit.

While Marquez made his change in time to still get back out ahead of Smith, Baz and Redding, Lorenzo and Rossi emerged behind them.

Worse followed for Lorenzo, as he had a high-speed crash on his first flying lap on slicks, ending his race and damaging his title bid.

The only consolation for Lorenzo was that Rossi was not in podium contention.

The best the championship leader could manage was to hold Danilo Petrucci - who starred in the wet again - off for fifth.

While Marquez cruised home with a 7s cushion over the euphoric Smith, Redding made a late move on Baz to claim his first MotoGP podium in third.

The rest of the order was shuffled by timing of bike changes, with Andrea Iannone ending up seventh ahead of Ducati team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.

Dani Pedrosa was only ninth on the second works Honda, with Aleix Espargaro's Suzuki completing the top 10.

After his superb fifth in qualifying, Ducati wildcard Michele Pirro's bike developed a problem on the grid.

He started from the pits on a wet-shod spare but soon retired.

RESULTS - 28 LAPS:

Pos Rider Team Bike Gap
1 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 48m23.819s
2 Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 7.288s
3 Scott Redding Marc VDS Honda 18.793s
4 Loris Baz Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 26.427s
5 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 33.196s
6 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Racing Ducati 35.087s
7 Andrea Iannone Ducati Ducati 36.527s
8 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 37.434s
9 Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda 39.516s
10 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki Suzuki 39.692s
11 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 41.995s
12 Jack Miller LCR Honda 46.075s
13 Mike Di Meglio Avintia Racing Ducati 48.381s
14 Maverick Vinales Suzuki Suzuki 52.325s
15 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 53.348s
16 Stefan Bradl Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 58.828s
17 Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 1m02.649s
18 Hector Barbera Avintia Racing Ducati 1m04.768s
19 Eugene Laverty Aspar Honda 1m05.677s
20 Claudio Corti Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 1 Lap
21 Karel Abraham AB Motoracing Honda 1 Lap
- Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha Retirement
- Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Yamaha Retirement
- Yonny Hernandez Pramac Racing Ducati Retirement
- Alex de Angelis IodaRacing Project ART/Aprilia Retirement
- Michele Pirro Ducati Ducati Retirement

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

Pos Rider Points
1 Valentino Rossi 247
2 Jorge Lorenzo 224
3 Marc Marquez 184
4 Andrea Iannone 159
5 Bradley Smith 135
6 Andrea Dovizioso 128
7 Dani Pedrosa 109
8 Danilo Petrucci 93
9 Pol Espargaro 81
10 Cal Crutchlow 79
11 Maverick Vinales 69
12 Aleix Espargaro 66
13 Scott Redding 63
14 Yonny Hernandez 41
15 Loris Baz 28
16 Alvaro Bautista 23
17 Hector Barbera 23
18 Jack Miller 16
19 Nicky Hayden 12
20 Stefan Bradl 11
21 Michele Pirro 8
22 Eugene Laverty 7
23 Mike Di Meglio 7
24 Hiroshi Aoyama 5
25 Alex de Angelis 2

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